GameSpy Review of Namco Museum DS

It's pretty much a given that if you create a videogame system, Namco will find a way for you to play its old arcade games on it. The Namco Museum series has popped up on just about every system since the original PlayStation, and it's actually quite surprising that it took this long for it to appear on the DS. Heck, the PSP got its own Museum a mere five months after that system was released.

The wait for a DS museum has not come without its benefits, though. In addition to the handful of retro Namco titles on this cartridge, you're also getting Pac-Man Vs., the Shigeru Miyamoto-designed multiplayer update of the classic arcade game that was released on the GameCube back in 2003.

Before we talk about Vs., though, let's look at the '80s relics that flesh out this compilation. There are seven other games here, and it's an odd mix to be sure. Not surprisingly, the original Pac-Man is included, but its far superior sequel, Ms. Pac-Man, is nowhere to be found. The fairly dull Space Invaders-inspired Galaxian is also included, but it's doubtful you'll play much of it because its far superior sequel is included. 26 years after the fact, and Galaga is still one of the most playable shooters out there.

Mappy and Xevious are two games that we feel don't get enough praise when they're included in these collections. Mappy is a simple yet addictive platformer, and Xevious is one of the first vertical scrolling shooters, and with its dual planes (you shoot enemy ships out of the sky and bomb ground targets), it was pretty innovative back in 1984.


Quarter Bin

Rounding out the collection are a couple of, well, not-so-great titles. For some reason, the mildly obscure Dig Dug II is featured here instead of its predecessor. No longer burrowing underground, Dig Dug now uses a jackhammer to break apart a series of islands, sending his foes into the ocean. If the original Dig Dug was on the collection, then this sequel would be a nice bonus. Having it instead of the original, however, makes no sense. The final game is The Tower of Druaga, a dull dungeon crawler/maze game.

Even if the retro lineup is a bit schizophrenic, the games are all emulated well. There are multiple options to tweak each of the games' controls, game settings and screen options. If you know what you're doing, you can even mess around with digitized versions of the arcade boards' DIP switches.

Old-school gamers will appreciate the "Hardcore Options" in each title. Here, you can turn glitches on and off, allowing you to play "fixed" versions of the game or to recreate the bugs in the original builds. There are even a few odd settings, like one that simulates screen burn-in on Xevious. By playing around in the Hardcore settings, you can also unlock two semi-bonus games: the original version of Dig Dug II that features new stages and Super Xevious, an upgraded version of the game that features some new enemies and a higher level of difficulty. Although each game defaults to being squashed on the DS's top screen, you can configure your view to more closely match the original arcade ratios. These games were all originally played on a vertical monitor, so we found that the best way to play them on the DS is by turning the system sideways, book-style. The system's second screen is usually used to configure the options, but when playing Galaga, Xevious and Druaga, you can have hints and maps displayed on the screen. This is actually quite helpful and the provided clues will really improve your score.

Connectivity Lives

Let's face it, though. If you're buying this game, you're probably getting it for Pac-Man Vs.. Honestly, this multiplayer-only game is almost worth the $20 that Namco Museum DS costs. If you didn't play Vs. on GameCube, it's essentially a four-player version of Pac-Man. One player controls Pac-Man while the other three players control the ghosts. The goal should be obvious: Pac-Man needs to eat as many dots as he can without getting caught by the ghosts. When a ghost player catches Pac, they swap places -- the catcher gets to play as Pac-Man and the catchee gets demoted to ghost status. Players trade off like this until someone reaches a target score, ending the game.


Making things trickier is the fact that the ghosts have a very limited view of the maze while Pac-Man gets to see the entire board. By chomping on the occasional piece of fruit that appears in the maze, though, the ghosts' view temporarily expands, allowing them a better chance of finding Pac. To keep things fresh, there are five different mazes to choose from.

The GameCube version of Vs. was a blast, but it was quite difficult to get a game together. In addition to the system and a copy of the game, you also needed four Game Boy Advance systems and four GBA-to-GameCube link cables. The game's setup also required constantly swapping GBAs back and forth as the portable system that was plugged into the first controller port was always assigned to Pac-Man. After a couple of rounds, you were left with a tangle of wires. Now, all you need are four DS systems and one copy of the game. No wires, no system swapping, no fuss. Without the complicated setup (and the need for a full console system), it's much easier to get into the game.

It's difficult to pin down a final score for Namco Museum DS. As a classics collection (a Namco Museum, if you will), it fails pretty hard. It's lacking some much-needed games, and its meager selection of seven classic titles pales to the 21 in the PSP Museum. Pac-Man Vs., however, is excellent. It's a perfect "bring your DS so we can play while we stand in line at the movie theater" kind of game. Think of it like this: if you're picking this title up for Vs., you'll love it; if you're looking to scratch a retro itch, though, you'll find that this compilation leaves a lot to be desired.

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