Midway Arcade Treasures

Midway Arcade Treasures
Company type	Video game compilation
Industry	Video games
Founder	Digital Eclipse
Successor	Midway Arcade Treasures 2, Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Headquarters	United States
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Compilation of 24 arcade games
Owner	Midway
Parent	Digital Eclipse (developer), Midway (publisher)

Midway Arcade Treasures is a compilation of 24 arcade games emulated directly from their original PCBs. Created by Digital Eclipse and published by Midway, it was made available on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Microsoft Windows. While the title does not support backward compatibility on the Xbox 360, it remains playable on early PlayStation 3 and Wii models.

The franchise continued with Midway Arcade Treasures 2 (2004) and Midway Arcade Treasures 3 (2005). In 2005, a curated selection was released for the PlayStation Portable under the name Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play. Additionally, a Windows-only edition titled Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition, combining volumes two and three, was launched in 2006.

The initial collection was later renamed Midway Arcade Treasures 1, updating its branding and packaging to match subsequent releases without altering the included games.

Features

Gameplay remains consistent across all platforms, though the Xbox version uniquely offers online leaderboards for score submissions. The package includes extras such as game histories, interviews with developers, and various documents—features that originated in earlier compilations like Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits, Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits, and Arcade Party Pak. Moreover, eleven exclusive titles appear here that were not present in those previous collections.

Backward compatibility allows the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions to run on early PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles; however, the Xbox edition lacks support on the Xbox 360.

Games

This collection comprises a total of 24 classic arcade games:

Reception

Midway Arcade Treasures garnered generally favorable reviews, with GameRankings ratings of 75.31% for GameCube, 73.86% for PlayStation 2, and 75.02% for Xbox. Critiques pointed out issues such as an unintuitive menu interface, performance slowdowns in Smash TV, and low-resolution video quality in documentaries and interviews reused from earlier Midway releases.

Metacritic scores echoed these sentiments: 76 for PlayStation 2, 74 for Xbox, and 72 for GameCube. Reviewers highlighted problems with DVD content clarity, an unattractive menu design, and challenging controls—particularly noted in Vindicators. Despite these shortcomings, critics agreed that the compilation provided substantial value.

By August 2005, sales had surpassed one million copies.

Game Center USA: Midway Arcade Treasures

Exclusively launched in Japan by Success, Game Center USA: Midway Arcade Treasures appeared on September 21, 2006, for PlayStation 2. This edition compiled 32 handpicked titles drawn from the original Midway Arcade Treasures and its sequel.

Included games feature 720°, A.P.B., Arch Rivals, Bubbles, Championship Sprint, Cyberball 2072, both Gauntlet entries, Hard Drivin, both Joust games, Klax, Kozmik Krooz'r, Marble Madness, Paperboy, Pit-Fighter, Rampart, RoadBlasters, Robotron: 2084, Root Beer Tapper, Satan's Hollow, Splat!, both installments of Spy Hunter, Super Sprint, Timber, Toobin, Total Carnage, Vindicators, Wacko, Xenophobe, and Xybots.

Midway Arcade

Following Midway's bankruptcy, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired its intellectual property rights and released the collection titled Midway Arcade Origins in 2012 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This set includes 29 selected games from the first two volumes of the original series plus Super Off Road from volume three, featuring an updated version of Vindicators Part II instead of the original.

Also in 2012, a mobile version named simply Midway Arcade was introduced on iOS. It bundled five titles from the original compilation—Defender,, Joust,, Rampage,, Root Beer Tapper,, and Spy Hunter—alongside the volume two game Arch Rivals. The app also offered four non-Midway arcade games: Air Hockey, Arcade Basketball (with an Arch Rivals theme), Pool, and Roll Ball. Additional features included a prize ticket redemption system and a jukebox compatible with iTunes music playback.

Two purchasable content packs expanded the library: The Action Game Pack contained volume two's titles like A.P.B., NARC, and Total Carnage. The Adventure Game Pack featured original series entries such as both versions of Gauntlet, plus volume two's Wizard of Wor.

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