Nostalgia is defined in the dictionary as a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past. Looking back at life can provide some truly evocative childhood memories; chopper bikes, spangles, hand-made go-carts and snowball fights. Through rose-tinted spectacles all of these are fondly remembered but in the cold light of day is your memory all that it was? Chopper bikes with the castrating gearshift, chemical tasting sweets so responsible for hyperactivity, splinters from shoddy go-cart seating and frozen hands from mittens caked in snow. Can the same be said for the modern fascination with retro gaming? Well, in Midway Arcade Treasures, you may find the answer to the question but, depending on your disposition, you may or may not like the answer.

Midway was one of the major leaders in the developing video arcade market of the Eighties and the collection of games here, somewhat surprisingly, reminds you just how big a player they once were. This package contains many of the games that gave birth to various modern day gaming formulae, covering just about every genre, from racers to shooters. A generous twenty-four games are contained within the package, some of which will be instantly recognizable from those smoky, cigarette burnt arcade cabinet days and some that are just plain obscure. Those amusement arcades may be long gone but their memory lives on via the miracle of modern consoles.

The extensive range of games included in the package (in alphabetical order) consists of 720°, Blaster, Bubbles, Defender, Defender II, Gauntlet, Joust, Joust II, Klax, Marble Madness, Paperboy, Rampage, Rampart, Roadblasters, Robotron 2084, Root Beer Tapper, Satan's Hollow, Sinistar, Smash TV, Splat!, Spyhunter, Super Sprint, Toobin' and finally Vindicators.

Personal highlights for me are Defender, Gauntlet, Smash TV and Spyhunter. Defender is one of the world's hardest games, where you pilot a single intergalactic fighter in an attempt to protect the human race against wave after wave of invading aliens. Gauntlet is probably the pinnacle of the arcade multiplayer experience, as you guide Thor the Warrior, Thyra the Valkyrie, Merlin the Wizard or Questor the Elf through an almost endless maze of dungeons fighting grunts, ghosts and the legendary death himself. Smash TV is sheer madness and carnage in the first videogame interpretation of the Running Man story, where contestants go up against hordes of mutants for cash and fabulous prizes. And Spyhunter, with the Peter Gunn soundtrack, introduces the definitive weapons based driving game, using smoke screens, oil slicks and missiles to dispatch the bad guys in black cars.

All of the games literally ooze gameplay, whether the high score chasing of Defender, the multiplayer fun of Gauntlet, or the sheer bonkers game design of Splat!. Beware though, as these games are addictive and many will prove a test to even the best players, meaning that you could suddenly find your life taken over by the classics of a bygone era. Although disappointingly, the difficulty level for many of the games can be adjusted through the options menu. This dilutes the challenging nature of the way these games were designed to be played and it's not as if it's still costing you 10p a go. [This makes them more accessible for those who aren't battle-hardened gaming veterans though - Ed]. One minor chink in the near faultless gameplay armour applies exclusively to the multiplayer games within the collection; as a single player you are forced to play as the Position 1 character on the selection screen, irrespective of the port the controller is plugged into (who wants to play as Warrior in Gauntlet when you can be Elf?

Many of these games were originally designed for use with specifically devised arcade cabinets; 720° had a rotating joystick, Marble Madness had a rollerball, Paperboy had bicycle handlebars and Spyhunter had a multi-buttoned steering wheel. Adaptation of these complicated controls to the controller has been boldly attempted and in many cases they do feel comfortable (Marble Madness, Smash TV).

The graphics and sound in the games, whilst obviously not pushing the PS2 to its limits, are good (but not perfect) recreations of the original arcade source code. However, the presentation of the overall collection is very poor; the Egyptian styled front seems superficial and detracts from the importance of the gaming titles contained in the package. But, if you can manage to navigate through this front end, included in the package are some excellent DVD style extras for each game, such as interviews with developers, a collection of trivia, galleries of game logos and cabinets and the history of the game.

In the end, Midway Arcade Treasures is a lot like Marmite - you'll either love it or hate it. If you are old enough to have experienced these games the first time around, in answer to the question, they are every bit as good as you remember. However, unless you are already a retro fan (which means you should already have bought this title), these games will seem basic and lacking the graphical wizardry that the modern day gaming industry so thrives on. Whichever way you approach it, at the bargain price Midway are offering this collection for, it would be a shame to let this little piece of gaming history pass you by. Go on try it, you never know, you might like it.

Reviewed by Darren Stevenson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).