PlanetDreamcast | Games | Reviews | Namco Museum

Namco Museum Page 2/2 A 1984 pizza parlor on a shiny silver disc - Review By Mr. Domino The Bad Yes, it's that game you play while Tekken loads. While Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Volume 1 did not feature any sort of background information on the games in its collection, such an omission is even more disappointing in Namco Museum. You see, Namco's Playstation-based arcade compilations have all featured 3D "museums" which featured all kinds of neat information and media from the classics. In comparison, this Dreamcast incarnation of Namco Museum is as bare bones as it gets. Since all the games featured on this Dreamcast disc have appeared in earlier Playstation releases, why couldn't Namco include the same rich historical data gamers have come to expect from prior Namco Museum products? The whole thing reeks of laziness. Another strike against the package is the lack of games. A GD-ROM can hold a gigabyte worth of data, and yet we get only six games, all of which are well below a megabyte in size. Namco really is milking its classics to the bone, and there really is no excuse for the company to not pack more games on this disc. The omission of a "volume" label on the game leads me to believe this will be the first and last Namco Museum to appear on the Dreamcast, so you're basically stuck with these six games unless you have a PlayStation and feel like buying all five Namco Museum compilations released for it. I personally wish Namco would update the series to include some more "modern" arcade ports. I'd kill (or buy if killing device is unavailable) for a disc with arcade perfect ports of Rolling Thunder 2 or Phelios. Also disappointing is the amount of options, or lack thereof. In particular, I'm personally disappointed that the speed boost enhancer isn't available for Ms. Pac-Man. While it was a hack, it was certainly popular enough to warrent the inclusion of some version of it on this disc. It seems that everyone remembers Ms. Pac-Man for its speed increase over Pac-Man, but in this collection they both move at the same rate. Also, an option to rotate the screen for a true, "arcade perfect" perspective would have been appreciated, but is also nowhere to be found on this disc. Hmph. Pole Position is one of this collection's weaker games. A more nagging complaint is that these games require immediate, precise control, and the standard Dreamcast controller really isn't cut out for it. To alleviate this, I strongly recommend playing with a joystick, especially if you're considering this disc primarily for Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Dig-Dug. Just like you need a gun for House of the Dead 2, you need a stick for Namco Museum (well, except for Pole Position). Finally, playing for points seems to be a dying concept for many modern gamers (witness the many Crazy Taxi naysayers). These are all old arcade games with no real ending, so all you'll be doing is trying to beat your high scores by learning how to play better. Back before "replayable" meant having to do odd tasks to unlock some new trinket, these games were replayable thanks to tight control, addicting gameplay, and great challenge. You played it because it was fun -- not to earn some trivial extra the designer decided to make players work for. Alas, this concept is lost on some players, and Namco Museum will certainly not appeal to them. The Final Word While most of the games here are instant classics and just as playable today as they were years ago, this compilation falls far below expectations when you consider the quality of the prior Namco Museum releases on the Playstation. Still, the six great and diverse games make Namco Museum a fun disc, even if the collection itself is less than stellar. Developer: Namco Publisher: Namco Genre: Action Highs: Classic, fun games, accurate arcade conversions. Lows: No history features (ala previous Namco Museums), options lacking, really needs a stick. Other: 1-2 Players, VMU Compatible (8 blocks), VGA Box Compatible, Jump Pack Compatible, Arcade Stick, VMU game downloadable ("PACit" -- 8 blocks). Media: Gameplay 1(MPEG) - Mad Dig-Dug skillz. [Big (8.5M)] - [Med (4.6M)] - [Small (1000K)] Gameplay 2 (MPEG) - Pole Position. After watching this, you would be forgiven for thinking that I was drunk. [Big (10.9M)] - [Med (5.9M)] - [Small (1.3M)] Gameplay 3 (MPEG) - Galaga - 'nuff said. [Big (14.1M)] - [Med (7.6M)] - [Small (1.6M)] Final Score: (out of a possible 10) Visit this Game's Dreamcast Database Entry Previous Reviews Comments on this review? Mail Feedback.