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Namco Museum Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Problem is size
Comment: This collection contains solid renditions of several favorite classics. Unfortunately, it suffers the significant problem of attempting to convert long screen games to the GBA's wide screen format. Galaga and Galaxian are certainly playable, but they are relegated to one side of the screen, making everything quite small. Ms. Pac-Man offers the option of playing all on one screen or scrolling as you travel up and down. Here, however, losing sight of the ghosts can be a handicap.
Also, where are the options for difficulty, level select, extra lives, etc.? The hints offered in the sub-menu are interesting, but a short blurb about the history of each game would have been nice. Finally, the high scores don't save.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Remember when...
Comment: I'm almost 30 years old and bought this game for my son and I enjoy playing it myself because it's got the classic games that I played when I was a kid. It arrived very quickly in the mail too.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Some very fun nostalgia
Comment: Namco Museum ports five classic games over to the Gameboy Advance: Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Galaga, and Galaxian. If you grew up playing these games, they're timeless classics. Younger audiences probably are expecting more out of a game than the limited technology of the 1980s allowed.

These games are recreated very well, with only a couple of minor issues (largely due to the adjustment made going from an arcade-size screen to the tiny GBA). The sounds are crisp and faithful reproductions of the bleeps and blips from our childhood. The graphics aren't jazzed up in any way, instead celebrating the 8-bit glory that was the golden age of the arcade. The biggest port issue comes with Ms. Pac-Man, where you have the option of playing on a shifting screen -- the GBA screen doesn't compress each maze very well.

The biggest drawback to this game is the inexplicable lack of a battery backup for high scores. The game records high scores as per normal, but those scores are immediately reset when the power goes off. Points did matter with these games, and it's nice to see how high a score you can record. Unfortunately, Namco decided to skimp on this feature. That decision is disappointing, but the games themselves are still worth playing to those who grew up playing on their Ataris. After all, there's nothing wrong with nostalgia.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: GREAT JOB
Comment: THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME ORDERING FROM AMAZON AND I REALLY ENJOYED THE EXPERIENCE. I GOT MY PACKAGE ON TIME AND EVERYTHING WAS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AND WORKED PROPERLY. THANK YOU.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Where's my quarters?
Comment: In a word, AWESOME!! I have this for GameCube, and couldn't help but pick this up for GBA. I now have a portable version of some of my favorite old-school games. They are still fun today, some 2 decades later. Take a ride down nostalgia lane with this game and enjoy.

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