Namco Museum

"Timeless games but the collection could of been better."

Namco once again goes back into their vaults to bring back their beloved 80s arcade hits for the Gamecube with a collection of 10 games plus 2 unlockable ones. Most of them were quite popular back in the day while a few of them may be obscure and new to you. They are as fun and addictive today is they were yesterday.

Pac-Man (1980)

If you don't know who Pac-Man is you either have living in a cave for the past 24 years or probably under the age of 6. It is a simple maze game where you eat dots around a maze while being chased by 4 ghosts. Eat a flashing dot and the ghosts turn blue allowing you to eat them for more point value. You also eat those bonus items that appear in the middle of the screen for even more points. It is that simple.

Ms. Pac-Man (1981)

The more popular follow up to the original. Much like the first game except there are four different maze layouts and bonus items actually bounce around the screen. You would be surprised that Ms. Pac Man machines still makes money in pool parlors and bowling alleys.

Pac-Mania (1987)

The 7th arcade Pac-Man game (The other four equally obscure sequels were Super Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, and Pac-Land). This time it has colorful 3D-ish graphics (think Donkey Kong Country) and is in a quarter isometric view. There are now 6 ghosts to avoid and eat and you can actually dodge them by jumping over them. This may sound like it is the easiest Pac-Man game ever but the later levels will most likely own you since the ghosts move faster and become smarter. Besides the usual bonus point items, there are two colored dots you eat. The green ones make you move fast and the red ones double the point value when eating ghosts.

Pac-Attack (1993)

Originally for the SNES and Sega Genesis, this Pac-Man game is a departure for the usual maze games although this wasn't the first time the series strayed from its roots (Pac-Land is a side-scroller). This game is kind like Tetris with a Pac-Man twist. Besides the usual stacking up blocks and making lines gameplay that Tetris is known for, there are ghosts along the blocks that prevent you from forming lines. To get rid of them you have to form the ghosts in lines or columns. Then when Pac-Man appears along a set of blocks, put him on top of a ghost and he'll eat them left to right. Also when you are almost losing while the star gauge is maxed out (it increases while you score points), the fairy from Pac-Land will appear to get rid of every block or ghosts depending where you land her.

Pac-Man Arrangement (From Japanese Namco Classic Collection Vol.2 coin-op, 1996)

For most of you, this will be the first time you will play this version of Pac-Man since it is never officially released in North American arcades. This is the same Pac-Man you know and love with enhanced 2D sprites, 30 colorful mazes, a boss level, 2-player co-op, and a couple of new gameplay rules. Now there is this 5th dark blue ghost that fuses with the other four ghosts just to give them new powers (dashing, multiplying, laying more dots to annoy, and jumping). He could be eaten right away and doing so will make the other ghosts vulnerable as if you ate a power dot. A fused ghost would be worth double the amount of points you get while eating a normal ghost. There are also arrows that make Pac-Man dash. You will be invulnerable to ghosts while dashing but the arrows are like dots. Once used, it is gone. Also there are some levels that have teleporters making you get from point A to point B in a short period of time. Like Pac-Mania, there are ability enhancing power-ups. Red pills speed up Pac-Man, blue pills split Pac-Man into two allowing two eat anything on both sides of the stage, purple pills get rid of the ghosts temporarily, and orange pills slow down the ghosts.

Galaxian (1979)

This was Namco's take on Space Invaders. The game is just as basic only the enemies swoop down and attack. All you need to do in the game is shoot all the alien bugs. This game hasn't aged as well as the sequel Galaga.

Galaga (1981)

Now this is the game Galaxian should have been. The point of the game is basically the same is Galaxian only this game is more fun to play. Your shots move faster compared to the snail like ones in the previous game. The leader enemies can capture your ship allowing your to free it just to get double the firepower (Be careful not to shoot the captured ship though. It costs a life).
Plus there are challenging stages which you have to shoot all 40 of the harmless enemies in order to get a special bonus. Still a popular arcade game nowadays.

Galaga Arrangement (From Japanese Namco Classic Collection Vol.1, 1995)

Another game new to the US. It is a nice remake with better sound and graphics, new enemies, different weapons to use depending on the color the leader enemies capture you (green ones give you wave shot, yellow ones give you rapid fire, and red gives you rebound shot), 2-player co-op and a final boss. Kinda reminds me of Galaga '88 which is a game I really wish was in this disc. (My all-time favorite shooter and the best game in the Galaxian series in my very humble opinion.)

Dig Dug (1982)

You play as a exterminator than hunts weird monsters. (One type is balls with legs wearing goggles, and little dragon-like lizards). The object of the game is to dig paths underground and getting rid of the creatures using an air pump to blow them up or crushing them by making rocks fall down. You get more points when you crush the monsters with a rock in groups. Sounds easy but the game is actually hard to play.

Dig Dig Arrangement (From Japanese Namco Classic Collection Vol.2, 1996)

New to the US, this is a nice remake. Just like the original but with better graphics, new weapons (like ray guns), bigger rocks to crush your enemies, new enemy types such as caterpillars that dash at you and walking bombs, spheres that kill the enemies in its path depending which way the arrow faces, 2-player co-op, and 2 boss levels.

Pole Position (1982)

Namco's very first racing game. This also the first game to have a sprite scaling engine. This game is as basic a driving game could get. You first make lap around the track and you get placed what position you start out in depending how fast you made the lap. Then you race endlessly until the timer runs out. You get extra seconds every lap you make but when the time runs out, the game is over.

Pole Position II (1983)

Exactly the same as the original except it has slightly better graphics and 4 different tracks to race in. Not much to talk about really.

Anyway I think this collection is decent but there are a couple of things Namco could of done to make me give this game an easy 10/10 rating:

1) Where are the obscure Pac-Man, Galaxian, Dig Dig sequels? Adding those games would of make the collection feel more complete. If none of those would fit in on 1 disc, why not make an extra one? Some of those games appeared in the PSOne NM series, but since most played Vol.1 and Vol.3, those games could have had a third chance being exposed to the mainstream.

Super Pac-Man (Namco Museum 2)
Jr. Pac-Man
Pac & Pal
Pac-Land (Namco Museum 4)
Gaplus (Namco Museum 2)
Galaga '88
Cosmo Gang: The Video (parody of Galaxian series)
Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle (This is actually the Japanese version of Pac-Attack with Cosmo Gang characters replacing the Pac-Man characters)
Dig Dug II

2) I have noticed that your scores don't reset to zero when you continue in Galaga Arrangement and Dig Dig Arrangement. You could get a really good score just by credit feeding. That is not cool because getting a great score should take a great effort to do. Just don't continue in those games if you want your high scoring efforts to make sense.

Anyway despite these flaws I still recommend this disc to anyone who is sick and tried of all the cinema-filled, bad 3D camera games modern gaming offers or any retro junkie. If you have friends or relatives that come over to play games with you, maybe you can convince them that the most fun games were made in the 80s and early 90s. Long live old school!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/08/04