Namco Museum Battle Collection

Namco Museum Battle Collection
Developer(s)	Namco Tales Studio
Publisher(s)	Namco SCEE (Europe)
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	JP February 24, 2005 NA August 23, 2005 EU December 9, 2005 EU May 6, 2009 (Platinum) EU April 8, 2011 (PSP Essentials)
Genre(s)	Action Compilation
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer, Game Sharing
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: Everyone 10+ PEGI: 12+
Media/distribution	UMD

Namco Museum Battle Collection is a collection of Namco arcade games such as Dig Dug, Pac-Man and Galaga. It was released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on February 25, 2005 and contained eleven classic games from Namco's game history. The game was developed by Namco Tales Studio Ltd. The North American version contained an additional ten games and was released on August 23, 2005. The Europe version, which published by SCEE, was released on December 9, 2005 and was again as a Platinum and PSP Essentials hits on May 6, 2009 and April 8, 2011 respectively.

The compilation also contains four variants of several of Namco's more well-known properties, known as Arrangements. These games (Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga and New Rally-X) have an updated presentation and also introduce a number of new gameplay concepts to each arranged title.

The games can also be turned onto their side and the size of the screen can be changed as well. The game also takes advantage of the game sharing feature of the PlayStation Portable and allows other players without the game to play any of the original games' first levels.

Additionally, the games in this collection are ports, rather than true emulations, denoted by the fact that in the original modes, the "waiting for start" screens (occurring after inserting a credit, but before starting the game) have been replaced by modern "console-style" options rendered in the style (font, etc) of the original games. The options include "1P PLAY", 2P PLAY", and "OPTIONS". It also have the option that allow players to play any level that they already play. The only games that not have the two-player mode are The Tower of Druaga and Grobda. The reason is this because the former have the different option to continue the last game on any level reached and the latter already have the stage select feature.

Games

Namco Museum Battle Collection contains the following games.

Arrangements

• Pac-Man Arrangement
• Dig Dug Arrangement
• Galaga Arrangement
• New Rally-X Arrangement

Each title has "Arrangement" as part of its name. However, these versions are unique to the Sony PlayStation Portable and should not be confused with the original set of Arrangements (which also included Xevious and Mappy) released in 1995 and 1996 for arcades (See Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 & 2). In the arcade, New Rally-X Arrangement was Rally-X Arrangement. Most Arrangements from this collection received iOS re-releases with "Remix" replacing "Arrangement" in the name, the originals are also included with most of them. All Arrangements from this collection (except for New Rally-X Arrangement) are also included in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for the Xbox 360.

Original

• Galaxian (1979)
• King & Balloon (1980)*
• Pac-Man (1980)
• Rally-X (1980)
• Ms. Pac-Man (1981)
• Galaga (1981)
• Bosconian (1981)*
• New Rally-X (1981)
• Dig Dug (1982)
• Xevious (1982)*
• Mappy (1983)*
• The Tower of Druaga (1984)*
• Dragon Buster (1984)*
• Grobda (1984)*
• Motos (1985)*
• Dig Dug II (1985)*
• Rolling Thunder (1986)*

Regional differences

In Japan, the original release is known simply as Namco Museum. It consists of the four arrangements and their respective games of origin, along with the original Rally-X, Galaxian, and Ms. Pac-Man.

Namco Museum Volume 2 was released on February 23, 2006 in Japan only. Largely composed of the ten extra titles prepared for the International versions (denoted in the list above with an asterisk), Volume 2 also contains a port of 1987's Dragon Spirit as well as a brand-new arrangement of Motos and an updated arrangement of Pac-Man. Pac Man Arrangement Plus, as it is titled, bears no affiliation with Bally/Midway's Pac-Man Plus.

Both of the volumes are available on the Japanese PlayStation Store.

See also

List of Namco Museum compilations

External links

• Namco Museum Battle Collection guide at StrategyWiki