Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (PS2) - Longplay

So apparently, before Namco made video games, they were a toy company... or something. They began in 1955, though their first arcade game didn't come until Gee Bee was produced in 1978.

50 years is a long time to be a company, especially one as consistently successful as Namco. So, they decided that to celebrate their 50th anniversary, they'd package some of their greatest arcade hits into yet another compilation. And that's sorta what this game is.

While not my favorite lineup ever, Namco Museum 50th Anniversary does have a pretty kick-ass list of games. You can really tell some thought when into it.
0:00:00 - Bootup
0:01:57 - Bosconian (1981)
0:15:39 - Dig Dug (1982)
0:29:16 - Dragon Spirit (1987)
1:08:05 - Galaga (1981)
1:23:04 - Galaxian (1979)
1:29:29 - Mappy (1983)
1:44:09 - Ms. Pac-Man (1981)
1:54:23 - Pac-Man (1980)
2:03:22 - Pole Position (1982)
2:06:02 - Pole Position II (1983)
2:09:47 - Rally-X (1980)
2:14:55 - Rolling Thunder (1986)
2:28:36 - Sky Kid (1985)
2:40:00 - Xevious (1982)
2:55:03 - Galaga '88 (1987)*
3:04:25 - Pac-Mania (1987)**

*Hidden game, requires a high score of 40,000+ in Galaga to unlock
**Hidden game, requires a high score of 15,000+ in Pac-Man and 20,000+ in Ms. Pac-Man to unlock

This game was released for the Playstation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, and Windows. The Windows version has minor differences in how credits are inserted, and also allows continues for Dragon Spirit, Pac-Mania, and Galaga '88, but other than that I believe all versions are the same. A downscaled port was released for the Game Boy Advance, containing only Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, and Rally-X.

Unfortunately, the games are really all this compilation has to offer. Despite being an anniversary collection, there's no historical accounts to read, no background/history of the company, no artifacts to examine like in the PS1 Museums, or interviews with the developers. It's a bit disappointing for what's supposed to be a grand occasion, and for such a monumental company like Namco as well.

I do love the arcade interface, though. The machines don't look exactly like the actual machines do in real life, but they have slow-motion attract modes playing on them while you're selecting your game, which is just magnificent (though Rolling Thunder, Dragon Spirit, Pac-Mania, and Galaga '88 don't show the gameplay demos, and some of them glitch out or freeze up on the menu from time to time). The background music randomly cycles between five actual songs from the '80s: Working for the Weekend (Loverboy), Joystick (Dazz Band), Talking in Your Sleep (The Romantics), She Drives Me Crazy (Fine Young Cannibals), and Come On Eileen (Dexy's Midnight Runners). Sadly, Come On Eileen would've gotten this video blocked in all countries if I kept it in, so I had to use YouTube's mute feature to remove it. I will remain wary of the other songs should they pose troubles in the future (I'm lucky I didn't get a strike).

Now, let's talk about the games themselves. Much like Battle Collection, the original ROMs are emulated directly. And, uh... it wasn't done very well. Every game released between 1980 and 1985 (Pac-Man~Sky Kid) has its audio pitched up by a full semitone. Rally-X and Mappy are fine (in fact, I'd argue they sound better this way), and I don't mind it too much for most of the other games, but it's still wrong. Galaxian has a weird echo to its audio and sounds more computerized than usual. Rolling Thunder, Pac-Mania, and Galaga '88 are okay, but all have volume balance issues with sound effects and slightly compressed music.

Then you have Dragon Spirit. Good LORD, what did they do to this game?! The emulation here is so bad it physically hurts from all the cringing. Almost every sin under the sun is present: Downsampled music, HORRIBLY loud sound effects that can get distorted, incorrectly looping music (some to the point where it's just downright lazy), and missing instruments in the credits music. I almost can't bear to play this version because of how awful it is.

All complaining aside, this is a solid compilation of Namco games. Maybe it's not the kind of celebration Namco deserves, but it's what we got, and I'm pretty happy with it. If you can bear the lousy audio emulation quality, the games are perfectly playable. If not... it might be worth looking into other ways to play these games.

Recorded from my Playstation 2.