When it comes to classic video games, if you haven't heard about it, there's probably a good reason for it, as there are few old games that are unknown and excellent. With Namco's long history though, they can boast a few of them, with several titles in this collection likely to catch players by surprise. Though there's not much more to this release than the 25 classics and nine previously-available XBLA games, and the presentation isn't nearly as clean as it could be (likely because of technical requirements for the online play) there's a lot of fun to be had with these games, and with the XBLA games running five bucks a pop, this collection is a genuine bargain (if you like the XBLA games, that is.)
If you have a taste for the old-school, this is an good choice (despite some rather mediocre inclusions) making it the best retro compilation on the 360 (at least until February '09 and Sega's Genesis collection.)
Pac-Man is a fun game, yet that is just the beginning of why it is so fondly remembered by many, even 30 years later.
I love Pac man because I actually experienced the pac man craze as a kid. TV shows, cereal, T-shirts, all before Mario. it was the first mainstream merchandised game I think, and for that alone, Pac-man will always have a solid place in gaming history.
Happy 30th Pac-Man!
nice article btw.
Thanks for the compliment! I also grew up with Pac-Man back in the day and remember watching the cartoon and seeing all the merchandise, it was pretty crazy back then.
For a company like Namco, which has the morals of any alley cat, this compilation offers surprisingly good value. Unfortunately, that's the only surprise on offer as what we have here is what must be Namco's fifteenth anthology piece. Yep, stock up on ProPlus and energy drinks and get ready to play Pole Position yet again.
Be prepared for a shock in Namco Museum, though. The load times between the main menu and your chosen game is usually about 30 seconds long. The classics on display here, as well as the Xbox Live Arcade treasures, are generally of a high standard – it's great that non-Live gamers can play the awesome Pac-Man: Championship Edition – but a wait of that length will spoil the emulation. Any thieves that dabble in PC emulators will know any game they want from the past 20 years is just a click away and, especially for paying customers, waiting that long for a game of the dire Pac & Pal seems unjust.
