Namco Museum 4

The idea here is simple enough, but I have to give props to Namco for not just throwing their old-school games onto a disc and shipping them out. Granted this is the fourth one they've put out On a series of five), so by this time it's a given that they know how to make a solid compilation, but the Museum area is still pretty darn cool. I like walking around looking at all the preliminary sketches, sounds, music, etc. of the games and then, of course, playing them. I especially liked the time line of Namco releases. My only gripe is that the games on this one were a little weird. Sure, Ordyne is a pretty neat shooter-very modern compared to the other titles on the CD-but the rest of them are a little strange (especially that darned Genji & Heike Clans). Pretty much three of the five games in Volume 4 are fun: Pac-Land, Assault and Ordyne. The other two, the aforementioned Genji & Heike Clans and The Return of Ishtar, were pretty lame due to difficult control and the games being...well, not very fun. The 3-D graphics while walking around the Museum are done well, similar to Jumping Flash! It's cool that they gave you control of Pac-Man, a Run button and the ability to look up and down. Honestly though, I would've rather been Dig-Dug as I walked around the place.

The Namco collections are getting more obscure. I've played Assault and Pac-Land, but the others are new to me. Ordyne (the shooter) is the best game here, and besides Assault (awesome with the dual analog joystick only), I don't see much more reason to get this one except to have a complete Namco series. Not bad, but the earlier editions are better.

Only two of this collection's titles--Assault and Ordyne-are worth a darn. But that's OK. because Assault Cone of my favorite arcade games is nearly worth the price of admission. Be warned, though-you'll need Sony's analog pad or dual analog stick to get arcade-true control in this classic. The other three games-although novel-aren't much fun.

This museum really disappoints me with its irritating selection of games. Usually, you could count on at least three hot games you used to monopolize at the arcades, but this one only has Assault and Ordyne as its main draw. I'm shocked at the meager selections offered here, but as always, the behind-the-scenes interviews and movies rule.