Arcade Archives (アーケードアーカイブス) is a line of downloadable, emulated ports of arcade games produced by Hamster Corporation. The Arcade Archives line is available on numerous gaming platforms and was first launched in May of 2014. Beginning in 2021, Namco games were released in the line, including several Pac-Man titles.
In June of 2025, a second line of games known as Arcade Archives 2 will be launched for the Nintendo Switch 2 system.
Overview[]
Each Arcade Archives title is sold individually for $7.99 (USD). Over 250 arcade games have been released in the series, from numerous companies and developers. Each game features online leaderboards, as well as additional "High Score" and "Caravan" bonus modes. For vertical resolution games, the screen orientation can be flipped on its side for a bigger image resolution.
To commemorate every Arcade Archives release, a livestream is held on YouTube detailing the games' history. In some cases, interviews with the game's original developer(s) are held, and development materials (such as early design documents) are shown and detailed. In the case of Pac-Man, this has provided several development insights which were not previously known publicly.
Pac-Man games released[]
All Pac-Man/Namco games released in the Arcade Archives series use their Japanese ROM as the main game mode; a few titles also include U.S. and/or international ROM sets as a second selectable game. The games are available on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4; it does not appear that Xbox One ports were released.
- Pac-Man (1980) (Japanese version)
- Super Pac-Man (1982) (Japanese version)
- Pac & Pal (1983)
- Pac-Land (1984) (Japanese version; modified "Pac-Mom" variant)
- Pac-Mania (1987) (Japanese and international versions included)
Arcade Archives also released Cosmo Gang the Puzzle, a game which was later reworked into Pac-Attack.
It should be noted that all Pac-Man games currently released through Arcade Archives are also available in Pac-Man Museum +. While the Arcade Archives releases do feature alternate options and emulation, if a player intends to purchase multiple Pac-Man titles, Pac-Man Museum + would be a cheaper option economically.
Trivia[]
- Infamously, the Arcade Archives release of Pac-Land was the first game to utilize "Pac-Mom", replacing Ms. Pac-Man's graphics in the game (presumably due to ongoing legal issues). Hamster Corporation was reportedly provided a ROM by Bandai Namco with Ms. Pac-Man already replaced, and weren't even informed about the change beforehand; presumably, this ROM revision was initially created for Pac-Man Museum +, which released a few weeks after Arcade Archives' Pac-Land.
- The Arcade Archives version of Pac-Man is based on the original Puckman ROM, but changes the Puckman text to read Pac-Man (while leaving the original ghost names intact).
- Some Namco-licensed Arcade Archives titles were released simultaneously with "Namco Museum of Art" prints; featuring promotional artwork from the respective game.
- The Arcade Archives line is similar to the 2016 Arcade Game Series, a label used for several ports of Namco arcade games.