Namco Museum DS

"Another trip to the museum"

Who likes re-releasing old arcade games? It's Namco! Namco Museum DS is a compilation of seven games from the 80s that includes Pac-Man (who would've guessed), Dig Dug II, Galaxian, Galaga, Mappy, Xevious, and the Tower of Druaga. Wait, is that it? Uh... yeah. Pac Man Vs is in there, too, but it likes to do its own thing. And, really, Pac Man Vs is what makes this compilation.

Originally a Gamecube game, Pac Man Vs had one player be Pac-Man and the other players be the ghosts. When one ghost caught Pac-Man, they switched places and started a new maze. It was a lot of fun but was restricted by its reliance on GBA/GCN connectivity. You had to have a Game Boy Advance and link cable to play it, because Pac-Man needed to view the maze away from the ghosts. The ghosts aren't supposed to see what's going on as a whole. It makes so much more sense to have the game on the DS now since all players are on their own screen. And it works just as well. Even when all four players are playing off one cart through the download option, it runs smoothly and is just as frantic and hilarious as before. As an added bonus, the Mario announcer voice from the original Pac Man Vs is gone. Whew!

Okay, Pac Man Vs is a winner, given that you have three friends who also own a DS. You can play with less than four players, but AI-controlled ghosts just dink around until another player claims them as their own. So what about the other seven games? In simple terms: they stink. To be fair, I am not a big fan of retro gaming anyway, but I really question the selection here. Why Dig Dug II and not the original Dig Dug? Who even likes the Tower of Druaga? And what the heck is Mappy? There's little sense in having Galaxian and Galaga in the same compilation, either, as Galaga is a much livelier sequel. It just seems like Namco included Pac-Man by default, then rolled the dice six times to see what else should make it.

Pac-Man ends up being the best of the lot. That's not an insult, either, as Pac-Man's original design has remained entertaining and addicting for years. Galaga and Xevious aren't too bad, either. They are both top-down space shooters that, while a little archaic, provide a good challenge for those who have to beat the high score or else. But I can't say I enjoy any of the other games. Again, Galaxian is just a simpler version of Galaga. Dig Dug II takes place on the surface instead of underground and is a real bore because of it. Mappy is like a watered-down version of Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle. And Druaga is such a clunky, glitchy mess for a dungeon crawler.

But hey, the emulation is just as you would expect. The games look a little scrunched on the DS screen, but you can rotate the view sideways Brain Age style so it fits the original arcade look. It's just a bit more challenging to play like this. And speaking of challenge, there are a lot of options to alter the difficulty, whether you want to make it harder or easier by giving yourself extra life, lowering the requirements to get more life in-game, or turning some features off.

Final Comments:
There are only two conditions that should warrant a purchase of Namco Museum DS. 1) You are a big, big fan of retro gaming and retro compilations. 2) You have three DS friends. Because, let's face it, there's no sense in playing these oldies unless you have sentimental attachment to them. People have made better games since then! Pac Man Vs is pretty sweet as a multiplayer outing, though. I just wish Namco had focused more on that, giving it an online mode and the ability for players to create their own levels.

Score: 5.5

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 10/29/07

Game Release: Namco Museum DS (US, 09/18/07)