Game Review: Namco Museum Volume 1
              by Mitch Bunnell
 
***** (5 stars out of 5)
 
I read about a Namco classics CD-ROM coming out for the Sony Playstation on 
the net a while back. It was rumored that a series of Namco classic games 
would come out for the Japanese Playstation but not for the U.S. Playstation. 
I decided to pick up the Japanese CD. I was in Japan in November so I stopped 
off at the Sony building in the Ginza area. They had a whole Playstation floor 
with Playstations you could play hooked to large screen displays. They also 
had a wall full of CD-ROMs (games) you could buy (over 60 different titles, 
oh, my poor Jaguar). I asked the girls who worked the counter about the Namco 
classics. They had a catalog that showed all the games that would be in the 
"Namco Museum" Vol. 1 and Vol 2, but they told me that Vol 1 would not be 
released for two weeks. They had also sold out of Playstation RGB cables, but 
they told me of a place close by were I could get them. The girls even called 
the place to verify they had the cables in stock. The RGB cables cost $25. I 
bought two. One of the engineers who works for our Japanese distributor picked 
the Namco Museum Vol. 1 disk up as soon as it came out and sent it to me. This 
is my review of that disk.
 
CONTENTS
 
The Namco Museum Vol. 1 disk contains 6 games:
 
Pacman,
Rally X and New Rally X,
Galaga,
Bosconian,
Pole Position, and
Toypop
 
The disk also contains a "Museum" with exhibits that display the original 
arcade game artifacts. The original circuit boards, documentation, instruction 
panels, and pamphlets for all 6 games are all on display. There is also a 
nifty intro.
 
Let me state here that the instruction manual for this CD-ROM is in Japanese. 
The Museum displays and all on screen instructions are also in Japanese. When 
you are actually running one of the 6 games, however, you get the instructions 
displayed as the games originally displayed them, in English (even though they 
were sold into the Japanese market). I gave this disk to my friend who can 
read no Japanese and who has a U.S. Playstation. He had no problem playing all 
6 games except Toypop which he had never played before. He of course used the 
work around described in the Playstation FAQ to allow his U.S. Playstation to 
play a Japanese disk. The other thing he could not do was figure out how to 
put Galaga and Pacman into "arcade" (vertical) display mode. More on that 
later.
 
REVIEW OF THE GAMES
 
Pacman -- Perfect port. This is the arcade game of old. Period. I have seen 
many ports of Pacman. I still love my Atari 800 version, but this 
Namco/Playstation version *is* the arcade game. To play it right you should 
put the display in arcade mode (from normal mode) and turn your monitor 
sideways. The instructions warn that turning your monitor sideways (if it is 
not built for vertical viewing) could cause damage to your monitor. I believe 
the problem is a lack of air flow that could cause over-heating. I use a 
surplus computer fan blowing through the monitor.
 
If you get this disk you have to at least look at Pacman in arcade mode. I 
showed it to several friends who are veteran gamers but not really Pacman 
fans. It never failed to bring a smile to the viewers face. Seeing Pacman just 
as it was many years ago just brings back memories.
 
To put Pacman in arcade mode, press the triangle button after the game starts. 
This will give you the set up screen. Choose dip switch 7 and press the "o" 
button to switch it. Then choose the power switch and switch it on.
 
Rally-X and New Rally-X -- Perfect port. I never played these much in the 
arcade. You are driving a car in an overhead race style game and you collect 
flags. You have a smoke screen to confuse the enemy cars. This is a very 
addicting game.
 
Galaga -- Absolutely Perfect port. Like Pacman, vertical (arcade mode) display 
is best. This *is* the arcade game.
 
For vertical mode, choose dip switch 5 (I believe) on the set of dip switches 
on the left.
 
Bosconian -- Here is a game I used to play in the arcade a lot. The port is 
perfect. I still cannot understand what the voice is saying.
 
Pole Position -- This game looks dated compared to "Ridge Racer" and others, 
but the port is perfect. It is still fun.
 
Toypop -- Never played this in the arcade. Never even heard of it. But it 
looks neat. Have not played it yet.
 
THE MUSEUM
 
The Museum is 3-D first person displayed world. Each game has its own display 
room, plus there is a reception desk and a lounge. The lounge has a display 
case of old "NG" magazine covers (a Japanese arcade magazine that I am 
unfamiliar with), a jukebox of Namco arcade game songs, and notebook which 
shows all the people who worked on this disk.
 
Each game display room contains the original (Japanese) pamphlet for the game, 
a circuit board display, front panel display, historical notes, plus extras. 
You can enter a sub-room which contains an arcade machine and play it, or you 
can choose to play the games from the main menu. The attention to detail is 
amazing.
 
BOTTOM LINE
 
I believe this Playstation disk is a bargain. These are perfect translations 
of true arcade classics. This has never been done *this well* before. These 
are all 60 frames per second games and are rendered perfectly down to the 
pixel without a glitch or slow down. I like my Digital Eclipse ports of 
Robotron, Defender, and Joust, but they slow down all over the place on my 
33/66 MHz 68LC040 Mac. The Digital Eclipse ports seem a valiant effort 
compared to the pitiful MS Arcade, where the games seem only gross 
approximations of the original arcade classics. On my 100 MHz 486 DX4 the MS 
Arcade games have no consistent frame rate not to mention big blinking problem 
on some. The only difference between these Namco games and the original arcade 
games is the controller.
 
Some might complain that these are "old musty" games. I disagree. These games 
still have great gameplay. They were winners in a time when fun, not glitzy 
graphics, was king. These games sold in the hundreds of thousands, they make 
today's arcade game sales seem small by comparison. At about $9.16 per game 
(counting Rally-X and New Rally-X as one game), this disk is a steal.