Namco Museum Vol. 1

"A Collection of the Best Games of the Regan Era"

In 1996, when the classic gaming craze was just getting started, Namco decided to release 7 arcade games of the early 1980's onto one Play Station game disc. The result is "Namco Museum Vol. 1" Onto my review.

PAC-MAN

This is the game that started the video game craze. The graphics are pixel-perfect to it's arcade counterpart. The sounds are just the same, and that's excellent. It takes awhile to get used to the PS1 controller to play Pac-Man with, but gets it done. Overall, Pac-Man is excellent

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--10/10
CONTROLS--9/10
GAME PLAY--10/10

GALAGA

This shooter help paved the way for the genre. The graphics are excellent. The sounds are perfect. The controls are very simple to use with a PS1 controller. Overall, Galaga is the best game on this disc.

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--10/10
CONTROLS--10/10
GAME PLAY--10/10

POLE POSITION

The best racing video game of it's era. The graphics are superb. The sounds are very good, even though the female voices are missing from this version. The controls take getting use to. Overall, Pole Position is excellent.

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--8/10
CONTROLS--9/10
GAME PLAY--10/10

BOSCONIAN

This is a multi-scrolling space shooter. The graphics are excellent. The sounds are superb, with voices telling you warnings about certain enemies. The controls are simple, thus making the game play excellent. Overall, Bosconian is just as good as Galaga.

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--10/10
CONTROLS--10/10
GAME PLAY--10/10

RALLY X

This game is similar to Pac-Man, but has race cars in it. The graphics are excellent. The sounds are top notch. The controls are perfect. I did have one beef with this game, and it's the impossibly hard difficulty.

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--10/10
CONTROLS--10/10
GAME PLAY--8/10

NEW RALLY X

This is the same game, but a lot easier. The graphics are the same as the other Rally X. The sounds are the same as Rally X. The controls are the same as Rally X. The toned-down difficulty in New Rally X helps boost the Game Play score up a couple of points.

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--10/10
CONTROLS--10/10
GAME PLAY--10/10

TOY POP

Now, for something different, an 1980's arcade game that was only released in Japan, which bummed out some North American gamers. The graphics are excellent. The sounds are perfect. The controls are superb. The game play consists of one or two players defeating the evil toys and defeating the Witch. Overall, Toy Pop is an excellent game.

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--10/10
CONTROLS--10/10
GAME PLAY--10/10

THE MUSEUM

This is not actually a game at all, but a tour of the history of Namco. The graphics consists of Doom-style rooms. The sounds are soothing. The controls are excellent, consisting of prompts to view all sorts of video game relics, like posters, key chains, evn the actual arcade machine motherboards themselves. I can't give the Museum a Game Play score because it's more of an actual museum exhibit than a video game.

GRAPHICS--10/10
SOUNDS--10/10
CONTROLS--10/10
GAME PLAY--N/A

OVERALL--10/10

If you're longing for the old days of simple video games, this compilation disc is for you. This disc should serve as an important part of video game history that future video game players should be aware of.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/23/04