Namco Museum is a compilation of seven classic arcade games, two bonus games, and three games making their console debut.If you're going to implement some cool new ideas for an old game, don't make it a weekend project. You can't go about trying to make some half-assed game. It's difficult to see or tell what is going on here. These big thick trails of light look a lot like the missiles enemies shoot at you, making it almost impossible to tell what's part of the scenery and what's about to frag you. The problem is that some idiot decided to have an endless meteor shower raining down throughout the game. There are plenty of new and odd enemies to fight and many of them are kind of cool. But hit the second level and aliens begin entering in bizarre fashions, like in circles and warping in and out. The first level begins as if it's the normal Galaga game with some slightly spiffed-up graphics. The worst offender here is Galaga Arrangement, a game that actually has some good ideas but then some terribly flawed design choices. So slapping together some fancy graphics (which look worse than the originals) and adding twists to the gameplay isn't the right way to go. It's the essence of the game and the era and your youth. It's not that you consider Pac-Man to be the greatest game ever and Halo is just something to line the bird cage with, you want Pac-Man because you played it when you were a kid. You have no desire to play something 'like' Pac-Man. But here's the thing, you buy this compilation, you want to play Pac-Man. The idea was to add some visual punch and some gameplay twists to each one. These three Arrangements are the reworkings of Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig Dug. It's a bit too sensitive and just not the same experience as it was in the arcade.Īrrangements To add some value to the compilation, Namco has included what they're calling Arrangements. As great as they were in the arcade, they just don't feel right being controlled with a D-Pad instead of a steering wheel. The only real problem comes with the Pole Position games. Everything from graphics on down to the exact sounds is as it should be. Pac-Man faux paus, the rest of the classics are perfect. All you have to do is port a handful of old games onto a console that can run Halo and you don't even get the tempo right? Boo.īeyond the Ms. But here, Pac-Man actually seems a bit quicker on the gobble. Pac-Man great was the fact that it was faster than the original Pac-Man. Sure enough, this console port is really slow.

It felt sluggish and I thought maybe I was nuts, but then I went and played Ms. Pac-Man is actually slower than the original. But while Pac-Man and most of the rest seem exact translations, Ms.

Each game features the true arcade side-paneling on the borders to give you the feel of playing on a real arcade board. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Galaga, and both Pole Positions) are well represented, with the exception of Ms. The package The true classic games of Namco Museum (Mr.

Pac-Mania (unlockable) - Pseudo-3D Pac-Man where you can jump the ghosts (or just turn off the game).

Pac-Attack (unlockable) - It's like Tetris with Pac-Man! Wait.Galaxian - A poor cousin to the better-loved Galaga.Pac-Man - One of the best games ever made Pole Position II - No wheel, but more Position.Pole Position - A classic racer in need of a steering wheel.Dig Dug Arrangement - As the Mona Lisa is to a painting made from elephant feces, Dig Dug is to this Arrangement.Dig Dug - You pump up monsters until they explode - genius.Galaga Arrangement - Like a halcyon-induced hallucination.Galaga - As Virtua Tennis is to pong, Galaga is to Space Invaders.Pac-Man Arrangement - A befuddled mess filled with disco flashes and horrendous music.No matter how many times Namco releases their Museum, members of the IGN editorial staff manage to wander by and say, 'Oh man, I love Dig Doug.' It then takes about twenty minutes before they'll give up the controller and go back to their drinking binge. Being among that group, I assure you that nostalgic feel is real and ever-present.

Dig dug arrangement music