Lucky people that we are, we own an arcade machine that’s stuffed
with all manner of original classic arcade games. So why would we
want this?
Well, have you ever tried schlepping an arcade
machine onto a bus?
So, our ceaseless addiction to Dig
Dug, Pac-Man, Galaga and a handful of others
can be satiated pretty much wherever we go. What’s not to like?
Uh, well, there are only 10 arcade games included – plus
GameCube favourite Pac-Man Vs.
Seriously, Namco
pumped out some 150 or more arcade releases back in the day, and we
could blow the rest of our word count with what’s missing – like
Bosconian, Rally-X, Mr Drille- OK, we’ll
stop. But seriously, why so stingy?
Grumble, grumble.
Anyway, as well as those already mentioned we get Galaga ’88,
Rolling Thunder, Rolling Thunder 2, Sky Kid,
Splatterhouse (complete with green “blood”), Tank Force
and The Tower of Druaga. All of them perfect arcade
emulations.
At least this Trump-like tiny handful of games is
treated respectfully. Nice surrounding graphics, oodles of options –
including a very handy 90o rotation for vertical games such as
Dig Dug, Pac-Man and Galaga. They’re fine
as-is on a telly, but going portable they do become rather
microscopic. Unfortunately, there’s no control flip option though,
so you’ll have to detach the JoyCons and do a balancing act, but
hey, it’s a thoughtful addition – as is adjustable scanlines, if you
want that classic cathode ray vibe happening.
All 10 arcade
classics have online leader boards, so genuine bragging rights are
up for grabs.
As for Pac-Man Vs, it’s a nice
inclusion, but you’ll need another Switch handy so that others can
play the ghosts. At least a handy downloadable app means that you
won’t need another copy of the game.
Namco Museum is
good, but it should have been gooderer. Lots gooderer. Bulk lots
gooderer. Bulk heaps lots gooderer.
