Namco Museum (Switch)

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eneuman96
Posts: 326
Joined: April 13th, 2015, 11:16 pm

Namco Museum (Switch)

Postby eneuman96 » July 31st, 2017, 8:53 pm

This Switch-exclusive collection is...a mixed bag. First off, here are the games included, in order of release:

-Pac-Man
-Galaga
-Dig Dug
-Tower of Druaga
-Sky Kid
-Rolling Thunder
-Galaga '88
-Splatterhouse
-Tank Force (a game I never even heard of prior to playing this collection)
-Rolling Thunder 2
-Pac-Man Vs.

As you can see, there's a mixture of legitimate classics with some...fairly subpar titles. The most surprising inclusion is Pac-Man Vs., a game originally released on GameCube that required at least two players and a Game Boy Advance to link up to. Ironically, this game would have been perfect on the Wii U, but I'll give a major kudos to Namco for adding in not only a 1-player option, but a free app on the eShop that serves as this game's equivalent to the Download Play feature on the DS and 3DS.

Sadly, not all of the rest of the games are this stellar. What irritates me about the Namco Museum series is that there's never been a definitive edition with all or nearly all of the games released in their past collections. The 11 titles here pale in comparison to several previous Namco Museum collections, even with the addition of HD Rumble (which arguably makes Splatterhouse a better game) and the option to flip the screen sideways. It's great to be able to play Galaga '88 and Pac-Man Vs. on the go, but how many people are going to play Sky Kid or Druaga for very long?

The $30 price tag is also hard to swallow especially considering not all of these games are worth playing. Granted, it's not quite as bad as the $40 highway robbery known as Ultra Street Fighter II, but it's still fairly ridiculous. Rare Replay included 30 games for as many dollars, many of which were much more advanced and more difficult to emulate than the ones included here, so why couldn't Namco Museum do the same?

Seriously, they passed up Ms. Pac-Man for Sky Kid.

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Atariboy
Posts: 956
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 11:07 pm

Re: Namco Museum (Switch)

Postby Atariboy » July 31st, 2017, 9:41 pm

I've never had the pleasure of playing it with friends, but I imagine Namco Museum DS is the way to go for playing Pac-Man Vs. Single cartridge multiplayer according to my manual, no link cables, and the commonality of the DS and 3DS hardware probably make it the most realistic way for a group of friends to enjoy this game without sharing a single display.

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Rookie1
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Joined: August 6th, 2015, 7:42 am

Re: Namco Museum (Switch)

Postby Rookie1 » August 1st, 2017, 7:38 am

I usually love these compilations, but the price tag is hefty for what youre getting. Should be $14.99 at the most, especially since it is digital only. I mean, the majority of those games have been released a bazillion times in a bazillion different way that they might as well just be free by now.

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Atariboy
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Joined: April 7th, 2015, 11:07 pm

Re: Namco Museum (Switch)

Postby Atariboy » August 2nd, 2017, 8:05 pm

I got a kick out of this shot of Namco Museum running on the Switch, with the Hori vertical stand.

Image

Makes me hope that more vertically oriented classics show up here (And if they do, that they offer a TATE mode). Where's Vectrex Regeneration when you need it (An excellent iPad classic compilation of most of the Vectrex library, which also included a TATE mode option for those with iCades)? :)

Strikers 1945 releases tomorrow from another publisher (A 1990's vertical shooter). With TATE mode now easily usable for normal people, hopefully we'll see it offered with this release. It should be a standard option whenever vertical arcade classics appear on this system.

BanjoPickles
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Joined: June 18th, 2015, 3:05 pm

Re: Namco Museum (Switch)

Postby BanjoPickles » August 2nd, 2017, 11:35 pm

I would buy it, but the price is a bit steep for what they're offering.

Honestly, I wish they would update this compilation! With the exception of a few new additions, this is the same selection they've been trotting out for twenty years! At this point, there is no reason for games like Cybersled, Tekken, Ridge Racer, or Soul Caliber to be excluded!


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