Video Game / Namco Museum

Namco Museum is a series of video game compilations by Namco (and its successor, Bandai Namco Entertainment).

The series initially began as budget line on PlayStation, first released in 1995. It was known for featuring an actual museum area where you can explore and learn about the games. From Namco Museum 64 for Nintendo 64 and onward, however, it ditched the museum part and became your typical arcade games bundle.

The PS1 games were eventually added to PlayStation Store as PSOne Classics in 2013.

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List of Games

• Namco Museum Vol. 1 (1995)
  • Includes: Pac-Man, Rally-X, New Rally-X, Galaga, Bosconian, Pole Position, Toy Pop
• Namco Museum Vol. 2 (1996)
  • Includes: Xevious, Mappy, Gaplus, Grobda, Dragon Buster
  • Also came with Bomb Bee and Cutie Q, albeit only in the Japanese version. Overseas version had Super Pac-Man instead.
• Namco Museum Vol. 3 (1996)
  • Includes: Galaxian, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Phozon, Pole Position II, The Tower of Druaga
• Namco Museum Vol. 4 (1996)
  • Includes: Pac-Land, The Return of Ishtar, Genpei Tōma Den, Assault, Assault Plus, Ordyne
• Namco Museum Vol. 5 (1997)
  • Includes: Metro-Cross, Baraduke, Dragon Spirit, Pac-Mania, The Legend of Valkyrie
• Namco Museum Encore (1997, Japan-only)
  • Includes: King & Balloon, Motos, Sky Kid, Rolling Thunder, Wonder Momo, Rompers, Dragon Saber
• Namco Museum 64 (N64) / Namco Museum (DC & GBA) (1999)
  • Includes: Pac-Man, ^note Not present in the GBA version due to it being included in Pac-Man Collection Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Pole Position, Dig Dug
• Namco Museum (PS2, Xbox, GameCube) (2001)
  • Includes all games from Namco Museum 64/Namco Museum, plus: Pole Position II, Pac-Mania, Pac-Attack, Pac-Man Arrangement (1996), Galaga Arrangement, Dig Dug Arrangement
• Namco Museum Battle Collection (2005)
  • Includes: Galaxian, Pac-Man, Rally-X, King & Balloon, Galaga, Bosconian, New Rally-X, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Xevious, Mappy, The Tower of Druaga, Grobda, Dragon Buster, Dig Dug II, Motos, Rolling Thunder, as well as four new arrangement games: ^note Not related to 1995/1996 Arrangements included in 2001 Museum Pac-Man Arrangement (2005), Galaga Arrangement, Dig Dug Arrangement, New Rally-X Arrangement
  • Japanese version was split into two volumes, second volume also includes Dragon Spirit and two new arrangement games: Motos Arrangement and Pac-Man Arrangement Plus^note Essentially the same game as Pac-Man Arrangement, but with half of the levels referencing other games: Ms. Pac-Man, Tank Battalion, Mappy, Toy Pop, Dig Dug II, The Tower of Druaga
• Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (2005)
  • Includes: Galaxian, Pac-Man, Rally-X, Bosconian, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Xevious, Mappy, Sky Kid, Pac-Mania, Galaga '88, Rolling Thunder, Dragon Spirit
• Namco Museum DS (2007)
  • Includes: Galaxian, Pac-Man, Galaga, Xevious, Mappy, The Tower of Druaga, Super Xevious, Dig Dug II, Pac-Man Vs.
• Namco Museum Remix (2007)
  • Includes: Cutie Q, Galaxian, Dig Dug, Super Pac-Man, Xevious, Mappy, Pac & Pal, Gaplus, Pac-Mania, as well as five remade "remix" games: Rally-X, Galaga, Motos, Gator Panic, Pac 'n Roll
• Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (2008)
  • Includes: Galaxian, Pac-Man, Rally-X, King & Balloon, New Rally-X, Bosconian, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Super Pac-Man, Xevious, Mappy, Grobda, The Tower of Druaga, Dragon Buster, Motos, Baraduke, Dig Dug II, Sky Kid, Metro-Cross, Sky Kid Deluxe, Pac-Mania, Galaga '88, Dragon Spirit, as well as six arrangement games: Pac-Man Arrangement, Galaga Arrangement, Dig Dug Arrangement, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Galaga Legions, Mr. Driller Online
• Namco Museum Essentials (2009)
  • Includes: Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Xevious, Dragon Spirit, Xevious Resurrection (only available in this compilation)
• Namco Museum Megamix (2010)
  • An enhanced version of Namco Museum Remix. It includes all previous games, plus: Pac-Man, King & Balloon, New Rally-X, Bosconian, Galaga, Grobda, Motos, Dig Dug II, and a new "remix" game, Grobda Remix
• Namco Museum (Nintendo Switch) (2017)
  • Includes: Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, The Tower of Druaga, Sky Kid, Rolling Thunder, Galaga '88, Splatterhouse, Rolling Thunder 2, Tank Force, Pac-Man VS.
  • A physical version, Namco Museum Arcade Pac, was released in 2018, which added Pac-Man Championship Edition 2+
• Namco Museum Collection 1 (Evercade) (2020)
  • Includes: Pac Man, Galaxian, Dig Dug, Xevious, Star Luster, Libble Rabble, Mappy, Mappy Kids, Battle Cars, Metal Marines, Quad Challenge
• Namco Museum Collection 2 (Evercade) (2020)
  • Includes: Galaga, Pac-Attack, Tower of Druaga, Phelios, Dragon Spirit, Dig Dug 2, Burning Force, Weapon Lord, Warp Man, Splatterhouse 2, Splatterhouse 3
• Namco Museum Collection Volume 1 (2020)
  • All games based on Famicom/NES versions. Includes: Galaxian, Pac-Man, Xevious, Mappy, Dig Dug, The Tower of Druaga, Sky Kid, Dragon Buster, Dragon Spirit: The New Legend, Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, Pac-Man Championship Edition^note Newly created Retraux version
• Namco Museum Archives Volume 2 (2020)
  • Includes: Galaga, Battle City, Pac-Land, Dig Dug II, Super Xevious, Mappy-Land, Legacy of the Wizard, Rolling Thunder, Dragon Buster II, Mendel Palace, Gaplus^note Newly created Retraux version
• Namcot Collection (2020, Japan-only)
  • Japanese version of Namco Museum Archives, only released for Nintendo Switch. Includes all of the previous games in one volume, minus: Dig Dug II, Dragon Buster II, Legacy of the Wizard, Mappy-Land, Super Xevious.
  • Added: Warpman, Star Luster, The Tower of Babel, Valkyrie no Boken, Metro Cross, Family Jockey, Megami Tensei, Family Circuit, Yokai Dochuki, The Quest of Ki, Daikaijuu Monogatari, King of Kings, Wagan Land, Family Pinball, Keru Naguuru, Namco Classic II

List of other Namco Collection Games

• Xevious 3D/G+ (1997)
  • Includes: Xevious, Super Xevious, Xevious Arrangement, Xevious 3D/G
• Namco Anthology 1 (1998)
  • Includes both original and arranged versions of: Star Luster, The Tower of Babel, Conqueror's Continent, Wrestleball
• Namco Anthology 2 (1998)
  • Includes both original and arranged versions of: Valkyrie no Boken, King of Kings, Namco Classic II, Pac-Attack
• Pac-Man Collection (2001)
  • Includes: Pac-Man ^note This is why it wasn't included in Namco Museum for the GBA , Pac-Man Arrangement, Pac-Attack ^note Based off the Genesis version, Pac-Mania
• NamCollection (2005)
  • Includes: Ridge Racer, Tekken, Ace Combat 2, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, Mr. Driller
• Pac-Man Museum (2014)
  • Includes: Pac Man, Ms. Pac-Man^note Downloadable content, Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, Pac-Land, Pac-Mania, Pac-Attack^note Based off the SNES version, Pac-Man Arrangement^note Originally included in Namco Museum Battle Remix, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Pac-Man Battle Royale
• Pac-Man Museum+ (2022)
  • An enhanced version of Pac-Man Museum. Includes all of the previous games besides Ms. Pac-Man, plus: Pac-In-Time^note Based off the SNES version, Pac-Man Arrangement^note Based off the arcade version, Pac-Motos^note Originally included in Namco Museum Remix, Pac 'n Roll Remix^note Originally included in Namco Museum Remix, Pac-Man 256

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Namco Museum series provides examples of:

• Arcade-Perfect Port: Earlier entries of the PS1 collections had near identical game ports, outside the interface changes to fit the console's resolution. Post-2000 games that aren't on handheld are definitely qualified to claim this.
• Artifact Title: Only the PS1 games, including Encore, had any sort of actual Museum elements.
• Compilation Re-release: The main purpose of the series. Namco Museum consists of ports of Namco's arcade games from decades prior.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The PS1 games had a museum that can be explored in first-person, with some volumes even having secrets that could be found in this mode. This would not be present in later games.
• Museum Game: Literally, in the case of the first 5 games, the menu is in interactive form where you could walk around and learn about the featured games. This was dropped after the PS1 games.
• Nostalgia Level: A large number of rooms in the PS1 museums are dedicated to Namco's arcade games.
• Spotlight-Stealing Crossover: Vol. 3 really adores The Tower of Druaga in particular, likely due to its immense popularity in Japan. Not only is its exhibit vastly more expansive than any of the other rooms, its arcade machine room features a giant 3D recreation of Druaga himself, and it is the only exhibit with a secret room, showing a fully animated 3D battle of Gil and Druaga squaring off. It even received a whopping 60 new levels just for this port, which can't be said about any of the other featured titles. If that weren't enough, the Library room is dedicated almost exclusively to additional Druaga content that didn't already fit in the exhibit room, and of the various Namco magazines on display over half of them feature Ki on the cover. There's even a giant painting of Ki hanging in the lobby.
• Stopped Numbering Sequels: Namco Museum Encore, the sixth PS1 entry in the series, does not follow the numbered volume format of its predecessors.
• Surprisingly Creepy Moment: The PS1 games for the most part are bright and whimsical, but Vol. 4 has a lot of unexpectedly scary moments.
• Updated Re-release: Remix games in Namco Museum Remix are essentially this. Remix itself received an updated re-release as Megamix in 2010, though only in North America.