Review- Namco Museum 50th Ann.
Nov. 15th, 2006 12:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redneckgaijinSnagged this for $7 at a pawn shop last week.
Simply put, it's an anthology of old-old-OLD arcade games- most, but not all, of which I played back when I was young...er.
General: The games are a straight emulation import with a PS2 interface barely overlaid on top. When selecting a game, it runs through its usual "Feed me a quarter" show... only you can't see the whole screen. You see, a fairly large banner runs most of the width of the screen near bottom to let you know which button to punch to select 1 player or 2 player. Irritating. Scores, etc. do NOT automatically save to card. Finally, and most annoyingly, the two games not listed on the package- games you have to unlock by scoring high in certain other games- also have no instructions in the book, or anywhere else. All in all, very much a cheapo package.
Now for the orignal games.
PAC-MAN: Classic. 'Nuff said.
Ms. PAC-MAN: Classic, and a rare case of sequel being superior to original.
GALAGA: Classic.
GALAXIAN: Plays like either Galaga's grumpy humorlous father or its "special" cousin. Feh.
DIG DUG: ... should be classic, but isn't NEARLY as much fun now as it was back then. Mostly now it's frustrating and... well... lame.
RALLY-X: Nice, but I preferred the Commodore 64 knockoff which changed the cars into mice and the flags into cheeses. Besides, the C64 version actually had music.
POLE POSITION: SUCK ASS. Controls do NOT translate. Nearly impossible to control vehicle.
POLE POSITION II: Ditto.
XEVIOUS: Fun, but it kicks my ass.
DRAGON SPIRIT: Never played in arcade. Obviously an older version of Xevious' game engine... it kicks my ass without bothering to be fun.
BOSCONIAN: Never played in arcade. Annoyed the hell out of me at first, but grew on me rapidly. Just scored my first 100K+ score on it. And I get a kick of the various alerts and warnings delivered by a guy who sounds a lot like Teddy Kennedy. "Alaht, alaht!"
ROLLING THUNDER: Never played in arcade. Suck, suck, SUCK suck. It says bad things that the game is the only one on the disc to have an Invincible setting... and even THEN I can't complete the fucker.
MAPPY: You know, this is one of those games which seems like, with just a tweak, it could have been REALLY classic. Instead, it's better-than-average with a few annoying moments.
SKY KID: Ye gods. Could you have made a game that sucked more than this? A side-scrolling flight game that requires you to almost crash to pick up a bomb and then drop it on a target- oh, and whilst and at the same time fighting other planes, tanks, etc. with minimal control over your plane and VERY limited-range ammo. LAYME.
UNLOCKABLE: PAC-MANIA: A VERY cool adaptation- I'd seen it a couple of times in arcades, but ONLY a couple of times. If it bombed, it's lamentable, because the simple addition of (a) a jump button, (b) more ghosts, and (c) only being able to see a limited part of the maze at one time makes for an EXCELLENT game. This -should- have been classic- and to me it is.
UNLOCKABLE: GALAGA '88: Hm... much nicer graphics and music, with some sort of "Dimension" stepladder, but basically the same familiar Galaga engine. Fun and classic, but kicks my ass.
So, sixteen games in all, only six of which suck. Could have been much worse.
Worth a grab.
Simply put, it's an anthology of old-old-OLD arcade games- most, but not all, of which I played back when I was young...er.
General: The games are a straight emulation import with a PS2 interface barely overlaid on top. When selecting a game, it runs through its usual "Feed me a quarter" show... only you can't see the whole screen. You see, a fairly large banner runs most of the width of the screen near bottom to let you know which button to punch to select 1 player or 2 player. Irritating. Scores, etc. do NOT automatically save to card. Finally, and most annoyingly, the two games not listed on the package- games you have to unlock by scoring high in certain other games- also have no instructions in the book, or anywhere else. All in all, very much a cheapo package.
Now for the orignal games.
PAC-MAN: Classic. 'Nuff said.
Ms. PAC-MAN: Classic, and a rare case of sequel being superior to original.
GALAGA: Classic.
GALAXIAN: Plays like either Galaga's grumpy humorlous father or its "special" cousin. Feh.
DIG DUG: ... should be classic, but isn't NEARLY as much fun now as it was back then. Mostly now it's frustrating and... well... lame.
RALLY-X: Nice, but I preferred the Commodore 64 knockoff which changed the cars into mice and the flags into cheeses. Besides, the C64 version actually had music.
POLE POSITION: SUCK ASS. Controls do NOT translate. Nearly impossible to control vehicle.
POLE POSITION II: Ditto.
XEVIOUS: Fun, but it kicks my ass.
DRAGON SPIRIT: Never played in arcade. Obviously an older version of Xevious' game engine... it kicks my ass without bothering to be fun.
BOSCONIAN: Never played in arcade. Annoyed the hell out of me at first, but grew on me rapidly. Just scored my first 100K+ score on it. And I get a kick of the various alerts and warnings delivered by a guy who sounds a lot like Teddy Kennedy. "Alaht, alaht!"
ROLLING THUNDER: Never played in arcade. Suck, suck, SUCK suck. It says bad things that the game is the only one on the disc to have an Invincible setting... and even THEN I can't complete the fucker.
MAPPY: You know, this is one of those games which seems like, with just a tweak, it could have been REALLY classic. Instead, it's better-than-average with a few annoying moments.
SKY KID: Ye gods. Could you have made a game that sucked more than this? A side-scrolling flight game that requires you to almost crash to pick up a bomb and then drop it on a target- oh, and whilst and at the same time fighting other planes, tanks, etc. with minimal control over your plane and VERY limited-range ammo. LAYME.
UNLOCKABLE: PAC-MANIA: A VERY cool adaptation- I'd seen it a couple of times in arcades, but ONLY a couple of times. If it bombed, it's lamentable, because the simple addition of (a) a jump button, (b) more ghosts, and (c) only being able to see a limited part of the maze at one time makes for an EXCELLENT game. This -should- have been classic- and to me it is.
UNLOCKABLE: GALAGA '88: Hm... much nicer graphics and music, with some sort of "Dimension" stepladder, but basically the same familiar Galaga engine. Fun and classic, but kicks my ass.
So, sixteen games in all, only six of which suck. Could have been much worse.
Worth a grab.
