Short Review of Midway Arcade Classics: Extended Play

[rayearthknight]

Like the Namco Museum, MAC: EP is a collection of games that are perfect for PSP system. This compilation is a perfect collection of Midway and Atari games from years gone by. It costs 29.99 and you get about twenty games including Mortal Kombat I-III, Gauntlet Xenophobe, Rampart, Paperboy and Klax... I bought this disc simply for Xenophobe, I love that game....Rampart was a bonus!
The list:

--Klax--when Tetris gets old
--Spy Hunter...the collision detection is maddening.
-- Joust--better played in multiplayer mode, like the arcade version
-- Sinistar
-- Marble Madness...the analog pag can't replace the roller ball...but, it does the job.
-- Defender(R) The PSP has more buttons than the arcade.
-- Toobin'--never got into this
-- Paperboy--Easier to play on the PSP, however, I don't understand why they didn't use the L&R buttons to steer.
-- Wizard of Wor--includes the synth voice, in all its undersampled glory
--720(degrees)(R)--like MM, the controller is lacking, but it works.
-- Xybots--I prefer Gauntlet.
-- Arch Rivals(TM)--Great for a quick ad hoc game
-- Championship Sprint(TM)--cars are kind of small, plays okay though.
-- Cyberball 2072--never liked this game, it still looks good though
-- Mortal Kombat----some issues with jumping
-- Mortal Kombat II--same as MK
-- Mortal Kombat 3--same as MKII
-- Rampage--With King Kong out in theatres...why not?
-- Rampart--the analog nub works great as a replacement rollerball in this game.
-- Xenophobe--I'd prefer a full screen version...but I've always loved this "Aliens" parody
-- Gauntlet--a four-player free all

The sound quality is great as long as you are using your headphones. Also I noticed some issues with diagonal jumps in the MK games when I used the digital pad. Digital Eclipse was in charge of the emulation so the games on this disc behave like the console ports of the MAC series...with the exception that the graphics are very sharp and fluid.

[Gamereviewgod]

Gamespot wasn't too favorable. I bumped this to a rental instead of a purchase. They said there was a ton of speed problems in the MK's, and the sound was screwed up elsewhere. Have anything like that?

[rayearthknight]

Ah yes, the MK games suffer from loading times. It's not a great deal though and I halfway expected it....HOWEVER, I have not been able to see what the Shang Tsung morphs do...will it be like the Sega CD and Playstation versions and grind to a halt? I'll need to check.
Sound quality is as good as Digital Eclipse does it (take that as you will). There are some audio skips in Xenophobe...but this was present in the Xbox version of the MAC as well. Klax's audio sounds right. Rampart's sounds low (but that may just be my own ears).

[Putney]

Ah yes, the MK games suffer from loading times. It's not a great deal though and I halfway expected it....HOWEVER, I have not been able to see what the Shang Tsung morphs do...will it be like the Sega CD and Playstation versions and grind to a halt? I'll need to check.
Sound quality is as good as Digital Eclipse does it (take that as you will). There are some audio skips in Xenophobe...but this was present in the Xbox version of the MAC as well. Klax's audio sounds right. Rampart's sounds low (but that may just be my own ears).

I've only played around with this a bit, but at least in MK3 there didn't seem to be any load times for a Shang Tsung morph. I think Gamespot was unnecessarily harsh, I mean, loading times are annoying, but it's not a deal breaker or anything.

[cityside75]

I was going to post about this as well, I picked the game up a couple days ago. I mainly wanted it for the MK's and I have a full MAME set up at home, so I have a pretty critical eye.

Initially I was impressed, the graphics really pop on the PSP screen, everything looks just crystal clear. I was slightly disappointed by the loading in MK2 and MK3, but I sort of expected it. I was happy to see there is none in MK1, and Shang Tsung seems to work fine. Sub-Zero's ice punch fatality is absolutely butchered by the load times though.

When I put my headphones on and really started playing, I was disappointed, the sounds are definitely off in all the MK games...not too bad, but definitely not right. And jumping in diagonals is a major pain. Surprisingly, the moves that require a quarter circle on the pad work as easily as on any other d-pad, but jumping is a pain. I actually contemplated taking the game back.

Now, I'm happy again. I've played the games more and I'm getting better at jumping. Even though the emulation isn't perfect, this is BY FAR the best portable MK ever, so I'm happy.

I thought that Gamespot was a little too harsh, though. The framerate on MK2 and MK3 seems a little choppier than the real game, but the speed felt just fine to me. I didn't notice any problems, and played the game in my normal "rhythm."

[Joker T]

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/257509.asp

Do some games only allow multiplayer?

[cityside75]

Everything I've played so far had a single player option.

To anyone interested in this, don't even think of buying it anywhere besides Best Buy, with the $10 off $29.99 coupon. I printed mine out from Cheapassgamer, and the girl that rang me up didn't even give it a second glance. I'm not sure I would have been as happy if I'd spent $30.

[Brian_Provinciano]

Hi All. The GameSpot review was very unfortunate. A lot of the complaints about the games aren't quite true.

For example, the screen size is stretched for most games, but only by default. Pause, hold L and press SQUARE to toggle between screen sizes!

I don't know why everyone seems to think the MKs are choppy or off in speed... they were heavily optimized and run better than the PS2 versions. With the exception of multiplayer, MK2-3 are 50-60fps, much of the time a steady 60. MK1 is of course an absolute solid 60fps. MK2 is a very fast game, that's how it originally was, which makes it difficult for many, but that's how it was. Remember, these games were designed to eat your quarters :)

The diagonal movement and load times are unfortunately all in the PSP.

The PSP's D-Pad just isn't made for easy diagonal movement. Funny how some systems make diagonal movement too easy, while the PSP is the complete opposite. The analog for diagonal is much better, and I think that was Sony's intention. However, doing certain moves on the analog would need getting used to (though some are much easier with it).

The game takes a little time to initially load up, but the in-game loads are very short (and only exist in MK2/3). In fact, people would likely have complained much less had it just been a black screen... might not have even noticed the loading so much. Many just hate to read the word "Loading" when they really want to play a game I suppose. I don't think I should get any more technical than this, but if you look online as to how much RAM the PSP has access to (not how much RAM the PSP _has_), and how large the ROMs are for MK2 and especially MK3, and note that the graphics in the ROMs are compressed, you will understand why there are load times.

[rayearthknight]

I've noticed a speed issue in Xenophobe. For some reason, the game's speed was moving at twice the rate of speed--the audio was correct but everything was faster--including the clock, which is supposed to count down in real time. With it set this way, there is no way to successfully destroy the Xenos in time before the self-destruct system engages.
Anyone else come across this?

[segagamer4life]

Gamespot wasn't too favorable. I bumped this to a rental instead of a purchase. They said there was a ton of speed problems in the MK's, and the sound was screwed up elsewhere. Have anything like that?


I didn't get their review of a 5.2, this game is at least an 8, its a solid game, with 20+ great classics, and the control issues, I have rarely encountered. but thats just me..

[NE146]

There is something wrong if Robotron isn't included or at least unlockable. :/

[pacmanhat]

There is something wrong if Robotron isn't included or at least unlockable. :/

I would tend to agree, but how on earth would they do the control scheme? The right side doesnt have anything that would make for an acceptable shooting 'joystick'.

[NE146]

There is something wrong if Robotron isn't included or at least unlockable. :/

I would tend to agree, but how on earth would they do the control scheme? The right side doesnt have anything that would make for an acceptable shooting 'joystick'.

Sure it does! :) Same way you control it on an SNES pad and on the original PSX pad for each of their respective Williams Arcade classics releases. i.e. you just use the 4 buttons.

I mean.. it aint a joystick, but anyone who's played Smash TV on the SNES knows that diamond configuration is perfectly viable and actually comfortable after a while as the directional shooting control. Arcade purists may scoff (a full blown Robotron NEEDS joystick), but hey, this is a handheld. :)

I actually play SNES Williams Arcade Classics on the psp specifically for Robotron. And the directional pad + 4 button configuration works great. But that version is almost a 'miniature' version since the playfield is s much smaller. :(

[dbiersdorf]

Has anyone really been able to get far on Marble Madness? I've made it to maybe the forth or fifth level, but the analog stick is just a bitch to control with. My favorite game, ruined.

[norkusa]

Has anyone really been able to get far on Marble Madness? I've made it to maybe the forth or fifth level, but the analog stick is just a bitch to control with. My favorite game, ruined.

Control felt exactly the same to me as the NES and PS1 versions. Marble Madness just won't play well on any console without a track-ball controller.

[dbiersdorf]

Maybe I'm just used to the GameCube controller for it.

[DonMarco]

There is something wrong if Robotron isn't included or at least unlockable. :/
I can't believe Smash TV isn't on the list.

Smash TVeeeeeeeee!!