Namco Museum Essentials
A compilation of classic Namco arcade games with online features.
Namco Museum Essentials is a 2009 video game compilation developed by Cattle Call and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3. It includes five Namco arcade games from the 1980s alongside an exclusive sequel, Xevious Resurrection. The game utilized the now-defunct PlayStation Home service for unlockable virtual items.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Namco Museum
- Platforms
- PlayStation 3
- Released
- January 29, 2009 (JP)
- July 16, 2009 (NA)
- April 1, 2010 (PAL)
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Games
Namco Museum Essentials contains six games: five arcade titles from the 1980s—Pac-Man (1980), Galaga (1981), Dig Dug (1982), Xevious (1983), and Dragon Spirit (1987)—and one exclusive game, Xevious Resurrection. The arcade games allow players to start on any previously reached stage and include a score attack mode focused on maximizing points before dying. In-game options let players adjust the number of lives and border artwork. Multiplayer is absent from all games except Xevious Resurrection. Completing objectives in each game rewards stamps redeemable for items in the now-defunct PlayStation Home service, such as shirts, hats, and arcade cabinets; over 50 unlockable items are available. Stamps also award points that increase a player's account level, unlocking extras like wallpapers. Online leaderboards display scores from other users and friends. A sound test and the ability to record a friend's progress are also included. Xevious Resurrection is a vertical-scrolling shooter that updates the original Xevious. Up to two players control Solvalou starships—white for player one and black for player two—to defeat the Xevious forces and their leader GAMP. The ships use an air zapper for flying enemies and a blaster bomb for ground targets. A new shield system protects against enemy projectiles for a short time, depleting a shield meter that can be refilled by collecting orange triangular pickups from certain enemies.
Development
Namco Bandai Games handled publishing duties for Namco Museum Essentials on the PlayStation 3, with Cattle Call serving as the developer. In Japan, it was released as Namco Museum.comm, where the ".comm" likely stood for "community" due to the game's online features. A dedicated hub area was built in PlayStation Home to promote the title, also advertising other digital-only releases from the publisher. Players who visited this space could earn extra items for their Home avatar and try a demo known as Namco Museum BETA in Japan. This game was one of the first to use PlayStation Home's rewards system. The included Xevious Resurrection aimed to update the classic Xevious gameplay for a modern shoot'em up audience. The release dates were January 29, 2009 in Japan, July 16, 2009 in North America, and April 1, 2010 in Europe. It was delisted from the PlayStation Store on March 15, 2018.
Reception
Namco Museum Essentials received mixed reviews from critics, holding a 64 out of 100 on Metacritic. Reviewers praised the presentation, emulation quality, and unlockable extras. IGN called the overall presentation "top-notch" and commended the use of PlayStation Home and bonus content for adding replay value. Push Square stated that the unlockable extras and leaderboards "brings the classics into the 21st-century" and praised the emulation quality. GamePro complimented the stamp system for giving the game more depth. However, critics criticized the small game library and lack of multiplayer. GamePro found the library too small, lacking updated visuals or features, and noted the absence of multiplayer and an "unnecessarily large" file size. IGN expressed disappointment that multiplayer was excluded from all games except Xevious Resurrection and criticized the small library. GamePro disliked the price point, advising readers to "choose wisely," while Push Square argued it was "worth the chance" for fans of Namco's catalog. In a retrospective review of Xevious Resurrection, Sam Derboo of Hardcore Gaming 101 described the graphics as "very effective" for their budget, noting the backgrounds resembled satellite photographs.
More in Bandai Namco Games of the 2000s
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