Review Preview

Hey, vizzed members! I’m Pac and I finally decided to review a game that isn’t centered entirely around Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man. However, this game does have the game Ms. Pac-Man in it! This is my review of Namco Museum for the Game Boy Advance. Alright, I’d better get started! Just a heads up, I’m not at all used to reviewing big collection games like this.

GRAPHICS

6.5/10

I rated this a 6.5 because every game looks good regardless of whether you compare it to its original game or not. Except for 2 games: Galaga and Galaxian. Why do they look so ugly and small? Sure, Ms. Pac-Man has a mode where the whole maze is crammed onto one screen, but only Ms. Pac-Man’s bow looks too pixel-y.

If Galaxian was more zoomed in (which it could be, the score part on the right is huge) it might look more like the original game. But no, Namco thought the score was more important to see than what you’re actually doing.
Galaga is the same way. The score part takes up a lot of space when it could be the part that’s scrunched up and it wouldn’t be too bad. All the enemies in both games look like they’re supposed to… if they were zoomed in. Here, it’s too ugly. It is difficult for me to play a game if I don’t like what I’m looking at.

ANIMATIONS

10/10

I rated this a 10 because all the animations look excellent. I think that’s because these games are pretty much the arcade versions converted to the Game Boy Advance. I sure am glad Namco decided to do that with the arcade versions and not the NES versions or something. That might turn out a little ugly, like Galaga and Galaxian’s graphics are!

The animations are a little weird to look at in the full screen mode of Ms. Pac-Man, but they all appear great and there isn’t anything that immediately captures my attention that looks terrible. Ms. Pac-Man even has the intro that shows all the ghosts and Ms. Pac-Man moving around the red text box!

One of my favorite animations to watch in this game is the race car blowing up in Pole Position when it hits a sign. It’s violent for an arcade game but cool to watch. It lets me know, “Hey idiot you screwed up”, but I can laugh it off.

SOUND EFFECTS

10/10

I rated this a 10 because despite the Game Boy Advance having different a different soundfont, the sound effects sound greatly similar to the arcade versions of those games. I like the sound that plays when you select a game or mode. It’s a slightly altered version of the ghost-eating sound effect from Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.

It seems that Namco gave their all to replicate the sounds from the arcade games and they turned out well.  I think some of them even sound better than the originals. There’s a slight problem though. Dig Dug, Galaga, and Galaxian have much louder sound effects than the rest of the games. I have to keep adjusting my speaker so I don’t get sound blasted in my ears!

MUSIC

10/10

I rated this a 10 for the same reason as the sound effects: they highly resemble their arcade versions! I really want to talk about the title screen/game select screen music. It’s my jam. But seriously, what a cool, clever remix of Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and Galaxian’s songs. I have been listening to it for at least 4 minutes now and I still can’t get enough of it.

ADDICTIVENESS

10/10

I rated this a 10 because of the amount of games on it and their combined replay value is amazing. There are so many games on it that it could easily keep you busy for hours, especially if you are determined to set some high scores.
If that doesn’t already sound good, you might jump up and down in your seat for this. Not only do you have all these games, you also have adjustable settings for each one! Ms. Pac-Man doesn’t have adjustable settings though so it takes the cake for the lamest game on here. Just kidding, it’s actually my favorite one.

STORY

N0ne/10

This game is just for fun or whatever motivation or objective you want it to be for. That sounds even better than a game with a story, doesn’t it? It should.

DEPTH

10/10

I rated this a 10 because as I mentioned with the addictiveness, there are many games on here, and modes too! The total is 5 games: Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Galaxian. The settings for each one allow you to change the number of lives, points you need for extra lives, and for Pole Position qualifying time, to name a few.

DIFFICULTY

8/10

I rated this an 8 because for 4 out of 5 of these games, you can choose the difficulty by switching some settings! That makes it fitting for all types of classic arcade gamers.

OVERALL (not counting story)

9.2/10

Namco Museum is certainly a fitting name for this game. There’s so much to experiment with and check out in this collection of classics. If you like all 5 of the games featured in this game, you won’t be disappointed. Unless you’re like me and you think Galaga and Galaxian look ugly in this game.

Thank you for reading my review and have a great day!