Price: £14.99 Players: 1-4 Widescreen: No 60Hz: No DTS sound: No Midway Arcade Treasures 2 brings back another 20 classic arcade games from the '80s to your PS2. There's nothing complex to explain about any of them, but the manual will give you enough detail to get you going, and each one quickly depicts the controls needed to play, on selection. The graphics stay the same to give you of the retro feel, but the sound has been slightly, but noticeably, enhanced. If you're adept with downloading and installing simple games, you can do download MAME, the Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator at Mame.net where all the old arcade games are available for playing, even though you're not meant to, but in addition to these compilations the manufacturers could always make a quick buck by allowing a pay-per-game downloadable, but for this price, you really can't grumble at a cost of less than a quid per game, particularly with some of the classics on display. Other things I love about this compilation - the precise sound of the 'BONG!' as you're about to play some of the games, something that brings back many happy memories. It's strange how one little sound can really do that for you. And add to that, the sound effects from classic games such as Gauntlet II. For those more interested about the old games, there's extra info available and a gallery for each one. The complete line-up is as follows: APB, Arch Rivals, Championship Spirit, Cyberball 2072, Gauntlet II, Hard Drivin', Kozmik Krooz'r, Mortal Kombat 2 & 3, NARC, Pit-Fighter, Primal Rage, Rampage World Tour, Spyhunter 2, Total Carnage, Timber, Wacko, Wizard of Wor, Xenophobe and Xybots.

Highlights include: APB (right): Taking the original 'Spy Hunter' game engine - and not from the strange sequel that's featured here and looks NOTHING like it, and similar in style, this seemed a bit more colourful and put you on the right side of the law for a change, first dealing with litter louts and working your way up through various levels, apprehending criminals by ramming them off the road and bringing them back to the station. Rather a lesser-known game by comparison. Championship Spirit: Race round a simple track with three other players, the PS2 standing in for an absence of humans, and get to the finish line first after four laps round the track. However, while there are bonuses like free repairs (in case you can't avoid hitting the side of the track) and points, there are also slippery puddles, tornados and the tracks get harder the further you get on. Gauntlet II (bottom-right): Any '80s gamer will know this classic game which allowed up to four players on the unit itself, playing as either the Warrior, Wizard, Valkyrie or Elf, you run through level after level, killing the creatures and also their spawn zones to stop them coming back. Classic gaming that's kept me hooked for hours at a time, and still is doing so now! And about sound FX, the key collection brings back memories and the lobbers sound like the start of a new level on Atari's Missile Command!

Hard Drivin': Before Driver, before Grand Theft Auto, this game was a milestone in arcade driving games because it was the first to bring polygons and the feeling of momentum to a first-person driving game like never before. It seems rather primitive to the aforementioned games by comparison now, but the style, presentation and the ability to loop-the-loop had me coming back for me. Oh, and you can hit the cow and hear him "Moo!" Mortal Kombat 2 & 3: Always worth a quick go, these games. And you always want to play as the fit bird dressed in not-very-much so if you're getting creamed by the opposition, and a random mashing of the buttons isn't helping, then at least you've got a memory to bring back later that evening. However, these have really dated quite badly and while someone occasionally brings back 2D fighters, I'll stick with class output like the Soul Blade/Calibur series, thanks. NARC (right): A fantastic side-scrolling game that didn't seem to get as much recognition as it deserved, but has you walking the streets, shooting at pervs and junkies with bullets and missiles as you take drugs off the streets. It's loud, full of explosions, loud, violent and loud. And as it's free-play you can continue where you left off when you die. Fantastic! Careful at the end as it's bloody hard work and whether you kill the BIG Mr Big at the end is pot-luck more than anything!

Rampage World Tour: Easy to pick up and play. Following on from the success of the original Rampage, you just thump, kick and jump on houses and buildings to slowly, but surely, crush them. People shoot at you, helicopters fly by and send missiles in your direction, but lots of button mashing in the right direction will definitely take care of them. Wizard of WOR: Walk around, shoot the baddies, collect power-ups, negotiating doors that open and close and stop you getting through just when you need to, shoot all the baddies, then the yellow one, then the red one who keeps disappearing. It doesn't sound particularly original, but it has a addictive quality that few games can match. Yet another one I would regularly play for literally hours on end. And that haunting music! Xybots: A bizarre little third-person-shooter in that it only takes up a quarter of the screen and plays in an into-the-screen style, with you having to tell the point-of-view to turn round for you. Like a number of the games on this disc, it's been superceded many times in the way it plays, but if you want to see how such a style began its life, here's where to start.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2004.