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Namco Museum Virtual Arcade

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Namco Museum Virtual Arcade
Developer(s)Namco Bandai Games
Publisher(s)Namco Bandai Games[a]
Director(s)Todd Thorson
SeriesNamco Museum
Platform(s)Xbox 360
Release
  • NA: November 4, 2008
  • EU: May 15, 2009
  • AU: May 21, 2009
  • JP: November 5, 2009
Genre(s)Various
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Namco Museum Virtual Arcade[b] is a video game compilation developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America in 2008 and in Europe and Japan in 2009. Part of its Namco Museum series, Virtual Arcade includes 34 titles; nine of these are Namco Bandai-published Xbox Live Arcade games, and the rest are arcade games that are only accessible through the disc. Players can access the Xbox Live Arcade games through their dashboard if the disc is in the console.

Games

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Namco Museum Virtual Arcade is a compilation of video games published by Namco and its successor, Namco Bandai Games. The collection contains 34 games that encompass a variety of genres, including maze chasers, shoot 'em ups, and platformers.[1] It is divided into two sets of games that can be selected in the in-game menu. The first set contains nine Namco Bandai-published games for Xbox Live Arcade, which in addition to being selectable through the main menu can also be accessed through the Xbox 360's dashboard, as long as the disc is in the console. Some of these are ports of arcade games like Pac-Man (1980) and Xevious (1983), while others such as Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007) are brand-new sequels with different gameplay structures and mechanics. These Xbox Live Arcade games also contain achievements and online leaderboards. The second set of games are only available on the disc, and include 22 Namco arcade games from the 1970s and 1980s as well as three "Arrangement" remakes of Pac-Man, Galaga (1981), and Dig Dug (1982).[2] Players can modify in-game settings such as controller inputs, difficulty, and the starting number of lives.[1] This would also be the last time Ms. Pac-Man (1982) would be included in a Namco Museum video game compilation, as future reissues were strictly standalone or on dedicated minicades.

Titles included in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade[1][3]
Xbox Live Arcade games
Title Genre Original release
Dig Dug Maze 1982
Galaga Fixed shooter 1981
Galaga Legions Twin-stick shooter 2008
Mr. Driller Online Puzzle 2008
Ms. Pac-Man Maze 1982
New Rally-X Maze 1981
Pac-Man Maze 1980
Pac-Man Championship Edition Maze 2007
Xevious Vertical-scrolling shooter 1983
Museum games
Title Genre Original release
Baraduke Platform 1985
Bosconian Multi-directional shooter 1981
Dig Dug II Maze 1985
Dig Dug Arrangement Maze 2005
Dragon Buster Platform 1985
Dragon Spirit Vertical-scrolling shooter 1987
Galaga '88 Fixed shooter 1987
Galaga Arrangement Fixed shooter 2005
Galaxian Fixed shooter 1987
Grobda Multi-directional shooter 1984
King & Balloon Fixed shooter 1980
Mappy Platform 1983
Metro-Cross Platform 1985
Motos Platform 1985
Pac & Pal Maze 1983
Pac-Man Arrangement Maze 2005
Pac-Mania Maze 1987
Pole Position Racing 1982
Pole Position II Racing 1983
Rally-X Maze 1980
Rolling Thunder Platform 1987
Sky Kid Horizontal-scrolling shooter 1985
Sky Kid Deluxe Horizontal-scrolling shooter 1986
Super Pac-Man Maze 1982
The Tower of Druaga Maze 1984

Development and release

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Namco Museum Virtual Arcade was developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. Its development was handled by the company's North American division, with its marketing director Todd Thorson serving as the project director. Virtual Arcade was designed to be the largest and most comprehensive in Namco Museum line of compilations, in addition to serving as a convenient and affordable way for consumers to play its back catalog.[4][5] The collection is the first Namco Museum to include Sky Kid Deluxe (1986),[6] which had previously been rereleased in Japan through Namco Collection Vol. 1 (1999) for Windows.[7] The three Arrangement games were taken from the PlayStation Portable game Namco Museum Battle Collection (2005), and were upscaled and modified to support high definition video and improved sound.[8] Pac-Man Championship Edition, Galaga Legions, and Mr. Driller Online were added to the lineup to represent the company's ability to produce well-designed followups to its older arcade games.[3]

Namco Bandai Games announced Virtual Arcade at the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3),[9] and released it in North America on November 4, 2008.[4] The game was later released in Europe on May 15, 2009, in Australia on May 21, 2009,[10] and in Japan on November 5, 2009.[8] In the European version, Metro-Cross is renamed Retro-Cross.[11][6]

Reception

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According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, Namco Museum Virtual Arcade received "mixed or average reviews", holding a 63/100 on the site.[12] It sold 5,912 copies in Japan by the end of 2009, making it one of the worst-selling Namco Museum games in the country.[16]

Critics were generally pleased with the selection of games. Steve Hannley, a reviewer for GamesRadar+, wrote: "For the right buyer, this is a gleaming golden treasure even with bits of tarnish here and there."[13] Out of the included titles, Pac-Man Championship Edition and Galaga Legions were considered the highlights of the package.[13][2][6] Jeuxvideo.com author Pixelpirate recommended Virtual Arcade for those games alone.[11] The inclusion of Namco Bandai's Xbox Live Arcade library was also met with praise, and critics said this helped make the collection worth the purchase.[14][15][2] Among the Museum games, critics found Dragon Spirit, Pole Position, and Metro-Cross to be some of the standouts.[15][2][6] GameSpot's Don Francis felt the library relied too heavily on Pac-Man games, but possessed a good selection of titles regardless.[14] Writing for IGN, Ryan Geddes pointed out that most of the games were included in past Namco Museum collections, and said those are likely worth seeking out instead of Virtual Arcade.[2]

The collection drew largely negative responses towards its presentation. The menu layout was criticized for being needlessly complicated and making it difficult to navigate through the different libraries.[15][2] Francis and a reviewer for Retro Gamer showed frustration towards this menu as hindering what is otherwise a well-made compilation.[14][6] Pixelpirate similarly found the menu difficult to use, but praised its minimalist art style and background music.[11] The lack of included extras was criticized by Geddes, who unfavorably compared it to collections like Activision Anthology that contained additional content like developer interviews and artwork scans.[2] Some also disliked the controls for certain games, though they attributed this to the poor quality of the Xbox 360's directional pad and not the pack itself.[13][15]

Notes

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  1. ^ Released under the Namco brand name outside North America.
  2. ^ Japanese: ナムコミュージアムバーチャルアーケード, Hepburn: Namuko Myūjiamu Bācharu Ākēdo

References

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  1. ^ a b c Namco Museum Virtual Arcade instruction manual. Namco Bandai Games. November 4, 2008. pp. 6–7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Geddes, Ryan (November 6, 2008). "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade official website". www.namco.ch.net (in Japanese). Namco Bandai Games. 2009. Archived from the original on September 10, 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Brudvig, Erik (October 22, 2008). "Namco Museum: Virtual Arcade Hands-on". IGN. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "Namco Museum: Virtual Arcade". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. February 11, 2009. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Retrorated - Namco Museum: Virtual Arcade". No. 65. Imagine Publishing. Retro Gamer. July 2009. p. 92. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  7. ^ "パックマンのデスクトップアクセサリーや 往年の大ヒットゲーム新シリーズを発売 ナムコ、パソコン事業でエンターテインメントソフトを拡充". Namco. March 16, 1999. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Nakano, Shinji (September 3, 2009). "バンダイナムコ、Xbox 360「ナムコミュージアム バーチャルアーケード」 XLAやPSP「ナムコミュージアム」などから計34タイトルを収録". Game Watch (in Japanese). Impress Group. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "E3 2008: Namco Bandai Games Announces Namco Museum: Virtual Arcade for Xbox 360". IGN. July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  10. ^ Kozanecki, James (May 18, 2009). "AU Shippin' Out May 18-22: UFC 2009 Undisputed". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d Pixelpirate (May 18, 2009). "Test - Namco Museum Virtual Arcade". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  13. ^ a b c d Bratcher, Eric (December 8, 2008). "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade Review". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d Francis, Don (November 21, 2008). "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d e Hannley, Steve (November 4, 2008). "Review: Namco Museum Virtual Arcade". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  16. ^ "Game Search (based on Famitsu data)". Game Data Library. March 1, 2020. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
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