Midway Arcade Treasures 3 is the first game in the series to have a specific theme: racing games. There are several old racers included, dating from the late 80s to the late 90s and featuring both 2D and 3D graphics. The presentation is very simple, with a vertical menu displaying all the available games and some bonus content in the form of historical data on each game. Most games let you choose whether to use the A button or R trigger for gas; the latter has analog functionality in some of the later games, but you have to press all the way through the click for maximum effect, which leads to a very tired index finger after a few races.

Everyone will have their favorites, but the best known games in this collection are definitely Hydro Thunder, the San Francisco Rush series, and Super Off-Road. Hydro Thunder is a brazenly unrealistic (and fun) boat racer in which winning depends heavily on your boosting strategy. This version has support for two players simultaneously and is based on the Dreamcast port, not the original arcade version. Rush: The Rock is an arcade-only, expanded version of the original San Francisco Rush, with a special Alcatraz track and other improvements. Rush 2049 is a futuristic sequel in which the cars sprout wings to help survive the city's insane jumps. It supports up to four players and is also based on the Dreamcast version. All three of these games are quite difficult from the very start.

Super Off-Road is a 2D racing masterpiece, in my opinion. It's basically a Dukes of Hazzard simulator based on the RC style of racing, in which the race is viewed from a fixed overhead perspective and the steering controls are always the same no matter which way the car is facing. Winning races earns money, which you can use to purchase upgrades for your car and restock nitro boosts. Unfortunately, Super Off-Road is pitifully easy and repetitive, but the included Track Pak helps with the lack of courses. Another game in this collection, Badlands, is basically an urban version of Super Off-Road with some combat elements and more interactive tracks.

The rest of the games are also-rans, relics from the early 3D era in which flashy graphics (for the time) outweighed gameplay. Off-Road Thunder and Stun Runner are amusing for a while; Race Drivin' is worth playing only for its hilarious instant replays. There are probably nostalgic old farts who will think these games are still incredibly fun, though.

We'll have a full review of Midway Arcade Treasures 3 soon, in which we'll cover every game in more detail and also carefully check for authenticity, sound bugs, etc.