Top Ten: Midway Classics That Should Be On The Download Services

ferrarimanf355

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Edited By ferrarimanf355

Hey guys, I'm sorry that I didn't have this up earlier, but my web browser was acting up, and I didn't save my blogpost on a notepad file, so I lost it.

Anyways...

Now that Midway is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, I was thinking, what games in the Midway back catalog would be good for download services like XBLA, PSN and Virtual Console Arcade? I came up with a few that should be good, and here they are. I didn't put any licensed sports titles because they weren't included in the WBIE deal, and re-licensing some of the teams and leagues would be a pain. Also, these weren't put up in any particular order. And the pictures were taken from system16.com as well.

Let's start, shall we?

Hydro Thunder

Honestly, with H2Overdrive in arcades now, this one's a bit of a no-brainer. Let's see the original boat racer on XBLA or PSN, in most of its boosting-across-the-water glory (you can't replicate the boat throttle at home, unless the Ace Combat 6 stick throttle can be combined with an X360 Wireless Wheel), with online multiplayer. People will snap that up at an amazing rate, I'm confident of that.

Mortal Kombat 4

Sure, this may be the moment where the series jumped the shark, but it's still fun with friends. And with MKII on the PSN and Ultimate MK3 on XBLA selling well, the more kombat, the merrier, I say. I'd also like to see MK Trilogy on the download services, too, since a lot of people like that game, too. And since there was a PC version of MK4, perhaps that could be updated to run on Vista and put on GOG.com too. The possibilities are vast. (Hydro Thunder also had a standalone PC release, from what I heard.)

Rush

I'm still disappointed with the Midway Arcade Treasures 3 versions of San Francisco Rush The Rock: Alcatraz Edition and Rush 2049. Rush The Rock didn't play or

sound like the arcade original, and there was no multiplayer. Rush 2049 was based on the Dreamcast version, and honestly, I liked the original arcade version more. OTOH, why not put arcade-perfect ports of Rush The Rock and Rush 2049 on XBLA/PSN? I'd buy those in a second. And the N64 versions of those games could show up on the Wii Virtual Console, unless those games used a memory card to save games (It's been a while since I played 'em.), then Nintendo needs to get off their butt and fix that. Everybody's happy!

Cruis'n

My love for the Cruis'n series is well documented. Just look at the headliner picture for my blog! It really disappoints me that the only Cruis'n game on the Virtual Console is the bad N64 port of Cruis'n USA. I want to see arcade-perfect ports of the Cruis'n trilogy on the Virtual Console Arcade, with multiplayer and Wii Remote steering. Re-licensing some of the real-life cars in Cruis'n Exotica may be a pain (the rights to the Hummer are being sold off), but to me, it would be worth it.

Super High Impact

This game is like Tecmo Bowl, but with four player action and only one button needed to do everything. It's a lot of fun, especially with those four players going at it. Simplicity at its finest, I say.

California Speed

If San Francisco Rush and Cruis'n had a baby, it would be California Speed. It's worth it for the varied track designs, like the Silicon Valley level that ends in a computer. There are some real-life tracks in the game, and I don't know if it would be costly to add them in, but I'm certain that it can be done. If all else fails, they can be renamed to something generic, I suppose. I like this game, plenty of fast fun.

The Grid

This is an awesome deathmatch shoot-em up from the Mortal Kombat team. The levels are fun, the power-ups are awesome, and the whole Smash TV-like setting is great. Ed Boon told me on his Twitter that they came close to making a home port or two, but it never came to be, with the top brass greenlighting Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance instead. Well, with the online-focused features of PSN and Xbox Live, and with the pointer controls of the Wii working well with games of this type, what better time than now for a downloadable port?

Strike Force

Never heard of this game? Well, all you need to know is that it plays like Defender, but the graphics are more colorful, an 8-way joystick is used instead of the complex Defender setup, and that there's simultaneous multiplayer. It could lend itself well to quick multiplayer fixes. Plus, who doesn't like Defender?

Off Road Challenge

This game is a fun off-roader with Cruis'n-style mechanics, nitro boosts, and general craziness. It got an N64 port, I'd like to see it on Virtual Console. The N64 version is on the level of the N64 version of Cruis'n World (which is to say, arcade perfect), so I'd download it if given the chance. Good times with this one.

Gauntlet Dark Legacy

The original Gauntlet is on XBLA, and Gauntlet II is on PSN, so why not complete the series? Of course, this one needs online multiplayer, otherwise it would lose a lot of the charm. This one would be good to have at parties as well. It's an instant crowd pleaser, and a bunch of fun with three friends crawling through the dungeons.

That's all I got. I'm certain that there are others that you might put on the list, like NARC, Arch Rivals, Area 51, etc. etc. etc. Give me some good games that should be on the list in the comments, I'm listening.

And I'll finish this post off with some Rush music. Have a good week, everyone!

14 years ago