Namco Museum is a worthwhile release and the inclusion of Splatterhouse was a win-win for me. For $30 I think it’s worth the price to revisit some of Namco’s classic games and have the option to play them anywhere.
Overall, Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Namco Museum for the Nintendo Switch is a well thought through collection that touches the older gamers’ heartstrings and those 90s/2000s gamers who believe they grew up in the best video game times. In other words, it’s got a bit of everything, nearly all good, for every type of gamer out there. It’s a welcomed addition to the Nintendo Switch.
Namco Museum offers a good classic game collection for Switch owners with good emulation and nice presentation options but perhaps it's not enough to justify its price.
Namco Museum brings back pixel perfect emulation of some classic arcades, such as Galaga, Pac-Man or Splatterhouse. It also includes Pac-Man Vs. four player asymmetric game, but t lacks of extra content and there are too few games available.
In any case, this Namco Museum release on the Switch is as good as its precursors and brilliantly accentuated with the local multiplayer focused Pac-Man Vs. but it is currently overpriced and I hope this is not a new trend when it comes to future retro gaming releases on the Switch.
Ultimately, by neglecting to tell the stories about these games, Namco Museum on Switch leaves its selections in the unenviable position of selling their legacies to contemporary players on gameplay alone. Namco Museum would have prospective players believe that these selections are valuable, timeless experiences, but the reality is that no game is timeless — every one exists in its own moment, a photograph with its horizons safely tucked away in the background. For players that have the memories, maybe a faithful recreation is enough. But the rest? They’ll be left wondering what all the fuss was about.
Namco Museum for Switch is about what you’d expect if you’ve played any of the other packages that the company has put together over the last quarter of a century. What’s here is decent, but there just isn’t enough of it.
While this collection has a lot of quality arcade titles, there are still a few games they left out. Examples being Ms. Pac-Man or Pac-Land. Otherwise, this game is great if you want to get your nostalgia on.
While a bit on the pricey side, this collection is NOT lazily thrown together. It has a plethora of features and little design ideas that make it absolutely worth it.
So, first thing's first: are you a fan of retro games? No? Then simply move on. It's not for you. But if you want to be able to play an arcade-real experience on the go, and don't have an arcade around, this is WELL worth it.
These games run cleaner than I have seen on most emulation in my life. I've yet to come across a single bug. The way these games have been presented is incredibly faithful in every aspect. You get some gorgeous cabinet art on the sides in you're playing in landscape mode, but in one of the COOLEST features, you have the option to rotate the screen 90 degrees, and play in vertical arcade fashion! Even the old school music sounds great out of the little Switch speakers.
You get yourself one of those HORI playstands, and you have an arcade anywhere, and the joy con interface is simple enough that anyone can join in.
The games themselves are just classic. Splatterhouse harkens back to the early days of TurboGrafx 16, Pac Man is as memorable as it was in the 80s, the inclusion of two Galagas is welcome, and I've played an unhealthy amount of Rolling Thunder.
I found this absolutely worth the price. I tell ya, though: if they drop this to $15-$20, it would literally never leave the Switch best-sellers list.
The music sounds great coming out of those little Switch speakers
This pack could use some more games, and the original Pacman Championship Edition would have been nice, but it does come with some rarely ported gems like Splatterhouse, Tank Force, Rolling Thunder 2 and Galaga '88 making for a very attractive package for arcade fans who already have a million copies of other Namco classics.
Too expensive, but I only bought it as I wanted to play Rolling Thunder and Splatter house. Which are still fantastic.
Unless you really like some of these games, I'd recommend waiting until it's on sale.
With a paucity of content and limited replay value, this title is well overpriced. Comparing competitors of equal cost, this offering simply does not have sufficient content to offer gamers a good value. On the plus side, PAC-MAN Vs. is innovative and fun. I would have loved to see other retro games be given similar treatment.
In short, wait until this is on sale.
SummaryIncludes Namco classics such as PAC-MAN™, GALAGA™, SPLATTERHOUSE™, and TOWER OF DRUAGA™, or play games such as ROLLING THUNDER ™, SKYKID™, or TANK FORCE™ with friends and family on the Nintendo Switch.