Namco Museum Remix

Ever since retro gaming first became popular a few years back we’ve had countless numbers of ‘best of’ compilations bundling ancient arcade games into one affordable package. Trouble is we’ve now seen the same games released several times, and it’s getting hard to justify the purchase of yet another version. And it doesn’t help that many classic arcade games have the depth of a spoon, making them acceptable for short bursts but really not suitable for lengthy play sessions.

Namco Museum Remix aims to alleviate this problem by – as its name suggests – ‘remixing’ these games to bring them up to date. What this means is giving them a graphical overhaul and making it work with the Wii controls.

Namco Museum Remix contains the following games:

Pac ‘n’ Roll

An update of a Nintendo DS game from 2005, you roll Pac Man around the environment collecting ‘pac-dots’ to open doors. It’s fun and challenging.

Gator Panic Remix

It’s Whack-a-Mole, but with alligators. Vaguely entertaining for a few minutes but you’ll never want to play it again.

Rally-X Remix

Just like Pac-Man, except you’re driving a car and collecting flags. It’s far too easy, and more than a little bit dull.

Motos

An amusing little game where you play a bumper car knocking enemies off the edge of a checkerboard. Fun, but it’s not got any longevity.

Galaga Remix

Remake of a classic shooter, it’s now ridiculously easy thanks to the slow pace and simple control method. Ignores everything that was good about this classic shoot-em-up.

In addition to these remakes you’ve also got nine original, unmodified arcade games. Dig Dug, Galaxian and Xevious are included yet again, with some other titles less deserving of classic status, such as Super Pac-Man and Cutie Q.

It’s really quite a disappointing package, with only Pac ‘n’ Roll offering any real entertainment. The best classic games are all stuff you’ve seen before, most of the remixes pointless, and the rest of the arcade classics weren’t any good when they were first released in the 80s.

Verdict:

Slim and cynical collection that aims to cash-in on retro fever with the bare minimum of effort. Save your money and just buy your favourite arcade games from the Virtual Console.