Namco Museum
- Ms. Pac-Man.
- Dig Dug
- Galaga
- Pole Position
Product Description
MANUFACTURER WARRANTY: 90 DAYSAmazon.com Review
Not anything lends itself better to portable gaming than the arcade classics. They’re addictive, replayable, and fun–plus it’s nice not to have to pump endless streams of quarters into them. That’s what makes Namco Museum such a must-have title for the Game Boy Advance system. People too young, or too impatient, to delight in a excellent coin-op had better stop reading now.
Like the PlayStation and N64 versions, Namco has packed a few of its best sports meeting onto the cartridge. For the GBA we get only five titles (four are listed on the front of the box, but Galaxian is also included). We have two versions of Ms. Pac-Man (one that shows the whole maze but is dreadfully small, and another that scrolls), Galaga, Pole Position, and Dig Dug. They are lovingly ported, complete with all the music and sound effects intact. What we don’t get is the droll Museum part and trivia found on other versions.
Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga are the real winners here. Both are exact renditions complete with all the extras (music, colors, sound effects, and bonus stages/cartoons). The controls on these two are also exact. Pole Position is droll, but features twitchy controls and pales in comparison to other GBA racing sports meeting. Galaxian, on the surface, seems the same as its sequel, Galaga, but it isn’t. The fire rate is much slower, so the pace of the game is different. Galaga is certainly better, but Galaxian is a nice addition regardless. Dig Dug is a classic, pure and unadorned, and it still plays well. It rounds out the pool nicely.
Arcade fans, especially those who used to line up (or line their quarters on the machine) to play these sports meeting, will be very pleased with Namco Museum. Those unimpressed with retro gaming probably won’t be converted. But, here’s hoping we see more arcade classics in the future, because I can’t reflect of a better platform for these than the Game Boy Advance. –Andrew S. Bub
Pros:
- Exact recreations of arcade classics
- A nice, diverse slate of sports meeting
- Nice of them to include two versions of Ms. Pac-Man
Cons:
- Pole Position isn’t so hot anymore
- No Museum features, such as trivia questions
Amazon.com Product Description
With Namco Museum you can play arcade favorites on the new Game Boy Advance. Four Namco greats are included in this cartridge: classic maze game Ms. Pac-Man, dig-your-own-maze title Dig Dug, ancient-school racer Pole Position, and prototypical arcade shooter Galaga. Gamers ancient enough to remember when each of these titles used to require a full-size arcade cabinet will delight in the simple portability, instant access, and classic gameplay.
Buy Namco Museum
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I don’t know the reasoning behind these ancient-school sports meeting–especially on such a capable system as the GBA. Nostalgia, perhaps? Maybe, but I’m not buying into the scheme. These sports meeting are ancient and tired, and don’t age very well. Don’t dissipate your time, or more importantly, your cash.
Rating: 1 / 5
I despise to do this because these sports meeting are classics, but this game is certainly NOT worth the cash. A friedn of mine bought this exact game for the PS1 and he got sick of it quick (I played it for 30 minutes once and I couldn’t stand playing anymore) Don’t get me incorrect, these sports meeting were cool when they first came out, but at this point in time, they have been as overplayed as Britney Spears’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” You can download similar versions of these sports meeting online for free! If I were a collector and had to have all things namco, I’d buy this, but since I’m not, I’m not going to. Again, if you really like these classic sports meeting and don’t get sick of playing them frequently, feel free to buy this game. I turst Namco can bame better new stuff!
Rating: 2 / 5
The Game has all the splendid features of the acarde sports meeting.
Rating: 5 / 5
Don’t get me incorrect, at first this game is fun, but after a while it gets tiresome. Even with 6 sports meeting, it lacks. Unless you really want to get that high score in Dig-Dug, or want first place in Pole Position, there are other GBA titles that will give you more bang for your buck.
Rating: 3 / 5
Museum Sports meeting are more of a lesson in classic gaming than an experience.
Namco’s Gameboy Advance release of the Namco Museum follow the same path the Williams has taken in their several Greatest Hits releases. This contemporary installment of the Namco museum includes a roster of five sports meeting. These sports meeting are: Ms. Pac-Man (1980), Galaxian (1979), Galaga (1981), Dig Dug (1982), and Pole Position (1982). These sports meeting have been fully restored on a release GBA Cart for your portable convenience. Contracted it is nice to have five different sports meeting on one cartridge, but I would hardly call this a worth while title.
I can not site any performance issues, nor can I compare the Namco Museum to any of the contemporary sports meeting out there. My reasoning behind this is because Namco fully restored Atari classics and packaged them for a modern system. Though I in person am not keen on this thought, I will admit, it is nice to remember the unadorned times. Each game is configured to interface with the D-Pad and the face buttons, whereas the shoulder buttons have no function in this package, leaving the controls as unadorned as the sports meeting themselves.
To my disappointment, both Galaxian and Galaga are virtually the same game. This means that you are paying for four sports meeting, when they advertise five. The slight difference between Galasxian and Galaga is the entrance of the enemies. In Galaga, enemies glide into view and bombard you as they penetrate. In Galaxian, the enemies are just lined up at the top of the screen, waiting for you to shoot them. All NAMCO needs to do at this point is throw in Space Invaders and advertise six sports meeting, but you will still only have four unique sports meeting.
The bottom line is, the NAMCO Museum is more of a history lesson than a worth while game. I rated this a 2 stars because Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug are still fun titles, but the other three just don’t have a lasting replay regard. I would pass this title up, unless it was on the cash off rack for less than five dollars.
Rating: 2 / 5