Namco Museum 50th Anniversary

Although using the analog stick or d-pad doesn't compare to the arcade joysticks of old, I appreciate being able to tweak the number of lives you get for each game. [Oct 2005, p.128]

If you have always intended to buy a collection of classic arcade games, then this is as comprehensive as you're going to get. [Nov 2005, p.93]

Brings back some fond memories. Some of the games have aged well (Galaxian, Galaga), some have not (Pole Position). Why are there only a dozen games? [Jan 2006]

Packed to the rafters with 14 magnificent games from the heyday of arcade history, Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary is an equal parts assault of entertaining variety and challenging frustration.

In the end this game delivers what you would expect, a collection of classic titles from the days of yore. For the decent price of the title it’s not a bad little collection.

While the game should have included at least a little bit of museum-quality extras, at $20 it's still a hard deal to pass up.

The large selection of titles is a great value for $19.99 and they are all still plenty of fun to play, however the lack of any sort of bonus material is inexcusable, and when you consider that the majority of these games have been released in compilations from Namco before, the game’s content simply doesn’t live up to its celebratory billing.

Despite the lackluster presentation, the games hold their own. Shooting for Galaga ‘88 High Scores is still as fun today as it was back in 1987.

In a day and age where Capcom and Midway (and to a lesser extent, Sega) are putting actual work into their retro game compilations, adding content that is fresh and interesting, and selling it all at an affordable price, Namco Museum 50th Anniversary comes off as nothing more than a cheap (no pun intended) joke. To top it off, half of the games aren’t even playable.

But this compilation serves up all their gaming hits and, apart from proving just how far, thankfully, gaming has come in the last 25 years, it also manages to deliver nostalgia by the bucketload.

All of these games are fun to spend some time with, to a lesser or greater degree, but none of them will keep you entertained for very long, making this a nice filler for an hour between the other games you're currently playing.

Namco's back catalog deserves better than this slapped-together cash-in.

The minimal presentation, weak interface and comparatively paltry selection of titles hardly seems worthy of a golden anniversary.

Only for the truly nostalgia-obsessed. [Apr 2006, p.74]

Where's the Namco background? Developer interviews? Designer retrospectives? It's a missed opportunity, and a massive disappointment.

These games should be kept out of the hands of youth so as not to show them how ignorant we were when we were young.

A decent retro package for folks who like that sort of thing. [Mar 2006, p.106]

If you're looking to dabble in a bit of retro gaming I'd advise looking at the far more entertaining "Capcom Classics Collection," which includes superior games and has been created with far more care.

Just a quick cash-in designed to appeal to those who once held the Namco collections in high regard. This is one of the worst compilation titles released in recent years.