EMULATION NOTES

Due to the fact that the games all run on the PSP via an emulator, there are sometimes things that need to be cut or altered to make the game run properly on a system with an emulation overhead. In this case, almost all the games are emulated with no issues because they are older classic games. But with the case of the Mortal Kombat games, their arcade hardware could be considered just as powerful as the PSP in a different respect. So in order to get the games to work properly with as much as the original arcade game retained some changes had to be made. In the previous Midway Arcade Treasures games, some things were missing from the games or wrong. Below we will outline all the differences Extended Play contains.

MK1

Classic Mortal Kombat is as close to
the orginal as possible.
• Missing FMV character bios in the game attract mode.

MK2 + MK3

• Load times on select screen, each new battle and on some Fatalities.
• Music off or incorrect around Fatalities and other Finishing Moves.
• Random Select fixed, it's Up + X (instead of Up + Start in the arcade).

MK2

Core gameplay remains intact despite
numerous differences.
• The cool "NOW THE KOMBAT CONTINUES..." intro animation during attract mode was removed. Probably to avoid load times.
• 'The Tower' stage missing cloud background.
• As of press time, I haven't been able to test if you can now battle Smoke. I have yet to see 'Toasty' popup during a battle on the Portal stage for some reason.

MK3

• Can't enter the Ultimate Kombat Kode, because you only have one controller. Therefore, Smoke is not unlockable from what I can tell. It may be possible via Wireless Adhoc, but I'll have to look into that further. Hopefully the developers left a code somewhere that would allow you to unlock him easily.

MULTIPLAYER

One extra benefit of Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play is that the game supports the PSP's adhoc wireless networking for multiplayer gaming action. So you and your friends can battle each other wirelessly, albeit in the same room. As of press time I had some difficulty getting this to work and will instead update the review sometime in the near future.

OVERALL

The value of this game is incredible, 21 excellent classic arcade games all on one disc for $30. That's less than $1.50 a game! The games are all emulated very well, even the more difficult Mortal Kombat series is done very well here. The addition of adhoc wireless is also a great thing for those of you wanting to challenge your friends. Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play is a great game to keep with your PSP for hours of entertainment when on the road.

Pros:

+ 21 Games in one
+ Wireless AdHoc Multiplayer (on 19 of 21 games)
+ Near arcade perfect ports of MK1, MK2 and MK3


Kons:


- Minor glitches with emulation
- No Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Score: 9.0 out of 10