Midway Games needs no introduction; it used to be a pillar of the video game industry. Set midway between the coasts, near Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, Midway Games was a major third party publisher known for some banger hits in the ’90s and ’00s.
And, of course, they were known for spinning out Netherrealm Studio — the folks behind Mortal Kombat. Of course, those fighting games have re-releases out the wazoo, so let’s focus on some more obscure picks today.
Much of Midway was gobbled up by Warner Bros. in the 2010s, so the failure to capitalize is all on them. Please, take my money Warner Bros.! Heck, I’ll willingly take any form of backwards compatibility or remake for these five Midway games.
‘Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy’ (PS2/Xbox, 2004)
A notable candidate for “biggest cult game to never be made available on modern hardware” is “Psi-Ops,” a radical IP that nailed super powers better than most games do today.
This action-shooter gave the player an incredible power fantasy and a lot of tools to dick around with. I had a blast playing this back in the day, and I could see a new game in the series really leaning into the sandbox nature of the levels. Just think about how you could stand on a box, telekinesis the box, and just fly around to places you shouldn’t be in.
Verdict: Re-imagining.
‘The Grid’ (Arcade, 2000)
The literal last arcade cabinet Midway ever made, “The Grid” was a bananas experiment that most people don’t know about because it was very hard to find or play. Nobody wrote about it in magazines that I can remember reading, so the coverage is nonexistent besides word of mouth and a handful of YouTube videos.
It was a “Smash TV” type of multiplayer shooter mixed with “American Gladiators” and a battle royale, but decades ahead of its time. You were in an NFL broadcast-type of reality competition, and dropped into an arena where you ran around blowing up your opponents. Much like “NFL Blitz” and other arcade games of the era, you could enter cheat codes before a match loaded in, and that would grant big head mode, or playing as Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
A bunch of these cabinets would be lined up next to each other, and you could just come and go, dropping into games and tearing up the madness. Plus, it was a rare non-golf game that used a trackball to aim the cursor.
The timer, skins, weapons you can pick up, AI bots, using cash to upgrade yourself, the fun energy and vibrant atmosphere. Perhaps we’re looking at potential “Fortnite” clone?
Verdict: Spiritual successor live service thing.
‘Arctic Thunder’ (PS2/Xbox/Arcade, 2000) and ‘Hydro Thunder’ (Arcade/Dreamcast/N64/PS1/PC, 1999)
Racing games are going through a slow, brutal death right now, right? “Forza Motorsport” is all but gone (excluding the “Horizon” sub-series), “Gran Turismo” takes way too long still, EA killed “Need for Speed,” there are no new “Burnout” games, Rockstar will never make a new “Midnight Club,” and so on and so forth.
So unless it’s a kart racer starring Mario or Sonic as mascots, it seems like any racing game in production is being cancelled. And that creates an opportunity to bring back the arcade action of snowmobiles and inshore powerboat racing! Big jumps, different colored boosts, shortcuts, time extensions, loud announcers, bombastic race courses in jungles and volcanoes — this was gaming at its best. When it was ridiculous, easy to jump in and have fun, and difficult to master once you figured out what you were doing.
The need for a small budget sequel from these two is paramount to keep this stupid industry afloat. Pun intended.
Verdict: Remaster or a Switch 2 port for the N64 version of the original “Hydro Thunder.”
‘Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks’ (PS2/Xbox, 2005)
There were only a few spin-offs for the MK series and its ridiculous mash-up mythology, and most were awful. The only one that worked was this beat-’em-up co-op game, which successfully translated the 2D fighting into a 3D world filled with combos, secrets, martial arts, and fatalities. It also had some light RPG elements sprinkled in there.
They don’t make games like this anymore, but they really should. There’s a total lack of major cooperative titles coming out every year, and I think that’s a huge missed opportunity. Not everybody wants to squad up in pairs of three to grind loot in outer space, gaming industry! And speaking of co-op games that need to come back…
Verdict: Remake.
The entire ‘Gauntlet’ franchise
This series seemed like a mainstay for gamers since 1985, but alas, the last “Gauntlet” game we got was a poorly received reboot from 2014. Maybe it’s just my nostalgia, but I remember these games being a big deal for me and my friends.
The peak of the series was definitely the arcade game “Gauntlet Legends” from 1998, and it was ported to the N64, PS1, and the Dreamcast over the course of two years. They took another arcade game in “Dark Legacy” and ported that to PS2, GameCube, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance over the next two years. The pipeline died in 2005 with “Seven Sorrows.”
These titles were the epitome of what Midway was as a company; simple to understand and register from a distance, every franchise knew exactly what it was, they maximized their identity with the most fun gameplay imaginable, and were accessible by being everywhere.
“Red wizard is about to die!” How can you replicate something so iconic in today’s age? Save “Diablo,” who is making, dungeon crawlers barely even exist now.
Verdict: Just give us a new one please. Anything.
Image credit: “Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks,” Midway
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