I originally purchased this cartidge for me shortly after my 8 year old daughter got her Nintendo DS. Who has the time or money to go to an arcade and play these games, let alone find them in an arcade? This collection of original games we old timers use to play in the arcades is great! The games sound and look the same, except for the small size and the fact that I'm not running out of quarters. My only regret is that the Nintendo DS (and I'm sure it would be the same for GBA) is so small that a real "physical" player such as myself has difficulty keeping it still enough to see the screen - this is especially true for Ms Pac Man & Galaga. This is one great advantage to the large game units...they are impossible for players to move during play. Also, the simple ball joy stick was much easier to operate than the cross-shaped navigation control on the NDS. I don't play as well as I did, but then I don't need to...I can play as often as I want. Well, until my little girl asks for it back! If I was better with the controls I would give this cartridge an EXCELLENT rating. But, due to the limitations of the controls on the NDS & GBA it makes fast play difficult. So, I rate it as GOOD. :)Read full review
The cart has a collection of five popular arcade games - Ms. Pac-man, Pole Position, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Galaxian, in order of their appearance on the main menu. Of the games on the cart, Ms. Pac-man is probably the weirdest port of the bunch; the sounds are erratic at best, the control seems clumsy and unresponsive at times, and the game "feels" uneven in some way I can't really put my finger on. People who like the "speed hack" version of Ms. Pac-man will have major issues with this port; no speed-boost option is available in this version. An below-average port IMO, and certainly not a good way to start off the collection. "Pole Position" has its own interesting problems. The images "from a distance" will "jump" from one area of the screen to another before they finally start "zooming in" towards the player. You really have to see this game in action to truly understand what I'm saying. But to see this happen countless times during the game is distracting. I'd just ignore the problem myself, except that the cars come in from the top of the screen, too! It's impossible to ignore what's on top of the screen without getting yourself killed. The gameplay works well (thankfully), but like many racing games, this is exactly the same every time you play it; the game offers no surprises once you've played it all the way through. And the "R" button to switch gears? Really? What's wrong with the Select button? A decent port, but it has the arcade game's problems on top of its own. "Dig Dug" is a major highlight for the collection. Everything in this port comes together very well, and its differences to the arcade game aren't too hard to stomach. As far as I can tell, all the levels from the arcade game are here, and although there isn't a High Scores list, most of everything else from the arcade game remains intact. This is probably the best port of the bunch. Only the Famicom version of the game tops the Nintendo ports in the quality department. "Galaga" is the fastest-paced game on the list, and of the Nintendo versions I've seen of the game, this one is definitely the best. The music has some interesting differences from the arcade game, and the excellent music from the High Scores chart is sadly absent from this port. Overall, an above-average version that's only slightly below the game it's based on. "Galaxian" ends the line-up, but while this port is very faithful to the arcade game (and matches the quality of the Famicom port), this game - IMO - is a weak way to wrap things up. The gameplay in Galaxian is nowhere near as fast-paced as Galaga, and all the levels look exactly the same no matter how much progress you make. There's a bit of randomness thrown into the game engine I suppose, but it's not enough to keep me interested personally. While I'm glad Galaxian helped pave the way for Galaga to make its entrance (and the sound effects are pretty cool), I'm sorry to say the gameplay for Galaxian doesn't stand the test of time for me. Really, the Ms. Pac-man port is the only major thing wrong with this collection. To start off with a below-average game, follow it up with three good games, and end with an average game, this cart really makes me scratch my head. While the collection is a mixed bag to be sure, at least it's acceptable. I'd say pick it up.Read full review
Why is it a great game? Simply for the nostalgia factor, and nostalgia is what you get. Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Pole Position and Dig-Dug are what's contained in Namco Museum. If you're looking for some nostalgia on the GBA, this is where it's at. Otherwise, you're gonna get more bang for your buck with the follow-up Namco Museum for DS, which has these games and several more. Regardless, all the games are as you remember them. You can adjust the difficulty and lives in the options, and several games allow screen scrolling for greater detail or stretching to fit everything on the screen. Some games you'll prefer the stretching (Ms. Pac-Man, so you can keep track of ghosts) and others work better scrolling (Dig-Dug). They also come with helpful hints and tips that give you a better idea of how to score higher or just survive longer. So while I feel Galaga and Galaxian are pretty much the same game, others may not look at it the same way and enjoy it regardless. I mostly play just for Ms. Pac-Man and Dig-Dug, but since they're there, on occasion I'll enjoy a good round of Pole Position or Galaga. I largely bought this game because of Pole Position and Dig-Dug, both solid games I've grown up with. The other games are a great bonus. Highly recommended for the nostalgia!Read full review
Well what can I say?If you liked these games as I did in the arcade when you were a kid then this is a wonderful treat. I was never good at Dig Dug in the arcade and couldnt afford to get better, but now I can continue my game with a push of a button and I am getting further than ever. I think DigDug may be my favorite on this collection. Altho before I got this, Ms.PacMan was and still is my favorite arcade game. But on this disk the Ms PacMan can either be full screen in which case it is tiny and not as fun looking, or you can use the scroll feature which shows you the bottom half of the screen until tou go higher and then it scrolls up. This can be confusing as you cannot see the entire gameboard and you will not know where the ghosts are and unless your memory is flawless you may not realize you have a few dots left in the other half of the board that you cant see. Galaga is awesome. Its another vertical game tho so it is tiny but I find it much less of a problem than the tiny MsPacMan.Pole Position is exactly as it is in the arcade, impossible to steer! Very fun. Galaxian is also included on this but not pictured. I think they did good not to let you know its on here. There is nothing good about that game. All in all this is a solid product and I would recommend to anyone who loves retro gaming.Read full review
Namco Museum has to be one of the best collections of old school games you can buy. From Ms. Pacman to Galaga the action never stops! The very user friendly menus make selecting and tweaking the 5 titles a breeze. The games are not arcade perfect but still due the job with flying colors. The screen scrolling in Dig Dug was done well. This title was definetely worth every penny!!!
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