"Do you remember the days of Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig-Dug? The days when gaming was great? I know, I know, this sounds like the beginning of one of those campy late-night television adds for a whole compilation of the greatest hits of the 1980's."
Overall: Pac-man, Ms. Pac-man, Galaga, Dig Dug and Pole Position all on the disk, with variations of each added in there, Wow. Gameplay: Five great arcade classics, controls are perfect, couldn't be easier to pick up and play. They added different levels/content to three of the games which they call arrangements, which adds more replay value. Graphics: All the old school look and feel, which is all I wanted. They did not change anything, so for those of you that like these games and want them unchanged, this is a must have. Sound: This game sounds pretty good, they did a very good job on bringing the classic sounds from the arcade to the console. Suggestions: Keep the classics coming!
Overall: This collection is a faithful reproduction of some of the classic arcade games of the 80's-early 90's. The ability to retain high scores is a great feature, it's like having your own standup arcade. At only 29.95 this is a great deal. I picked it up for nostalgia, but this is the game I find my girlfriend playing all the time. Before she rarely played on the Xbox. Gameplay: Gameplay is FAITHFULLY reproduced. Pac-man has that D&%$@#*ed annoying joystick delay that the standups had. The only addition that I can see is support for the vibration function in the controller-and that can be turned off. Graphics: Visually the game is exactly like the original, so while the graphics are no where near current standards, they are accurate reproductions, as advertised. Since they tell you up front that it's a classic arcade reproduction, don't expect any 3d renders. The screens can be resized (normal, small and medium) to better suit the screen you are playing on. Sound: Sounds are also the same as the arcade games. Again nothing spectacular was advertised, only a faithful reproduction-which this is. Suggestions: I would to have added a historical video section with some info about how these games got developed.
Overall: I bought this mainly for my wife (she loves playing pac-man) who has a hard time getting into the new games. I've found myself enjoying PAC-MAN and Galaga. If your into the old games or just wanna add them to your collection this pack is for you. If you could care less about the oldies but goodies then steer clear of this one. Gameplay: Same as it was years ago, fun, takes a great deal of skill. I bought the Pelican Arcade stick which makes the games a lot more fun and easier play. Graphics: Looks exactly like they did back in their day. But it wouldn't be the same if they went and fixed it up so I'm not complaining. Sound: Good ol beeps and bleeps. Everything sounds just the arcade versions and brought back good memories.
Overall: A nice flashback title for those who remember spending lots of quarters playing these games (Pac Man, Dig Dug, Ms. Pacman, Galaga, Galaxian, and Pole Position I & II) in the arcades. Nothing in this collection measures up to todays games but they are not meant to. They seem to be emulations of the actual original arcade games. The graphics and sounds are the same as the originals. Namco didn't do anything special to sharpen them up for the XBOX. There are also some new versions of a few of the games, called 'arrangements' which are fun but I like the originals better. They seem to be titles produced a few years after the originals to try to pump a few sucker quarters out of arcade players. There are also two locked games, but they aren't much fun for more than a few minutes. It's a budget title ($29) and it shows. Unless you are nostalgic about these games you probably shouldn't waste your time and money. Otherwise, It's a nice collection of retro games that is good to have when you want to play a game but only have a few minutes. It's hard to comment on lasting appeal since I don't consider this a play-for-hours hardcore title. It's more of a library collection meant to played on occasion in my opinion. Gameplay: As I said in the overall review, the appeal will only apply to old skoolers that played these games a lot. Young kids might get into them too since the games are simple. If you never played these games or don't miss anything about them, this title will bore you in minutes. Graphics: Unfortunately, the games seem to be directly emulated and no care was taken to upgrade the graphics to appear sharper on the XBOX. It is very pixelated and doesn't look as good as they do in the arcades. Sound: The sounds are very basic but true to the originals. Again, nostalgia comes into play since a big part of hanging out in arcades was the game sounds. No enhancements seem to have been made for surround sound. It also doesn't support soundtracks. Suggestions: Rather than putting this out to make some easy money, Namco should have spent a little to remix the old sounds in DD5.1 and allowed you to play your soundtracks in the background. Also the graphics are very pixelated and should have been cleaned up to appear very sharp on the XBOX. Pole position should have been tweaked to play better with the XBOX controller - it's the worst of the bunch. It's a good thing this title is only $29 (which I also had a $5 off coupon for) otherwise I would have given this a REALLY bad review. I like the idea of bringing back old arcade titles but next time fix them up a bit more. I'm not saying to change them, just make them look and sound as good as possible on the XBOX. Also, as far as the 'museum' aspect, it would have been nice to have some 'extras' like DVDs do: photos of the arcade machines, interviews with designers, etc.
Made in Canada