Namco Museum Vol. 3

"My favorite of the original 5 Namcomuseums"

By the time Namcomuseum hit the stands in 1996, arcade collections were nothing new. Midway and Namco had put out two each before that on the Playstation, while Capcom was cranking them out for the same platform in Japan and Sega had a few for the Saturn. They would continue to come out throughout the late 90s all the way to the present day. But to date, Namcomuseum 3 remains one of the best of the lot of the 32-bit era, for both the games and the presentation.

Six games are included on this, namely Ms. Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Galaxian, Pole Position II, Phozon and The Tower of Druaga. Each one is emulated directly from the original arcade roms, just like the other entries in the series. Also we’re treated to another, much better 3D introductory animation, which introduces each game and some related themes from them by name while Pac-Man skateboards around and about. Cute stuff.

The museum itself has seen a major league upgrade since the last two installments. You now immediately and automatically check in with the robotic receptionist, to register your name and save data. To your left is what I presume to be a picture of Ki from The Tower of Druaga. To your right is a door leading off to three things: the library, where you’ll find an updated list of Namco arcade releases, NG magazines and other periodicals, and plenty of pre-production images from The Tower of Druaga; the records book, protected by a tiny robotic Frygar, with all the stats for the six games in the collection; and the theatre, where all the sprite slideshows for the games can be found, along with 3D models of Mappy, Pino and Acha, a Pooka, the entire Pac-Man family, and the Metro Cross racer, amongst others, watch the big screen from the balcony you walk in on. There are characters on the floor level, as well, but other than the protagonists from The Legend of Valkyrie, I don’t recognize any of them… not from the back, anyway.

Anyhow, a quick hop up the stairs from the lobby, and you can access the game exhibits. From right to left, we have Dig-Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, Tower of Druaga, Phozon and Pole Position II. Since the theme of each exhibit for the games now extends to the Exhibit rooms as well as the game rooms themselves, though they all still include merchendise, screen overlays, and how-to-play information, we’ll look at the exhibit rooms alongside the games. But first, a general note that applies to all the games. The triangle button will bring up a pop-up menu this time as opposed to the old dip-switch mock-up menu. You can access all the same options here that you could in previous Namcomuseums. Now then, on to the games, starting with one of my all-time favorite arcade games…

Dig-Dug

Little Dig-Dug (you), apparently a gardener in some kind of space suit, has a problem. His garden is infested with little balloon creatures called Pookas and tiny flightless, fire-breathing dragons called Frygars, and you’ve got to dig underground to find them and exterminate them. Your weapons are boulders found under the soil that you can make fall and crush the foes underfoot, or your trusty bicycle pump to inflate them as if they were characters in a Tex Avery cartoon. This game is very addictive, controls great, and the graphics and sounds are all very cute. In short, it’s one of the star games of the collection.

Dig-Dug’s exhibit looks like it was dug right underground, and then opens up to what looks like a Pooka reserve, with two of the critters bouncing around in a zoo-like area. There’s also a little screen on one of the rock outcroppings that shows a quick movie of Dig-Dug tricking a Pooka and a Frygar into the path of a falling boulder. Ouch.

Ms. Pac-Man

Could the Pac-Man formula be topped? This game would seem to be proof, because as the old Atari commercials attested, “She’s not just Pac-Man with a bow.” The same eat-pellets, avoid-ghosts, eat-energizers-then-eat-ghosts rules apply, except now there are more mazes, the ghosts have more defined personalities and behaviors, the fruit bonuses now have to be chased, and the game sounds a little more pleasant than Pac-Man did. As the first major female video game protagonist, Ms. Pac-Man can even be considered fairly groundbreaking.

Once again, you’re in the yard of Pac-Man’s place for this exhibit, only this time you can go into the house. There, Ms. Pac-Man and Chomp-Chomp the dog are dancing happily, while Pac-Man is on the toilet. Well, with all the food they eat… no. That’s too easy.

It’s worth noting that there’s very little in the way of memorabilia on display here. That’s possibly because Ms. Pac-Man was not originally produced by Namco. When Midway had the license to manufacture the Pac-Man games in America, they got tired of waiting for Namco to make the follow-up (that would eventually be Super Pac-Man). This was while they were clamping down on bootleg versions of the game which made alterations to the mazes, etc. One such team of bootleggers offered to make their game official, and with a few more changes, Ms. Pac-Man was born without Namco’s permission! No wonder the Namco licenses eventually switched to Atari before Namco eventually set up shop in America. Regardless, Namco now owns everything Pac-Man, including this game and all the others Midway produced.

Galaxian

This was Namco’s first major smash hit, and it was produced primarily to capitalize upon the success of Taito’s Space Invaders. Using color graphics for the first time ever, and smarter aliens that stopped when you shot right between them, included flagships, and even came down for bombing raids on your ship, this was light years beyond the great granddaddy of shoot ‘em ups. Eventually, Galaga would eclipse this game, but it’s still a fine game to play if you have some time to spare.

This exhibit leads you into a hanger where the ship you pilot in the game eventually comes up as if in preparation for flight. The music here is probably the most exciting of all the remixed themes found on this disc, and really makes you feel like you’re rushing to head off to some great interstellar battle.

The Tower of Druaga

I’ve honestly been dreading this part of the review, because this game is the only real lemon of the bunch. You’re Gil, the knight, and Ki has been taken captive by Druaga. You’ve got to climb through 60 levels of RPG-style action in your efforts to rescue her. 60 levels… at the speed this guy walks? Oh, man, what were they thinking? And that’s not the only problem here. Practically each floor has some sort of item on it in addition to the key that lets you onto the next floor. Finding these items is a long chore, especially with Gil’s molasses-like speed. There’s an item list packaged with the game, though, so that helps. Also, you can either be attacking with your sword (meaning you hold it in front of you while you walk) or defending with your shield. And if someone walks into you while you have your sword out, guess what? You don’t hit him at all! Sheesh… apparently from all the stuff about the game put into this collection, it was a big hit in Japan, but I’m really glad we’ve come a long way since then.

The exhibit leads you through a brick hallway with the usual displays, but the game room features an apparently to-scale version of the main villain himself, Druaga. Wow, he’s been eating his Wheaties.

Phozon

Scientifically inspired, and also one of the first arcade puzzle games, Phozon sees you, the Chemic, trying to form shapes as indicated on the screen from the floating Moleks, while trying to avoid the Atomic and other enemies. Some enemies can be beaten by shooting off Moleks, and the Atomic can only be taken down on the so-called Challanging stage. It’s an interesting idea, and is worth a play or two, but this game is hardly what I would call a classic.

Phozon is hosted, appropriately enough, in a mock-up scientific testing facility, complete with scientists watching you play the game from another room.

Pole Position II

The follow-up to the first really great racing game, Pole Position II ups the ante by adding three tracks to the original that appeared in the first game. Once again you’re trying to qualify for the first race by successfully completing 2 laps with the time allotted. Then it’s off to the race! Like it’s predecessor, this game is a touch awkward to steer with the regular Playstation controller, but otherwise plays just fine.

Pole Position II is found in a showroom featuring the car from the game, complete with a model apparently there presenting information on the car. She doesn’t say a word, so I don’t know.

There you have it. Apart from one really lousy game, this is my favorite Namcomuseum of the four that I’ve played in the five available domestically for the PS1. The fact that you can find it for very cheap now helps matters, too. If you love the older games like I do, go for it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/28/02, Updated 09/28/02