Midway Arcade Treasures 3 Review

Classic gaming compilations seem to be all the rage these days. Why make a new game when you can rehash your old ones and make a quick buck? However, being old does not necessarily make something classic, something that Midway Arcade Treasures 3 for the Xbox proves. According to the box, “8 retro-racing classics” are included, but I could only locate two: Hydro Thunder and San Francisco Rush: The Rock. There are six other games included, but their classic status is debatable. Hydro Thunder is as good as ever, with gameplay and looks not too far removed from the current generation of consoles. Rush: The Rock, a spiritual predecessor of sorts to the Burnout series, doesn’t fare as well in either department but is still a fun, if repetitive racer. Off Road Thunder and San Francisco Rush 2049 may have been fun when you played them in the arcade a few years ago, but they’re throwaways in the shadow of the aforementioned racers. Super Off Road is an amusing party game, but becomes tiresome quickly in a one-player environment. The other games aren’t even worth mentioning. For $20, you had better be a big fan of Hydro Thunder. Otherwise, this collection won’t keep your attention for more than an hour or two. Another recent game like Arctic Thunder would’ve given this disc a second leg to stand on, but as it is, this is a missed opportunity at best.

Score: 6.0

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As I mentioned in my previous post, this was my attempt to write a review in the style of Electronic Gaming Monthly. I think it turned out alright, though it's actually a challenge to be as concise as you need to be in a format like that. Choosing a classics collection as my first attempt probably wasn't the best choice, either. I'll likely try this again with other games in the future. One thing that I'm curious about is how long it takes each reviewer to compose something of that length. I wrote it in about 15 minutes, but I'd be interested in finding out how long it takes the pros.