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Many of these games are simply repeats from a Namco Museum package that's still available as a Greatest Hits/Platinum Hits/Player's Choice for the consoles, so their reappearance definitely deadens the impact of the new package. Both Pac-Mania and Galaga '88 are also in the collection, but are tucked away as unlockables, only becoming available after players set specific high scores in some of the available games. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Dig Dug, Rally-X, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Xevious, Dragon Spirit, Bosconian, Rolling Thunder, Mappy, and Sky Kid.
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For 20 bucks you get conversions of Pac-Man, Ms. The package says 14 classic arcade hits, but in reality there are 16 since two games in the package are unlockable. What could have been the Director's Cut DVD of videogames ends up as what could be considered one of those quickly-produced bargain discs you can find in the bin at Walgreens. Nor does it break down the history of Namco, its games and its properties, or even explain the success or failures of the titles in this package. Guh? What'd they do before Galaxian and Pac-Man? This package doesn't answer this question. First of all, Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary is a collection that spans 25 years of history. The company already offered a Namco Museum for the Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2 back in 2001, so for its anniversary we were expecting a huge bang. In fact, one of the most sought after discs in the original PlayStation library was a collection of arcade games that spanned more than five discs covering nearly all the gems in the company's backlog.
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Namco has always been big on re-releasing its classic games on current consoles. And for a commemorative package, that just doesn't cut it. No history, no cool development anecdotes, no creator notes. Many of the games included in this package are still as pick-up-and-play friendly and as fun as they have always been, but that's all you're getting. This "celebratory" compilation is so tame and unenthusiastic that there's barely any pride inserted in its backlog of arcade games from more than two decades ago. We love retro games such as Galaxian, Xevious et al - check out our redesigned Retro Zone on page 116 - but would we pay money again for these ageing titles when there's Prey to fire up? I'll say nowt else except direct the uninitiated towards the website.If Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary is how Namco commemorates company milestones, I don't want to show up to any of its parties. Probably because I was too busy playing Pac-Man down the local fish and chip shop to chat her up.īut I digress. In their place is a piss-poor soundtrack consisting of a handful of obscure 1980s tracks, with the only recognisable tune being Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runrfers, which incidentally, brought back painful memories of a party I went to in my teens when the girl I fancied got off with someone else. No interviews with the creators, no facts and figures, no promo sheets or adverts from the time - nada.
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However, the problem is that Namco are charging you 20 quid for a very lacklustre package that has a 'retro-cool interface' featuring the coin-op cabinets - and bugger-all else. Namco Museum is a collection of 14 retro arcade games including Galaxian, Galago, Dig-Dug and Pac-Man, and with the exception of one or two, all are genuine classics that you should play if you have any interest in our videogame history. You know, I never realised Namco's videogame heritage stretched back to the 1950s - the graphics back then must have been really shit.