GameSpy Review of Namco Museum Remix

Here's a funny little contrast for you. Recently, Namco Bandai released

Namco Museum DS, a portable collection of classic Namco arcade games that also features a port of a relatively recent console game (

Pac-Man Vs.). Now, the company is releasing Namco Museum Remix, a console collection of classic Namco arcade games that also features a port of a relatively recent portable game (

Pac'n Roll). Funny how that sort of things works out, eh? It's like the videogame universe is folding in on itself.







Before we start talking about the "remix" portion of the game, however, let's go over the "museum" part. And yes, you can use the Wii's Classic Controller to play these. We've already talked about the odd selection of retro titles in Namco Museum DS, but Remix seems to have that game beat on the eclectic-ometer. Some of the basic titles that you would expect to find in a Namco Museum collection are nowhere to be found here -- no Pac-Man, no Ms. Pac-Man, no Galaga. Pretty big oversights, right? There are still a few games you would expect: Dig Dug, Mappy, Xevious, and Galaga's vastly inferior prequel, Galaxian.







Here's where things get a little weird. In addition to those standard titles, there are also a few obscure entries from Namco's vast history. The shining star of these oddballs is the awesome (and criminally overlooked) Galaga sequel, Gaplus.The remaining games will fill you with conflicting emotions because even though it's great to see them in a compilation (for various reasons), none of them hold up especially well these days.












The biggest example of this is Cutie-Q. This 1979 pinball/Arkanoid hybrid looks primitive and isn't a whole lot of fun to play. However, it was designed by Toru Iwatani, the creator of Pac-Man, and the only previous home release of it was on the Japanese version of Namco Museum Volume 2 for the PlayStation.







Filling out the museum are three Pac-rarities: Pac-Mania, Super Pac-Man, and Pac & Pal. The isometric Pac-Mania has appeared on a few Namco Museum collections recently, but Super Pac-Man hasn't been seen since it was an unlockable game on the Game Boy Color version of Ms. Pac-Man. Pac & Pal was never even released in the U.S. and has never even gotten a home release. It's nice to have these mostly forgotten games in this collection, but the fact is that none of them are nearly as good as, say, Ms. Pac-Man. If these titles were included alongside the original Pac-classics, it would be pretty exciting. Having them instead of the "real" Pac-Man games just makes it feel like something is missing.







Pac Attack







So Namco Bandai kind of dropped the ball on the classic games -- maybe the remixes will make up for that. Well, not really. As we've already mentioned, the "main" (and best) remix game is a port of the overlooked DS title,

Pac'n Roll. This "Marble Madness-cum-platformer" is actually quite enjoyable, even if it is short and relatively easy. It's nice to see Namco Bandai giving the game a new life on the Wii. Although one might expect that you use the Wii Remote to guide the spherical Pac-Man though the game's maze-like levels (like in

Monkey Ball), you simply use the nunchuk's analog stick to move him about. A flick of the Remote triggers Pac's dash move. Even if the control scheme is unexpectedly simple, it works rather well and does a great job of substituting for the original's touch-screen control.







The other remixes don't fare quite a well, but it's amusing to see how Namco Bandai tried to cram Pac-Man into each of the new games. Rally-X Remix takes Namco's classic top-down racer/maze game and awkwardly forces it into three dimensions. The problem here is that the camera is too darn close to the action, making it difficult to see when a rival racer is about the crash into your car (the one that Pac-Man's driving, of course). The controls also feel very loose, which leads to plenty of unintentional wrecks.







Gator Panic Remix is a videogame version of an old redemption game that was released in the U.S. as Wacky Gator. It's essentially a whack-a-mole game, and it's fun for about one round. It's great to see those adorable alligators again, but virtual whack-a-mole gets old fast.










Pac-Motos is an update of the obscure 1985 arcade game Motos (recently seen on the PSP's

Namco Museum Battle Collection). It's a simple bumper car game where you force Pac-Man to ram his opponents off of a playing field. The action gets old fast, but it's mildly fun in short bursts.







The final remix is probably the most confusing of the bunch. Galaga Remix is so far removed from the original game that it almost seems pointless to give it that name. Here, Galaga is now a shooting gallery style game, with you using the Wii Remote like a light gun. Each stage features a twisting, roller coaster-style tube that Pac-Man automatically rolls through. As he progresses through the ride, wave after wave of Galaga aliens fly onto the screen to attack him. It's your job to blast them before they get that chance. You can also use the nunchuk's analog stick to make Pac-Man jump to dodge an attack. If you can get past the "this isn't Galaga" factor, it joins Pac-Motos in the "short bursts" category. All the of the remixes except Pac'n Roll are also playable with up to four people, but the multiplayer aspect doesn't really add much to the experience.







One very odd aspect of Namco Museum Remix is that it doesn't include the original version of any of the games that it remixed (Wacky Gator and Pac'n Roll aside). As if the museum lineup wasn't strange enough, there's simply no excuse to not have the original versions of Galaga, Rally-X and Motos. You have to wonder what Namco Bandai is thinking while putting these recent collections together. The $39.99 price tag also seems a bit too high. It would be a lot easier to recommend if it were half that price. As it is, you're paying $40 for lackluster collection of old arcade games, a port of a good DS game, and a handful of varying quality remixes that all feel like expanded mini-games.

©2007-11-05, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved