Namco Arcade (ナムコアーケード Namuko Ākēdo) is a compilation of Namco arcade titles, originally released on iOS by Namco Bandai Games in 2012. The collection would later be released on Android in 2015. It was delisted from digital stores on March 15th, 2016.
Overview[]
Namco Arcade features emulated ports of Namco titles; whereas previous standalone Namco ports on mobile devices were recreated from scratch (e.g. the mobile versions of Pac-Man). In each title, the player can continue from a later, previously-cleared level in the game. Every game featured online leaderboards, with ranked games alternating on a weekly basis.[1] The app originally launched with four titles (Xevious, The Tower of Druaga, Motos, and Phozon); an additional six titles would be released later on, including Pac-Man and Pac-Land.
The app was released as a free download, though the player is only given one free play per day (applying across all games). The player could purchase "Play Coins" to play more games past the daily limit; or purchase the full games individually, with prices ranging from $1.99 to $3.99 (USD) each. Some games also had purchasable "Items", effectively acting as cheats; granting the player increased abilities (such as having permanent winged boots or invincibility in Pac-Land). Playing a game with items turned on would result in the player's score not being ranked.
Games[]
The games released on Namco Arcade include:
- Xevious (1982) - launch title
- Phozon (1983) - launch title
- The Tower of Druaga (1984) - launch title
- Motos (1985) - launch title
- Pac-Man (1980) - released on March 13, 2012
- Pac-Land (1984) - released on March 13, 2012
- Rolling Thunder (1986) - released on March 13, 2012
- Galaga (1981) - released on April 20, 2012
- Starblade (1991) - released on February 28, 2013
Trivia[]
- The included version of Pac-Man is based on the Japanese Puckman ROM, but replaces the ghost names with the English ones (while, oddly, leaving the "PUCKMAN" text intact).
- In the Pac-Man port, Inky's name is erroneously misspelled "Inkey"; this error is also seen in the Oculus Arcade compilation.
- Curiously, the "Inkey" spelling also appears in the fan-made Pac-Man Adobe Flash port by Paul Neave; suggesting the Flash port may have been used as reference for the character names.
- All revisions of the app appear to use the Japanese version of Pac-Land in terms of gameplay. However, some releases use the Japanese version's sprites,[2] while others use the international/Bally Midway version's graphics (while otherwise still being based on the Japanese ROM).[3]
- The Namco Arcade logo is written in the style of the classic Pac-Man logo.
Gallery[]
