Namco has been on a roll ever since the company released its first Namco Museum title. Now, in the series' fifth installment, Namco has included some fairly recent titles (if you consider the 1980's recent) while still digging deep into the retro gaming vault to pull out a classic sleeper hit or two.
In Namco Museum: Volume 5, Namco has included such great pastime hits as Pac-Mania, a pseudo-3D Pac-Man title that was spawned during the 80's arcade era. Then you have Metro-Cross, a skater-type game. Adding to the list is Dragon Spirit, a game that seems to take a page from Midway's classic shooter, 1942. Pulling up the rear are two great titles in themselves, Legend of Valkyrie and Baraduke. With this line-up, Namco proves they still have a few classics left to entice gamers.
GAMES:
- METRO-CROSS
Metro-Cross is an arcade game, released by Namco in 1985. It runs on Namco Pac-Land hardware (but with a video system like that used in Dragon Buster), modified to support a 2048-color palette. It uses a 6809 microprocessor, a 63701 microprocessor, and a Namco 8-channel waveform PSG for sounds
Metro-Cross is a platform game where the player must run through 32 futuristic levels. He is given a time limit to run through each one while avoiding obstacles and collecting items. The actual running happens automatically, the job of the player is to dodge obstacles and collect items by moving the character sideways and adjusting the speed.
If the character finishes the race within the time limit, the remaining time is converted into bonus points and he moves on to the next track. Every fourth track is a special track, which uses the time left over from the previous three as additional time. However, if the character hasn't reached the finish line when the time limit is up, the game is over.
Also along the track are springboards, which can be used to propel the character forward at a great speed. Some tracks have a special layout of springboards, where it is possible to use a springboard to land directly on another one. Some tracks also have skateboards which speed the character up and make him immune to some obstacles. There are two colours of cans found along the track. Kicking the cans gains bonus points, but jumping on them and knocking them over activates a special effect. Jumping on a blue can stops the timer for a few seconds, and jumping on a green can gives an extra burst of speed.
- BARADUKE:
Baraduke (Also called Alien Sector) is a scrolling shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1985. It runs on Namco Pac-Land hardware but with a video system like that used in Metro-Cross and Dragon Buster.
The player takes control of a spaceman in a bio-suit, player 1 is Kissy and player 2 is Takky. You must clear a total of 8 progressively harder floors, or stages, which each consists of 5 regular levels and one boss level. There are a total of 48 levels. Press the fire button to fire your wave gun at enemies. Save the one-eyed Paccets for points and a chance for another shield at the end of level bonus game. In each level there are a certain amount of enemies named Octy, which when defeated will yield power-up capsules. Defeating all of the Octy in a level will open up the gate. Go into the gate in order to end the level. After you complete 5 levels, you will enter the boss stage and after the boss character is defeated, you will go to the next stage.
* In the Mr. Driller series of games, Kissy is a supporting character under the name, Toby Masuyo (they refer to "Kissy" as being her nickname). She married and divorced Taizo Hori (better known as Dig Dug). They had three children two of which are Susumu Hori (the main character of Mr. Driller) and Ataru Hori.
* Toby "Kissy" Masuyo is also a playable character in the Japan only RPG, Namco X Capcom. She is teamed up with Hiromi Tengenji from Burning Force. Because of her divorce, she also seems to have a grudge against Taizo Hori, who also appears in this game (a reference to the Mr. Driller series). Tron Bonne also mistakes her for a boy.
* A Paccet appears in the background as a painting in Tales of Destiny.
- DRAGON SPIRIT:
Dragon Spirit is a 1987 vertical scrolling shooter arcade game released by Namco and Atari Games (in the US). It runs on Namco System 1 hardware, and was later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, DOS, Atari ST, Sharp X68000, TurboGrafx-16 and ZX Spectrum platforms.
After a millennium of captivity, an ugly serpent demon named Zawell escapes imprisonment and kidnaps Alicia, princess to the kingdom of Mitgult. A young, crafty soldier Amul is selected to rescue the princess and destroy Zawell. In praying to the gods for strength and courage, he points his sword high toward the heavens. Suddenly he is transformed into an all-powerful blue dragon, bestowed with special powers. Though gifted with a lethal air and ground attack, this is not enough. He must locate and obtain extra powers along the way. The demon has instructed nine of the mightiest beasts to stop Amul before reaching his goal.
Being the biggest sprite on the screen makes Amul an easy target, and he dies after three hits (or two, depending on the machine settings). The powerups that give the player extra heads may give double or triple the firepower, but they also give double or triple the exposure to enemy fire which, especially at later levels, becomes intensely difficult to avoid.
There are nine levels and a final boss.
- PAC-MANIA:
Pac-Mania is an arcade video game in the Pac-Man series, released by Namco in 1987 and distributed by Atari Games in the United States and Europe. It is a pseudo-3D interpretation of the classic maze game genre and features most elements of the original Pac-Man, as well as several new features. Pac-Mania runs on Namco System 1 hardware.
As in Pac-Man, the objective of Pac-Mania is to score as many points as possible. The player controls Pac-Man and attempts to eat all the dots in a maze, while avoiding being caught by ghosts that roam the maze. The player can eat power pellets that cause the ghosts to turn dark blue and become vulnerable; the player can then eat these ghosts for extra points, sending them back to their pen to return to their original color and behavior.
Pac-Mania contains several new features and significant differences from its original counterpart. The most noticeable change is the view used, cabinet projection, an oblique pseudo-3D format, in which Pac-Man always occupies the center of the screen and a virtual camera moves around the level to follow him. In addition, the player can press a button to cause Pac-Man to bounce, allowing him to evade most ghosts by bouncing over them. However, Pac-Man cannot as easily bounce over the green and steel gray ghosts because they bounce whenever the player presses the bounce button.
The game takes place in four environments: Block Town (made up of Lego-like building blocks), Pac-Man Park (a 3D version of the original Pac-Man maze), Sandbox Land (walls are made up of pyramids), and Jungly Steps (appearing as pathways with no railings, resembling a set of steps that rise toward the back of the maze). The game has a limited number of levels, after which the player is shown a brief ending and production credits, and is prompted for his/her initials if he/she has placed on the high score list. The number of levels varies by version. DIP switches in the game can be set to make the game endless.
- THE LEGEND OF VALKYRIE:
Valkyrie no Densetsu lit. "The Legend of Valkyrie" was released by Namco in 1989 in Arcades and in 1990 on the PC Engine only in Japan. It is a sequel to a Japan-only 1986 Nintendo Family Computer game entitled Valkyrie no Boken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu. For the first time, Valkyrie no Densetsu was translated into English and released in the Namco Museum Volume 5 compilation for the PlayStation. The PC Engine version later was ported to the Wii's Virtual Console only in Japan. The arcade version was released on the Virtual Console on December 8, 2009.
Player one controls Valkyrie while player two controls Krino Sandra (official Namco Museum romanization; he has also been romanized as Xandra, and was also named Whirlo in the English version of Xandra no Daiboken: Valkyrie to no Deai), a green lizard who, despite the name, is actually male (and his resemblance to a lizard isn't obvious). They fight enemies with their sword (Valkyrie) and trident (Sandra). The players can also hold down the attack button to use magic.
The PC Engine version of the game sports a big number of differences that almost make it a new game. The level design has been changed in the later levels, new stages have been added, you are given passwords to save your progress, there is an extra boss battle right before you fight the last boss, and the ending is completely different from the arcade version
Manufacturer's description:
HERE'S 5 ARCADE HITS THAT PUT THE JOY IN JOYSTICK.
Set your time machine. Namco Museum™ Volume 5 whisks you back to an era when big collars were cool, big hair was hip and big fun was only a quarter away.
METRO-CROSS
Beat the clock in this Furious Foot-race. Obstacles abound. Smash aluminum cans to get bonus time. (Recycle bins not included)
BARADUKE
Do you have the courage to battle a boss that looks like a fat globule with a billion beady eyes? Then pack some heat and let's rumble.
DRAGON SPIRIT
The smash-hit shooter of its day. Screen scrolls left/right and up/down. Blast air and ground targets. Upgrade weapons. Feel studlly.
PAC-MANIA
Catch Pac-Man in a pre-cursor to a true 3-D game. Looks retro-cool. Plenty of goofy ghosts and guffaws for all.
THE LEGEND OF VALKYRIE
You can't beat a 2-player game that features Viking women. Embark on quests, cast spells, wield weapons, and wear stylish Nordic attire.
Features:
- Third person perspective.
- 2D graphics
- Cartoon graphics
- Arcade Machines theme.
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