Midway Arcade Treasures 1

Released: 12/18/2003

Publisher: Midway

Going Price: Averaging $9.99 at GameStop (Used)

Price Per Game: $0.41 (41 Wii Points)

Total Cost for VC Equivalent: 12000 Wii Points* ($120)

Midway had the best compilations of the generation, and it all started with the first edition of Arcade Treasures. It includes 24 games from the 1980s arcade era, including Gauntlet, Rampage, Spy Hunter, Defender (and Defengder II), Paperboy (pictured), Joust (and Joust II), Robotron 2064, Smash TV, Marble Madness, 720º, Klax and a whole bunch of bonus material and other games and that are totally awesome.

A lot of these games will likely hit Virtual Console in the form of their NES counterparts, but that means they'll be $5 a pop. Why not take the oppportunity to get two dozen for the price of two downloads? MAT1 is a great compilation with some the best arcade games ever made, so don't hesitate to get it if it interests you.

Midway Arcade Treasures 2

Released: 10/4/2004

Publisher: Midway

Going Price: $12ish at eBay (but few are listed)

Price Per Game: $0.60 (60 Wii Points)

Total Cost for VC Equivalent: 15100 Wii Points** ($151)

Treasures 2 is even better than the first. This time, Midway compiled classics from the 1990s, with Mortal Kombat 3 leading the way. MKII is also included on the disc, as are other majors like NARC, Rampage World Tour, Championship Sprint, Primal Rage, Gauntlet II and Total Carnage. There are 20 games in MAT2, as well as some great bonus features to go with each of them.

Just like with MAT1, a lot of games in MAT2 were ported to the NES, Genesis, and SNES. And just like MAT1, this compilation is terrific. If you only want to get one of the three in the Treasures series, you should probably get the this one. However, any of the three are pretty good options if you want your classic gaming fix.

Midway Arcade Treasures 3

Released: 10/24/2005

Publisher: Midway

Going Price: Averaging $13.50 at eBay

Price Per Game: $1.69 (169 Wii Points)

Total Cost for VC Equivalent: 7200 Wii Points*** ($72)

In a change from what we were used to seeing in the first two games, Midway decided to focus Arcade Treasures 3 around a central theme. All eight games in this grouping are racing games, with the big catch being San Francisco Rush 2049. Rather than porting over the arcade version, they simply took the superior Dreamcast version and put it on the disc. (Playing a Dreamcast game on your Wii? Who'd of thunk it?) Hydro Thunder, Off Road Thunder and the Alcatraz Edition of the original SF Rush make up the modern arcade games in the package, with Badlands, Race Drivin' and Super Off-Road filling out the lineup.

Everyone who likes racing games should get MAT3 for Rush 2049 alone. The other games are just icing on the cake. However, unlike the previous two games in the compilation series this one is focused entirely on racing, and also includes fewer games. Granted, they are pretty beefy games, but still we're only going to recommend you seek out Arcade Treasures 3 if you're a racing nut.

*Estimating 500 Wii Points per 80s era arcade game download. (Arcade games are not available on Virtual Console.)

**Estimating 800 Wii Points per 90s era arcade game download, with a few 80s era arcade games sprinkled in for good measure.

***Estimating 1000 Wii Points per modern era arcade game download. (MAT3 has four of them, with the other four being 90s era arcade games.)