Namco Museum 64

"Its like having your own arcade in a cart!"

All right, I’m doing things a bit differently in this review, so bear with me. While wandering around the mall, I came across Babbages. I went in, and eyed the merchandise, looking for a copy of Robopon. Alas, Robopon was gone. I sighed, and searched for a different game. Then, my eyes came across this beauty. I LOVE these classic arcade games, so I quickly bought it. These are some of the best games ever made, and a blast to play.

Well, what is the story? A game gotta have a story!
No, my dumb friend. Games need not a story to be a good game. The game simply puts together some of the best classic arcade games ever made, and hopes you like them.
STORY SCORE: (NA)

Okay, there is no story. Well, what about the gameplay?
Gameplay, huh? Well, buddy, this game packs a lot of it. You got 6 different classic arcade games, all intact and pretty much flawless. You also get a chock full of special features and stuff you can tinker with. “You are an arcade god”, as the instruction book puts it. You can screw with the arcade game’s dipswitches and set the difficulty, bonuses, and almost anything you can think of. Make the game super easy, or make the game super hard. Make getting an extra life super hard, or super easy. You choose, game, and enjoy it. Admittedly, some of the menus took a little getting use to. In about 5 minutes, you’ll get a feel for the menus and sort them out much easier then before. The game uses the Memory Pack thingy to save your high scores, and special settings.
GAMEPLAY SCORE (10/10)

Did you call me a dip****?
No, I said dipswitch. Now get back to the review.

So, you got gameplay. But what about the game’s themselves?
The super cool and amazingly fun games here are a blast to play. When I first put this in my N64, I said “I’ll only play for 30 minutes, then I got to clean up my room.” An hour or two later I finally remembered what I said. What reviews of the games? Just ask, buddy.

I wish I had a Gal-aga to love.
Female problems, eh? Or, are you asking for a review of Galaga? Well, since I can’t help with the female problems I’ll review Galaga. Galaga is a fast paced space shooter, kind of like its counterpart Galaxian. On the arcade-ness factor, Galaga stays true to the arcade game. All of the music and scoring and other stuff is in place. You control a space fighter at the bottom of the screen that moves left and right, and you fire your laser at the flying space monsters. The space monsters enter the screen from any angle, and fly around a bit while shooting before they fly to the top and float back and forth. Once all of the space monsters are at the top of the screen, some fly back down, doing somersaults and other maneuvers while shooting in an attempt to destroy you. Once you beat a few levels, you get a chance to take part in a Challenge Stage where space monsters fly around unpredictably and you must shoot them all to get much bonus points. But wait, there is more! If one of the space monsters flies towards you and sucks you up with the tractor beam, the game is over right? Nope! Your ship gets captured, but you can rescue it. I’ll leave how to rescue it up to you, though… Galaga is a blast to play, and is incredibly addicting.
GALAGA SCORE (10/10)

Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah Pac-Man!
I believe the song ends with Batman, you moron. Anywho, Pac-Man is the ultimate maze game. This game was copied in so many ways it isn’t funny. Pac-Man is the ultimate pig. Not surprisingly, this game is insanely fun and challenging. Controlling Pac-Man, you run around the maze and gobble up little pellets while avoiding those stupid ghosts-

I don’t like ghosts! They are scary!
These ghosts aren’t scary, you moron. And don’t interrupt me. Now, you avoid those ghosts while chowing down on little pellets around the maze. If a ghost is tailing you, don’t worry. Eat one of those huge Power Pellets! Eating a Power Pellet makes Pac-Man eat almost anything, including those bastard ghosts. The ghosts turn blue and you can eat them, but you better hurry before the ghosts turn back to normal! Beat some levels, you get to see a neat little cut scene. Score enough points, you get an extra life. Score enough points, a snack appears on the screen and you gobble it up for more points. A cool little gadget is those warp tunnels that allow you warp from one side of the maze to another, allowing you to lose ghosts chasing you. A tad repetitive, though, as eating pellets in the same maze after maze gets boring. Don’t worry, Ms. Pac-Man changes that.
PAC MAN SCORE (9/10)

Boy, that Ms. Pac-Man is sexy…
You are truly one screwed up kid. Ms. Pac-Man is just as fun, if not more, as Pac-Man. Ms. Pac-Man pits the Pac’s wife against the ghosts in a maze similar to the one in the original, with the goal of eating all the pellets before the ghosts eat you. Speaking of ghosts, those jerk’s AI improved a lot, making the game more challenging then the first. One of the better features is the change of scenery that Ms. Pac-Man offers. When you beat two levels, you see a neat little cut scene and you go to an all-new level, with a different layout. Of course, score enough points and get an extra life. Speaking of points, in each level two snacks float around, and you must eat them for points before they disappear. This one is excellent, and is incredibly tense when you got a ghost that is chasing you and just won’t stop.
MS. PAC-MAN SCORE: (10/10)

A long time ago, in a Galaxian far, far away…
STAR WARS! Hehehe! Well, in this less-fast paced, earlier released version of Galaga, your goal is basically the same as the other space shooter in the game. You must shoot all of the monsters before they shoot you. They don’t fly and enter the screen like Galaga, instead they start out at they top of the screen. The float to the left and right, occasionally flying down to shoot at you. Alas, you can only fire one laser at a time, and you cannot fire a laser unless the one already fired is off the screen. Your spaceship moves kind of slow, and that gets annoying once you get to the later, harder levels. Overall, this one is a little slow paced, making it a little boring.
GALAXIAN SCORE (7/10)

I’m sorry, but I can’t think of anything witty for Pole Position.
That’s okay, we can’t expect you to be funny all the time. Pole Position is a riot to play. This is defiantly one of the best racing games of all time. Well, first you must qualify for the real race in a smaller race. You must beat a group of other racers on the track to start out from 1st to 8th place in the real race. You got high and low gears, brakes, and the usual stuff. The track is curvy and requires you to use your braking and gear shifting skills, and you must be careful not to smash into the other cars and billboards around the track. The billboards themselves have different designs on them, like a picture of Pooka from Dig Dug, a ghost from Pac-Man, and more. I don’t care what you all say. Pole Position is by far one of the greatest and most fun racing games of all time.
POLE POSITION SCORE (10/10)

I’m Hans, and this is Frans, and we are going to pump you up!
A Saturday Night Live fan, huh? Oh just a clever play on words, since Dig-Dug’s only weapon is a pump? Well, we’ll let you choose. Any way, Dig-Dug is the best game on the cart. Playing as the title character, you maneuver your way underground and attack monsters by using a pump to inflate them till they pop. Pookas just move back and forth, and attempt to hit you while Fygars have a special fire breath attack that you much watch out for. You press a button to send the pump out, and press that button till the creep goes “POP!” Or, you can dig under a rock while being chased by a monster, and pray that the rock smash the creep. You should do the latter more often, as you will get much more points that way. See the thing is that when there is only one bad guy left, the dude attempts to run away off the screen. You can let him go, or chase after him for and kill him for points. Drop two rocks in a level and a veggie treat appears. Eat it and you get extra points. This game has got to be my favorite in the cart. You will dig up lots of fun playing it! (Sorry about the pun…)
DIG-DUG SCORE (10/10)

So, we got the games covered. But, do they look good?
Yep. They are true to their quarter munching counterparts. The 2D sprites look pretty good, and some of the games pack a surprising amount of detail. When you play Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, or Galaga, you get a neat side background. My only grief is that when playing Pole Position, the screen gets a little choppy. Other then that, these graphics are like the arcade and look neat.
GRAPHICS SCORE (9/10)

Music… makes the people… come together… yeah…
Madonna, huh? Well, the music in these games is all like the originals. Read other reviews and they’ll say some music is out of place, but I didn’t notice any out of place tunes. The game select screen has a neat little tune that is a remix of all the themes from the games on the cart. That tune is pretty cool, and I found myself humming it and not noticing I was. Some of the sound effects get a bit tiring, such as Mr. and Ms. Pac-Man’s constant pellet eating. But, that’ll only get on your nerves once you get to the higher, much harder levels.
MUSIC SCORE (9/10)

Controlling is as simple as Jerec.
Oh! Low blow to the J-Man! You get major bonus points for that man. Expect to be coming back to another review of mine. Controlling the games is incredibly easy. The Control Stick doubles as a joystick and works great in most games, except for Dig-Dug and Pole Position, in which case the D-Pad works the best. You can use almost any button to fire the lasers, pump up bad guys, etc. Flexibility is the key here, and this game has it.
CONTROL SCORE (10/10)

Well, what is left? Oh yes, the replay value! How is that?
What offers more replay value then practicing to beat your high score? Seriously, I guarantee that you’ll be playing these games well long after you’ve bought the game.

Should I buy it, or should I rent it?
Mega slaps him.

Ow!
Are you stupid? Have you been listening to me? Buy! Buy!

NOTES:
Expect this guy to come back in a different review of mine.
If this wins ROTW, I’ll dress up as an angel and do community service at the local old folk’s home.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/01, Updated 08/31/01