{"id":20271,"date":"2020-07-20T00:01:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T00:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=20271"},"modified":"2020-07-09T01:12:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T01:12:22","slug":"the-games-of-the-namco-museum-archives-vols-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/20\/the-games-of-the-namco-museum-archives-vols-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Games of the Namco Museum Archives Vols. 1 & 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Namco has just opened up a new wing in their museum, with two volumes of archives including a bunch of 8-bit NES and Famicom games!\u00a0 These two new downloadable collections contain almost a dozen games each.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be your tour guide as we go through the games on these collections.\u00a0 So let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Vol. 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Nintendo released the Famicom (our 8-bit NES) in Japan in 1983, Namco was one of the first third party publishers.\u00a0 Most of their early games were ports of their arcade hits, and that\u2019s what\u2019s mostly on volume one, with a couple of surprises.\u00a0\u00a0In Japan, Namco even made a separate division of their company to handle console games.\u00a0 It was called \u201cNamcot.\u201d\u00a0 On another note, the main bad guy in Pac-Man World is named Toc-Man.\u00a0 You know what that spells backwards?<\/p>\n

Galaxian<\/strong><\/p>\n

This game was a big deal in 1979.\u00a0 Most games around this time were Space Invaders clones, and this was too, to some extent.\u00a0 But it was the first game where the aliens would actually dive down and attack, and it was also the first full color video game that didn\u2019t use cheats like screen overlays to simulate color.\u00a0 The Galaxian flagship makes cameos in a bunch of other Namco games, including Pac-Man, and Galaxian spawned several sequels, including the more popular Galaga.\u00a0 Galaxian never came to the US NES.\u00a0 Probably because Galaxian wasn\u2019t near as popular here, and by the time the NES was big in the US, Galaxian might\u2019ve been considered a bit dated.\u00a0 But the NES version is still pretty close to the arcade, not that it would be hard to do.<\/p>\n

Pac-Man<\/strong><\/p>\n

For 1984, the Famicom version of Pac-Man was pretty darn good.\u00a0 But do you know how long it took for Pac-Man to be released on the US NES?\u00a0 It didn\u2019t come out in the US until the early 1990s!\u00a0 And by then it wasn\u2019t so impressive.\u00a0 Do you know why it took so long to come out here?\u00a0 Well, one, Namco never had a US office until the early 90s with Namco Hometek.\u00a0 Before then, other companies like Midway, Atari, Sunsoft, or Bandai would publish their games in the US.\u00a0 Also, at one point during the NES\u2019 lifespan, Namco had a falling out with Nintendo.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Well you know Nintendo had strict rules about how many games a company could release on their system per year.\u00a0 They did this to prevent the oversaturation of games that ruined Atari\u2019s consoles.\u00a0 But Namco thought they should cut them some slack since they were one of the first third party developers.\u00a0 Nintendo was stubborn about their policy, and even though each side had a good argument, Namco decided to make games for other consoles for a while, that\u2019s why you saw more games on the Genesis and Turbo-Grafix 16 for a bit.\u00a0 But by the end of the NES\u2019s life, Namco and Nintendo had kind of made up a little, and Namco officially published Pac-Man in the US.\u00a0 Although Atari\u2019s Tengen company published it a little earlier!\u00a0 It gets a little complicated!<\/p>\n

Xevious<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NES version of Xevious actually came out in the US, but it was published by Bandai.\u00a0 Which is ironic since Bandai and Namco are now merged!\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if Xevious was the first vertically scrolling shooter, but it was the one that perfected it.\u00a0 I loved the Xevious arcade cabinet and was fascinated with the game as a kid.\u00a0 One time I even took a chunk of my dad\u2019s dot matrix printer paper and spread it out from the front door to the back door of the house.\u00a0 Then on one side of the paper I drew a big Xevious map and on the other side I drew a Zaxxon map.\u00a0 Then I got out my toy spaceships and played pretend Xevious and Zaxxon over the paper!\u00a0 I got in a little bit of trouble for wasting so much paper, but my parents weren\u2019t TOO mad since I kept quiet and found a way to entertain myself all day!\u00a0 Anyway the NES version of Xevious is pretty good for what it is.<\/p>\n

Mappy<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame that Mappy never caught on in the US because I really like the games.\u00a0 You are a police mouse trying to take back stolen goods from a gang of cats, and their hideout is full of trampolines and doors you can use to get the better of the cats.\u00a0 In Japanese, \u201cMappo\u201d is a slang term for a police officer, so that\u2019s why the mouse is named Mappy.\u00a0 The Famicom version of Mappy is actually pretty close to the arcade, but it never came out on the US NES.<\/p>\n

Dig Dug<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m surprised this never came out on the US NES, as Dig Dug was pretty popular over here.\u00a0 The game is pretty close to the arcade version, but to make it fit on a TV screen, they cut out a layer or two of dirt you can dig on the bottom.\u00a0 You wouldn\u2019t think this would make much difference, but it actually does.<\/p>\n

The Tower of Druaga<\/strong><\/p>\n

This dungeon crawling maze RPG had really obtuse secrets.\u00a0 It was a big hit in Japan, but never came out over here.\u00a0 Because of the secretive nature of the way you get items, I imagine a home version of this game was a big deal over there.\u00a0 Druaga had lots of sequels and spinoffs, as well as bunches of cameos in other games and even got an anime at one point.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the game very much, but I like the history and lore behind it.<\/p>\n

SkyKid<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really like this shooter, as it\u2019s a cutesy take on WW1 biplanes with creative game mechanics, extra missions to increase your score in the form of bombing targets, and such catchy music.\u00a0\u00a0 The NES port of the arcade game is pretty well done, and it was even brought over to the US NES by SunSoft!<\/p>\n

Dragon Buster<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think the arcade game ever came out in the US, and I know the Famicom version didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I first played the arcade version on Namco Museum vol. 2.\u00a0 Think of it like if Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link was an arcade game.\u00a0 The NES version is pretty close to the arcade, but that has a lot to do with the fact that the arcade game wasn\u2019t very graphically impressive for the time.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get very far in the NES version because I couldn\u2019t figure out how to jump off a vine onto a ledge without falling.\u00a0 That\u2019s one of the problems with this collection is the instructions aren\u2019t very good.<\/p>\n

Dragon Spirit: The New Legend<\/strong><\/p>\n

The arcade game is like Xevious except you\u2019re a dragon and the game is really hard.\u00a0 The NES version is like a sequel, but the stages are the same.\u00a0 At least it\u2019s not as hard as the arcade game!\u00a0 It kind of reminds me of Legendary Wings, a NES game I did have.\u00a0 This did come out in the US, published by Bandai.<\/p>\n

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti<\/strong><\/p>\n

Splatterhouse was a pretty controversial game for Namco because it was very gory for the time.\u00a0 But late in the Famicom\u2019s life cycle, they made an 8-bit version of it with silly chibi characters.\u00a0 But it\u2019s still really hard.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t get past one part where you\u2019re in a kitchen and knives fly at you and roasted chickens pop out of the oven to attack!\u00a0 I\u2019m a little surprised this game never came out on the US NES, as horror themed video games were pretty popular back then.<\/p>\n

Pac-Man Championship Edition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aww, yeah!\u00a0 Namco made a new 8-bit \u2018demake\u2019 version of this!\u00a0 Pac-Man: CE is one of my top favorite Pac-games and it\u2019s the reason why I got an Xbox 360 in the first place!\u00a0 I like Pac-Man: CE DX and the sequel, but the original is still my favorite.\u00a0 The only things that keep this demake from being more believable is the music doesn\u2019t sound like it\u2019s coming from a NES, and the speed is much too fast for a NES to handle.\u00a0 But then, I guess they wanted to keep the speedy gameplay intact.\u00a0 It\u2019s still a cool addition, and almost worth the price of the collection alone!<\/p>\n

Vol. 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second volume has ten more Namco published NES and Famicom titles, but a few more here were brought to the US NES in some form or fashion.\u00a0 Also one new 8-bit version of a never before ported game!<\/p>\n

Galaga<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was brought to the US NES by Bandai.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pretty good conversion of the arcade game.\u00a0 From what I can tell, Galaga was almost just as popular as Pac-Man in the arcades back in the day.\u00a0 I still see it from time to time.<\/p>\n

Battle City<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the arcade, this was called Tank Battalion and came out the same year as Pac-Man, which is pretty impressive.\u00a0 It\u2019s like Atari Combat mixed with the tank game from TRON.\u00a0 You lose if you get hit by an enemy tank, or if the enemy destroys your base at the end of the maze.\u00a0 I\u2019m surprised this never came out on the US NES, as it\u2019s pretty fun and you can design your own levels!<\/p>\n

Pac-Land<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of Namco\u2019s arcade ports to NES turned out pretty good, but not this one!\u00a0 Oh man, this one looks horrible.\u00a0 I never was a big fan of Pac-Land, but I did like the cartoony graphics in the arcade.\u00a0 Pretty impressive for 1984.\u00a0 Plus it was a 2-D sidescrolling platformer that came out one year before Super Mario Bros.\u00a0 Mario\u2019s hit may not have been the first, but it certainly was the 2-D platformer that perfected and popularized the genre.\u00a0 Sorry Pac-Man!\u00a0 This one never left Japan.<\/p>\n

Dig Dug 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surprisingly, this one came out in the US under Bandai!\u00a0 I never knew until later that it was an arcade game, too.\u00a0 We never got the arcade game.\u00a0 Instead of being viewed from the side like the first game, you walk around top down viewed islands and try to drill cracks to sink parts of the island, and enemies, into the ocean.\u00a0 On the DS there was a game called Dig Dug: Digging Strike that combined both gameplay styles from the original title and the sequel.\u00a0 I thought it was pretty neat.<\/p>\n

Super Xevious<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are new enemies and backgrounds to fly over, but otherwise it\u2019s more of the same, just harder.\u00a0 We never got this game in the US.\u00a0 Xevious was super popular in Japan, though.\u00a0 They even had book novels about it!<\/p>\n

MappyLand<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aw yeah!\u00a0 I rented this game so many times as a kid.\u00a0 I wish now I would\u2019ve just bought it.\u00a0 It was brought to the US by Taxan of all places.\u00a0 If anyone wants to buy me a copy of the NES MappyLand game for my birthday or Christmas, I\u2019d love that.\u00a0 Anyway, even though MappyLand was never an arcade game, it\u2019s a better sequel than the Hopping Mappy Japan only arcade title.\u00a0 MappyLand has colorful graphics, peppy music, tons of secrets, and the classic Mappy gameplay you know and love, just with a few twists.\u00a0 Only problem is I KNOW there was a way to continue where you left off in the NES game, I just can\u2019t figure out how to do it here.\u00a0\u00a0One Mappy sequel we never got in the US was Mappy Kids.\u00a0 It played like a competitive Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers.<\/p>\n

Legacy of the Wizard<\/strong><\/p>\n

I actually had this game (might still have it).\u00a0 I rented it once and thought it was cool, like a 2-D platforming Zelda game.\u00a0 So I asked for it that Christmas and got it.\u00a0 In the US, it was published by Broderbund.\u00a0 But Namco published it in Japan, but they didn\u2019t develop it.\u00a0 The game was actually developed by Falcom, makers of Ys.\u00a0 Legacy of the Wizard is actually part of the DragonSlayer series in Japan, and in a roundabout way, is also related to another NES game: Faxanadu.\u00a0 Anyway, you control members of a family (including their pet monster) and explore mazes that remind me of Lode Runner for some reason.\u00a0 The music is done by Yuzo Koshiro, too, so you know it\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

Rolling Thunder<\/strong><\/p>\n

Namco spy side scroller certainly has a lot of style, and inspired other games like Shinobi (although it could be the other way around).\u00a0 The arcade game was hard enough, and the NES version feels even harder!\u00a0 I think this was published in the US by Tengen.<\/p>\n

Dragon Buster 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

This console only sequel to the Japan only arcade game takes out the 2-D sidescrolling in favor of a top down view, and you play as a bow and arrow wielding hero instead of a swordsman.\u00a0 But somehow it still retains the feel of the first game.\u00a0 I like that they tell you what items are in what dungeon types, but leave the rest up to you.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit repetitive, but once you get the hang of things, it\u2019s not bad.\u00a0\u00a0Did you know there was a third Dragon Buster game on the PSOne?\u00a0 It was called Dragon Valor and was like a 3-D beat \u2018em up.\u00a0 I kind of liked it.<\/p>\n

Mendel Palace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now this one\u2019s interesting.\u00a0 It was published in Japan by Namco, and I think in the US by Hudson although I had never seen or heard of it back then.\u00a0 But the game was actually developed by Game Freak!\u00a0 Yeah, the same company responsible for Pokemon!\u00a0 It\u2019s a single screen action game where you flip tiles to push enemies to the edge of the screen to dispatch them, and two players can play at the same time.\u00a0 The only problem is the flicker is really bad and it makes it hard to see where the enemies are, which is important in this kind of game.\u00a0 I think it would\u2019ve been a better match on a handheld.<\/p>\n

Gaplus<\/strong><\/p>\n

And the new game on this collection isn\u2019t as impressive as 8-bit Pac-Man: CE, but it\u2019s interesting.\u00a0 It\u2019s the sequel to Galaga, sometimes called Galaga 3 in the US.\u00a0 I saw Galaga 3 in a few places, including a Pizza Inn near my house.\u00a0 I always wondered what happened to Galaga 2, not knowing Galaxian was the first game in the series.\u00a0 Anyway, this one\u2019s a lot like Galaga except the enemies are WAY faster and harder, you can move up and down the screen as well as left and right, and you can get powers to suck up the aliens and get tons of firepower out of it, but it makes you an easier target, too.\u00a0 Aside from the speed and lack of flicker, this seems like a believable 8-bit demake.<\/p>\n

And those are all the games!\u00a0 It\u2019s a good couple of collections, although I think they should\u2019ve put them both into one game.\u00a0 I also would\u2019ve liked to have seen a physical release.\u00a0 In Japan, they did get a physical release of it on the Switch, but it has different games!\u00a0 I would\u2019ve loved to have played Wagyan Land on it!\u00a0 I also don\u2019t like that there\u2019s a little bar on the bottom of the screen that blocks your view. I don\u2019t know how to remove it.\u00a0 Anyway, that\u2019s all I have to say about the Namco Museum Archives vol. 1 and 2.\u00a0 I wish there was a real life Namco Museum and that I could work there!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Namco has just opened up a new wing in their museum, with two volumes of archives including a bunch of 8-bit NES and Famicom games!\u00a0 These two new downloadable collections contain almost a dozen games each.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be your tour guide as we go through the games on these collections.\u00a0 So let\u2019s go! Vol. 1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20271"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20280,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20271\/revisions\/20280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}