Namco Museum

"Not worth more than $15."

Namco Museum is a collection of 10 classic arcade games: Pac-Man, Pac-Man Arrangement, Galaga, Galaga Arrangement, Galaxian, Pole Position, Pole Position 2, Dig Dug, Dig Dug Arrangement, and Ms. Pac Man. The games aren't up to today's standards, and if you're looking for a game with detailed graphics, an intriguing storyline, and great music and sound effects, don't buy this game. It appeals to people who grew up playing these classics in arcades in the 80's.

-Graphics 7/10
The included games have the same graphics as the arcade versions of them, which obviously aren't very good compared to other GameCube games, but that's not a big deal. The "Arrangement" games are almost the same thing as the original games, except with better graphics. There are borders in the style of the game you're playing, so the game isn't stretched out. You can tell Namco tried to make the graphics as good as possible on other parts of the game, such as menus and title screens.

-Gameplay 10/10
The gameplay is great. That's why these games were arcade hits! My only problem is that the box advertises 10 games, but in reality, there are only 4, because most of them are only copies of each other, like Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. A lot of games today are based on these because of the great gameplay. Racing games like Gran Turismo and Grand Theft Auto are based on games like Pole Position.

-Replay Value 5/10
The games seem to have some replay value in beating your high score. There are games to unlock, but they're just more Pac-Man clones, so they're not much of a reward for getting 15,000-20,000 points in Pac-Man.

-Sound/Music 7/10
Like I said about the graphics, they're just the same sound effects from the original arcade games, so they're not very good by today's standards. You really can't blame Namco for that. In a real museum, people don't upgrade the graphics of the paintings!

-Overall 6/10
I really wouldn't recommend buying Namco Museum unless you don't already have a copy of the included games or want them on GameCube, because you could get these games or games exactly like them online or for an older system for free or less money. A lot of the games are just copies of each other, so Namco Museum really just includes Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Pole Position.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/05