Namco Museum DS (ナムコミュージアムDS Namuko Myūjiamu Dī Esu) is a compilation of Namco games, developed by M2 and released in 2007 by Namco Bandai Games for the Nintendo DS. The collection features an enhanced port of the GameCube game Pac-Man Vs., in addition to seven arcade games.
Overview[]
Namco Museum DS features four menu options: "Pac-Man Vs.", "Arcade", "Demo", and "Library". The Pac-Man Vs. option leads to the multiplayer game of the same name, which is played by using multiple DS consoles via DS Download Play. The "arcade" option features seven emulated ports of Namco's arcade titles. The "demo" mode allows the player to send demos of the included arcade games to another DS console, while the "library" mode features various additional pieces of content.
Opening[]
The game starts with an animated opening intro featuring pixel sprites; showing the included titles meddling with each others' games. Each game title is also presented in writing during its respective animation.
The intro begins with three Galaxians swarming by, leaving behind a Power Pellet. This leads to a scene where Pac-Man and Dig Dug chase each other, with Pac-Man eventually returning to eat the pellet. Mappy finds Pac-Man with his mouth shut, and looks at him with confusion; Mappy then rides Pac-Man off of the screen like a ball. The Solvalou from Xevious flies in, but is sucked up by a Boss Galaga's tractor beam. A treasure chest from the Tower of Druaga appears in the center of the screen; when opened, it merely contains another Power Pellet.
Pac-Man rushes towards the second Power Pellet while being chased by all of the other game sprites. Pac-Man eats a single ghost in the crowd, as every other character around him begins glitching into text reading "NAMCO MUSEUM" (with Pac-Man unaltered as the "C"). At the end of the line, Fygar breathes fire on Goro and a Boss Galaga, turning them into the text "DS"; before Fygar himself turns into the final letter "M".
Games[]
Namco Museum DS includes the following titles:
- Pac-Man Vs. (2003, 2007)
- Pac-Man (1980)
- Galaxian (1979)
- Galaga (1981)
- Xevious (1982)
- Mappy (1983)
- The Tower of Druaga (1984)
- Dig Dug II (1985)
The included version of Pac-Man Vs. is an otherwise-custom variant of the game, featuring overhauled graphics and music. As in the original GameCube version, it is a multiplayer-only title that requires multiple DS consoles to play (using DS Download Play); though only one Namco Museum DS cartridge is required.
The arcade ports are faithful emulated versions of the games. Each game displays in a stretched horizontal view by default; this can be changed to a letterboxed view (in lower resolution) or a vertical resolution mode, the latter requiring the DS console to be flipped on its side. The gameplay screen can also be switched to appear on either the top or bottom display.
Each game also features a settings menu and a "Hints" menu, as well as a "Score Attack" mode. Galaga, Xevious, and The Tower of Druaga feature additional "Game Navigation" modes (accessed via the "Hints" menu) that act as interactive maps for the games.
Library[]
The library contains four options: "Music Box", "Library", "High Scores", and "Credits". The "High Scores" option list the player's top scores across all games, while the "Credits" option displays the game's credits while replaying the opening intro.
The Music Box allows the player to listen to all music and sound effects from the included arcade games. The top screen features Namco characters on a stage who move along to the music tracks. Each track also visually shows its spectrogram, and shows how the song is played on piano.
The Library section features brief historical information on the featured arcade games, as well as scanned artwork and circuitry related to them. Each game features a scan of its Japanese instruction card(s) and PCB/circuit board; all games save for Pac-Man and Galaga also showcase their Japanese sales flyers.
Trivia[]
- The formatting of Namco Museum DS is similar to the original PlayStation Namco Museum installments; particularly due to its extra features, such as the animated opening and Library mode. This distinction is otherwise not shared by most other Namco Museum titles, which generally solely focus on the included games.
- The Japanese front cover seems to further reference this, featuring a giant "N" from the Namco logo; the same format used for the original cover to Namco Museum Vol. 1. The international releases use a different cover focusing on Pac-Man.
- While most games display their arcade artwork in the game selection menu, Pac-Man and Galaga do not, instead using pixel sprites. This is possibly due to their flyers not being present in the Library, which was seemingly the basis for the other games' selection artwork.
- Pac-Man's original flyer may have been excluded from the gallery due to it using the original Puckman title (despite that Namco Museum Vol. 1 still showcases it).
- Remnants of a Wi-Fi mode for Pac-Man Vs. can be found in the Namco Museum DS code; suggesting that an online multiplayer mode was planned (possibly only for the Japanese release), but ultimately scrapped.[1]
- Unused sound effects from the arcade game Wonder Momo appear in the data for the opening intro; this may indicate that Wonder Momo was originally planned to be included in this compilation.[1]
- A "Dual Pack" box set release combining Namco Museum DS and Pac-Man World 3 was released in 2012.