I don't look at old yearbooks or that pile of pictures my parents have stored to recall my younger years. Instead, I fire up the latest collection of arcade classics. Okay - maybe that's not the entire summation of my life, but that and a good collection of 80's hits certainly has a way of bringing back a lot of fun times. Enter Midway's Greatest  Arcade, published by (okay isn't this a bit obvious?) Midway and developed by Pocket Studios.

Starring in the GBA lineup are Joust, Defender, Robotron: 2084, and Sinistar. While excellent games in arcade history, it seems as if the GBA translation does not do these great classics justice. At first glance, most of the titles seem faithful to their origins - but as they say, "The truth is in the pudding." Wow. Okay - so that was a bit cliché, but unfortunately, playing this version didn't inspire a whole lot of creativity. The presentation from beginning to end was a bit too primitive - and this isn't in reference to the graphics, which were the top of the line for their time, but for the little tweaks here and there that could have been done to improve the fun factor (and the nostalgia factor) of the game.

Joust - On the outset (even in the intro screen where you pick your game), Joust looked sort of like what I recalled. While seemingly close to the original, it seems like the levels may have been squished too close together, causing you to bump off things far more than in the original. Once you get killed, its very hard to get restarted as well, since you are given a very small frame of safe-time and enemies are often hovering nearby. Also, one of my favorite things to do was play two player Joust - and this option is not available for this title. 

Defender - Without a doubt the closest to its origin, Defender maintains it's integrity in the translation. Most of your maneuvering occurs parallel to the ground, and you have to keep your eyes sharp for those evil hostage taking aliens. Of the four games, this title had the most simplistic graphics and game play - translating well into the GBA. 

Robotron 2084 - Looks a lot like the original, but loses a lot of it's controls when ported to the GBA. Instead of aim and movement being independent from each other - they are intertwined, making the game immensely more difficult. This especially comes into play when you have to fire at things that are firing at you. Granted, this is largely due to the fact that you had two controllers in the arcade title - but you still feel more frustrated than happy.

Sinistar - The major flaw with Sinistar is that your screen is a bit too limited (even with the radar to help you out), given the speed of your spaceship. The controls feel chaotic and there's not real way to get your bearings on things even if you do know where everything is. Even Asteroids allows more control than this, and that game was much older.

You know, someday, when I have that 2000 sq foot finished basement, I already have plans for some stand-up arcade machines. Midway is definitely going to be present in the collection. However, while I have seen many fun and faithful renditions of these classics, this GBA port has somehow missed a few marks. There are other versions that have done these games justice - try those out before considering this one. 

Graphics: 6
No fair calling shots on graphics for these titles. Defender, in all it's simplicity, brought back quite vivid memories. The presentation has more problems than the actual graphics, such as in Sinistar where the radar is almost unreadable.

Sound: 5.5
Sound is about right for the original titles, if a bit "crackly".

Concept: 5.5
Joust and Defender revisited - these two games felt like old familiar friends as soon as I brought them up on the GBA screen. Robotron 2084 seemed a little less familiar and I had a harder time recalling Sinistar. Your enjoyment of this collection will largely depend on whether you're looking for the most famous of the arcade classics, or you don't mind something a little more obscure thrown in.

Overall: 5.5
Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits is definitely geared toward those of who spent many of our early gaming days in pizza parlors, bowling alleys, and arcades - wearing our shoes thin and stocking bags of tokens in our pockets. If you are looking for an exact replication of those days, start looking for stand-up machines. If you don't mind adapting to a slightly less familiar control scheme - this will be a great trip back in time.