Long before there was ever a Pac-Man, or even a PONG, for that matter, there was Namco. The popular company actually began its life five decades ago creating mechanical rides for children. Eventually, Namco turned its eye towards the budding video-game industry and created the single most popular video game of all time: Pac-Man. Now the company is celebrating its golden anniversary with a new collection of some of its greatest arcade classics.

This isn't Namco's first go at bringing its classics together in one convenient package. For years, the company has been releasing various selections from its extensive library of old-school gaming hits. In fact, nearly all of the games in this 50th Anniversary edition have shown up at least once or twice in prior collections. However, this particular playlist of games pulls together the best of the best from Namco heyday in the '80s, along with a few new additions sure to appeal to gaming aficionados everywhere.

This latest Namco Museum title features fourteen classics playable right from the start. These include arcade legends Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Dig Dug, Galaxian, and Galaga. Rounding out the collection are cult classics Xevious, Rolling Thunder, Dragon Spirit, Mappy, Rally X, Bosconian, and Sky Kid. In addition to these games, there are also two additional unlockable arcade games. The first is reimagined Pac-Man update, Pac-Mania. For those of you unfamiliar with Pac-Mania, the game basically took the classic Pac-Man game, added some visual polish thanks to a new isometric view, and gave the iconic star the new ability to jump over the pursuing ghosts. The second unlockable game, making its long awaited compilation debut, is the truly remarkable and extremely hard to find Galaga '88. This updated version of the original Galaga included new enemies, new visuals, and an impressive new feel. It's considered by many to be even better than the original.


The graphics and sounds in Namco Museum 50th Anniversary are generally what you'd expect from a collection of games that are around twenty years old. Although obviously dated by today's standards, each game is still a virtually perfect re-creation of the original full-sized arcade machines of the time. Namco and Digital Eclipse did throw in a nice-looking 3D interface for selecting games, and a cool licensed soundtrack of various '80s songs. Choosing a game from a selection of video-game cabinets with Fine Young Cannibals or Dexy's Midnight Runners brings back the feeling of feeding quarters into machines at the local arcade.