Midway Arcade Origins – Everything Was Better In the past…
I will never forget the smell, the lights, the atmosphere, or the sounds of stepping into an arcade hall in the 80s and early 90s. Those were the days when people hunted for games — and by that, I don’t mean in shops.
The burger shacks, pubs, bowling alleys, and shopping malls all had at least a few arcade cabinets tucked away. Sure, most places had the usual suspects like Pinball, Pac‑Man,Final Fight, or Sega Rally — but the real magic was finding machines in unexpected corners, far beyond the dedicated arcade halls.
The biggest arcade hall I ever visited had over 250 cabinets running all kinds of games. Even in the mid‑90s, it was packed with both new and old titles. Sadly, that incredible place burned down a year or so later — though all the arcade and pinball machines had been removed long before the fire.
Today, massive arcade halls are few and far between. The two largest I know of were in Sweden (Liseberg in Gothenburg) and Denmark (Ålborg), but I fear those may already be gone… or are on their way out.
Midway Arcade Origins…
Midway Arcade Origins is a compilation of classics from the golden age of arcade gaming and coin‑ops. Midway had already released three collections on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, yet I still had to pick this one up — because honestly, I can’t stay away. Even if I’ve played these games to death a million times before, there’s just something irresistible about diving back into them all over again.
If you want, I can tune this into a more nostalgic intro, a punchier collector‑focused angle, or a more energetic retro‑gamer tone — just nudge me with more nostalgic, more energetic, or more collector_focused.
Midway Arcade Origins…
What’s that ATARI logo doing here? Well, oddly enough, this Midway collection includes actual Atari Games titles. Yup — you heard me. I have no idea why or how, but either Backbone Entertainment secured a license… or someone on the team simply messed up in spectacular fashion, hehe.
Games like 720° and APB are in here, which was a genuine surprise — and a welcome one. I’ve always been a huge fan of both.
Unfortunately, the collection also contains two absolute disasters: Total Carnage and Spy Hunter II — the latter easily ranks among the top three worst games ever made.
So what’s actually in the collection?
Joust, Joust 2, Defender, Defender II, Smash TV, Gauntlet, Gauntlet II, Spy Hunter, Spy Hunter II, Total Carnage, Rampage, Marble Madness, Super Off Road, Pit-Fighter, Super Sprint, 720°, APB, Rampart, Toobin’, Robotron 2084, Vindicators Part II, Arch Rivals, Root Beer Tapper, Wizard of Wor, Bubbles, Satan’s Hollow, Xenophobe, Sinistar, Xybots, and Tournament Cyberball 2072.
Sadly, there are quite a few duds in the mix — and what’s with all the sequels and prequels of nearly identical games? Still, the good ones absolutely make up for the bad, so it’s worth the money.
The biggest letdown? There’s nothing extra in this collection. No interviews, no bonus artwork, no behind‑the‑scenes material. There’s a tiny info scroller at the bottom of the menu, but it’s less than a minute long — so yeah, forget that.
The old Midway Treasures collections on PS2, GameCube, and Xbox had interviews and loads of commentary from the people behind these classics. Why didn’t they update those, or at least reuse them in their original SD quality?
2 thoughts on “Midway Arcade Origins – Everything Was Better In the past…”
Mate I’m streaming it again right now. I was looking for an image online to use on my channel. Not only did I see the image on your page, but a big Amiga banner. As gold as the Golden Age of Gaming.
I’m my channel theme at the moment is loosely based on the SCUMM bar from Monkey Island.
Mate I’m streaming it again right now. I was looking for an image online to use on my channel. Not only did I see the image on your page, but a big Amiga banner. As gold as the Golden Age of Gaming.
I’m my channel theme at the moment is loosely based on the SCUMM bar from Monkey Island.
Hey there, so cool to hear. You forgot to add a link 🙂
Happy reading.
Cheers