Developed By: M2 Co.,LTD
Published By: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platforms: PS4 / PC (Steam) / Switch
Reviewed On: PS4
Those old (and I mean really old) classic Namco games have been known in the gaming world. Of course, this is provided you came from a year that allowed you to be exposed to these games. As technology progression moving forward at an ever fast-paced, many of these games have a chance to be brought back for (certain) players to relive moments. However it does beg the question, is it worth it? Does the novelty even now is actually worth the effort?
Reminiscing The List
Bandai Namco has always been taking pride in their oldies and have been bringing many of these back on current-gen platforms. The Namco Museum Archives Vol 1 and Namco Museum Archives Vol 2 was released not long ago. Both volumes consist of 11 games each which is a mix of recognizable names and obscure ones. Here is the list of games for both Volumes.
Namco Museum Archives Vol 1
- Dig Dug
- Dragon Buster
- Dragon Spirit: The New Legend
- Galaxian
- Pac-Man
- Pac-Man Championship Edition
- Mappy
- Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti
- Sky Kid
- The Tower of Druaga
- Xevious
Namco Museum Archives Vol 2
- Rolling Thunder
- Dig Dug II
- Gaplus
- Legacy of the Wizard
- Pac-Land
- Mendel Palace
- Mappy-Land
- Battle City
- Dragon Buster II
- Super Xevious
- Galaga
Where Value Is Concerned
From a perspective of someone that has played some of these games, it was definitely a good walk back down to memory lane where some carry memorable moments in my life. For instance, replaying back Battle City brought back the moments I had when I was playing the game with my Dad and he wasn’t even into video games. However, the thought of a hardened man like him to be sitting down and playing video games with his son and even discussing strategies on passing a level was, in fact, a very memorable moment.
It is entirely understandable when publishers decide to bring back classics into current times. One can call it a bold move as games of such aesthetics and gameplay can be really overlooked without a given thought. We all have been spoiled with amazing looking games of the current-gen and replaying these classics can actually feel like a chore. In fact, even for us who had a chance to play these games have probably dropped the moments that we actually had fun with them when we were kids.
Times and technology have moved so fast that often times we forget the roots of the games we played. We likely forgot that these classics are the ones that paved the way for many of the current games that we are playing right now.
Nonetheless, it is easy for us to put some value of these games simply because we have played and have understood the game as it is. However, what about new generation gamers that came after during the time when PS2 or PS3 were at their pinnacle point.
Majority of them would not bat an eye on these classic games. At the same time, we can’t scowl at them simply because we know the value of it and they don’t. Value itself is subjective and we must respect that. I am very certain even Bandai Namco themselves don’t expect the release of these two volumes are going to go anywhere.
Simple And Straightforward
I usually like to break down the games I review but for this, however, classic games like these do not need to conform to such treatment. Everything about all the games in this list can be summed up in four words – simple, straightforward, challenging and repetitive.
Pac-Man has you eating up the snack pellets while getting chased by 4 ghosts, Battle City has you blasting down enemy tanks while Galaga has you shooting down ships. Majority of the games follow a simple flow, you complete a stage in however fashion you are required and you move on to the next level with little change in gameplay mechanics.
Both Museum Archives does offer of making every game a little less forgiving by including the rewind button. Now this does is as the name suggested, rewinds a couple seconds behind and you are able to redo certain actions in order to pass a stage. This makes completing many of the games a lot easier. In all honesty, I have never completed any of these games during my kid days because they were too hard for my young gamer mind to comprehend.
Emulation Empowerment
The emulation side of things is pretty well done and straight forward to use. The usual options such as changing the ratio screen, enabling scan lines as well as setting different wallpaper at the side of the in-game screen. While the emulation options works perfectly, the aesthetics of the emulation is rather on the dry end. While everything that are considered standards of emulation settings are in, I find the amount of wallpapers available is on the low side.
Furthermore, I find the menu to select games is rather unattractive. However, in terms of functionality, it works well
What I Liked
- Inclusion of certain known classics has its good novelty
- Additional options such as rewind button and able to save progression makes completing games a lot easier
- Good mix of games that were never heard of
- Emulation options are well made and stable
- A collection for old gamers to reminiscent the past moments
What I Wish Can Be Improved
- Adding more games into the list
- Additional in-game achievements added to increase replay value
- Giving out additional content through unlocking achievements
- Emulation options are a little lacking
- Emulation aesthetics are rather ugly
Verdict
Both Namco Museum Archives has its strong point in novelty. However, novelty is also considered subjective. While the games in the archives are rather known, I definitely wish that the list of games could’ve been expanded as there a lot more better selections that weren’t included in the list such as legend of Valkyrie. They could’ve increase the value for the entire package..
That said, the Namco Museum is a good entry for players to replay and relive the moments when we were kids.
