Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 is an arcade game released in 1996 by Namco. It is a compilation featuring four classic arcade games and three newly-created "Arrangement" games based on those titles. It is a follow-up to Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1, released in 1995.
Overview[]
Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 features three sub-menus containing the following games:
- Pac-Man menu
- Pac-Man (1980)
- Pac-Man Arrangement (1996)
- Dig Dug menu
- Dig Dug (1982)
- Dig Dug Arrangement (1996)
- Rally-X menu
- Rally-X (1980)
- New Rally-X (1981)
- Rally-X Arrangement (1996)
The machine can also be set to only show one of the three game menus; this setting also changes the game's title screen to reflect the singular game chosen.
Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 is conceptually very similar to the second game, but does not feature any Pac-Man titles. Vol. 1 includes original and "Arrangement" versions of Galaga, Xevious, and Mappy.
Gameplay Differences[]
The games present in the compilation appear to be recompiled from the original source code, and do not use proper emulation. The following notable differences are present in the Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 titles compared to the 1980s originals:
The Pac-Man title screen in the compilation.
- The games can be set to "end" at a certain round; this displays a new ending sequence in each game. The games can also be set to endless play in the game settings. Due to both of these settings, the games' killscreens (including Pac-Man's Map 256 Glitch) are not present.
- In the international release, Pac-Man uses a mixture of the U.S. Ghost names and the "alternate" English names from Puckman; additionally, Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped. As such, the Ghost names are dubbed Urchin/Clyde, Romp/Pinky, Stylist/Inky, and Crybaby/Blinky.
- Due to the machine using a vertical monitor, Rally-X and New Rally-X are modified to run in vertical resolution rather than horizontal.
Home Ports[]
The Namco Classic Collection titles (both Vol. 1 and 2) have never received full home ports; however, some "Arrangement" games have been extracted and included in additional compilations. These releases are:
- Xevious 3D/G+ (PlayStation) (1997) - Xevious Arrangement
- Pac-Man Collection (Game Boy Advance) (2001) - Pac-Man Arrangement
- Namco Museum (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox) (2001) - Pac-Man Arrangement, Galaga Arrangement, Dig Dug Arrangement
- Pac-Man Museum + (multi-platform) (2022) - Pac-Man Arrangement
A separate set of "Arrangement" games were later developed for the PlayStation Portable Namco Museum installments, released in 2005 and 2006. This includes successors to the "arranged" versions of Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, and Rally-X, in addition to a Motos Arrangement game.
Trivia[]
- Following his purported "perfect game" of Pac-Man in 1999, Billy Mitchell was invited to a Pac-Man press event at Namco's "Wonder Park" in Japan. A TV newscaster reportedly asked Mitchell to play three perfect rounds on camera; to which Mitchell realized the machine was "different from what he was used to", leading to him almost losing a life on Level 1. Going by press pictures, it was the Classic Collection machine that was present at the event; which is likely what led to Mitchell's confusion.
- In some retellings of the story, Billy says that he did play a "perfect Pac-Man game" at this event. While this is more likely some form of bluff, it is also possible this was a "perfect game" by the Classic Collection rules; as in, the game only lasted a short, set amount of rounds.
Gallery[]
