As the coin drops into the machine with a metallic clang you swear it will be different this time. “Wakka wakka wakka” bleeps the large yellow dot as it devours the small white dots. This time they won’t get the better of you. You don’t even need to watch where you’re going anymore, your hands make all the right moves while your eyes cautiously watch the four ghosts. It goes well, you’ve broken your all time record but you know people with better scores. You won’t give up, but it doesn’t matter, as your best mate taps you on the shoulder to hand you a can of cola, distracting you long enough to make sure the red ghost catches up with you and before you know it; game over.

The above paragraph recounts an entire breed of gaming that is rapidly becoming extinct. Aside from the odd puzzle game or 2D shooter, the type of games that can put you ‘in the zone’ do not come along too often these days. Thank God then, for retro collections. This particular offering comes from Namco and is host to seven original games. These range from the household name, Pac-Man, to the less well known but equally classic Dig Dug, Pole Position I and II, Galaga, Galaxian and Ms. Pac-Man. Additional to these seven are ‘Arrangements’ of Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Galaga and two hidden games.

As with most retro collections some of Namco’s games have stood the test of time, whilst others have not aged very favourably. As early examples of games within their genre Pole Position, Galaga and Galaxian now feel about as fresh as a wet dog. Although these games are still enjoyable (Galaga’s scoring system still holds up) they serve more as a history lesson in how much the racing and shooting genres have evolved since their creation. Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Ms. Pac-Man, however, cannot be pigeonholed into a genre. This enables them to be played without comparison to later games and enjoyed on their own merits.

Pac-Man, as always, is the star of Namco’s show and with good reason. This is still one of the most playable arcade games of all time, its strength being its simplicity and the unlimited choices it presents to the player. Ms. Pac-Man is more of the same but the more detailed sprites, the greater variation in levels and the fruit bonuses that move around the maze make this the preferred choice for Pac-fans.

Dig Dug is a game that has never quite taken to the limelight in the same way as Pac-Man. The greedy yellow ball can be completely controlled by just pushing the joystick in one of four directions but Dig Dug is not so accessible, requiring multiple actions and commands. Despite this, the title deserves just as much recognition: the character designs are bold and memorable, the levels are designed with as much player choice as Pac-Man and it is great fun to inflate monsters until they explode with a satisfying pop!

The arrangement versions of Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug offer graphical and sonic enhancements to each whilst also including new variations on the game play. Galaga benefits the most from this as explosions are afforded a certain amount of oomph that was sorely lacking from the original, the backgrounds are more detailed and enemy attack patterns are improved. If you spend a lot of time playing Galaga it will be the arrangement option then you most often gravitate towards. Dig Dug is improved through the addition of new characters such as one that causes other enemies to explode when he pops, or the Dig Dug Clone that will attempt to pump you up. The game is also punctuated by the appearance of bosses, which are essentially larger versions of the traditional enemies and require a radical adjustment in tactics to defeat them. Galaga Arrangement and Dig Dug Arrangement are highly commendable, they retain everything that made the original versions enjoyable and add a new depth to make them a little more palatable to modern gamers. Pac-Man Arrangement, however, is a monstrosity that ruins everything that was ever good about the classic. Each level features a new type of ghost with its own abilities, whilst mazes often include new features such as the zip arrows that remove player control and send Pac-Man catapulting across the level. These additions are quite simply unwelcome and only serve to overcomplicate what was a perfect game system. Most players will try this once and leave wondering just what Namco were thinking.

Namco’s decision of what to include in the Arrangements is baffling. Pac-Man has been ruined and Pole Position, the weakest game of the collection, has undergone no improvements whatsoever. Ultimately it is the graphical improvements that disappoint the most. Nintendo’s Four Swords Adventures has shown just how much the GameCube can make a 2D game look fantastic but Namco seem to have taken the lazy approach and only done the bare minimum to improve the look of the games. Some more imaginative extras, such as the ability to play as Mr. Driller in Dig-Dug, would have lent the collection a special quality that would have been lapped up by the Namco fans that this title targets. The reality is that Namco have, rather sadly, chosen not to take advantage of such opportunities.

Pac-Mania and the wonderful Pac-Attack can be unlocked if high-scores are achieved on Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, which gives Namco Museum a much needed injection of longevity, but once these have been unlocked and played there is little reason to ever put the disc back into the GameCube. This is not because of the quality of the games, which remain as playable as ever. It is because of a major problem that is inherent in many retro collections, the problem of over-familiarity. Despite having a massive back-catalogue of games, Namco always see fit to showcase the same group of games over and over again. This package in particular would have benefited from the inclusion of some more obscure games such as The Tower of Druaga, Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp or the strangely overlooked Pac-Land. Namco Museum is useful as a short return to the ‘zone gaming' mentioned above but the unoriginal choice of titles means that you will not be playing it for long. An adventurous trip to the seaside arcade would be more rewarding than this.