Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Sure, there are some new screens of the new versions of Pac 'n Roll and Pac-Motos, and maybe they do look fun, in a budget party game sort of way, but we glossed right over them for screens of 20+year-old arcade games, because that's how we (Pac'n) roll.

We're strange people, we suppose. But when we saw those screenshots of Gaplus, Pac and Pal, and especially our beloved Pac-Mania and its brilliant background image (CRAZYMAN!!), we knew. We got a terrible feeling that we will buy Namco Museum Remix. There. We said it. We only hope we can get the message out to Bandai Namco that we want more real classics and fewer wacky remakes. And please, some games that haven't been released in previous Namco Museums.

CONFIRMED: Namco Museum Remix continues to be insane. Not that we expected them to, but Namco did not go back and change Galaga back to regular Galaga. We are still living in a world where a description of Galaga can include the phrase "Pac-Man rolls on a tube in outer space."

This is the "new" Galaga in which, instead of shooting from a ship at the bottom of the screen, you shoot the alien ships by pointing and shooting at them with the Wiimote, shooting-gallery style, and you can also use the analog stick to make Pac-Man jump.

Rally-X was still Rally-X, but with speed boosting, which seems like an okay addition. These were still the only two playable games, so we'll have to wait to see how Namco is ruining updating the rest of their classics.

Kohler also played Rally-X, which was basically a 3D remake of the original arcade game (which itself is basically Pac-Man). While Galaga is rife with Wiimote integration, Rally-X is more staid and relies on the analog stick and shoulder buttons.

The major complaint about Namco's Museum series of retro compilations is that they're just too faithful to their arcade counterparts. People don't want exact arcade translations anymore, they want games remade unrecognizably in 3D! They want Pac-Man randomly inserted into every game!

At least, that seems to be Namco Bandai's thinking. Either that or they weren't sure how else to rerelease games they're already selling on the Virtual Console. The result is Namco Museum Remix, a set of Namco classics, now with more waggle, depth, and Pac! The remixed games include Galaga, Pac-Motos, Rally-X, Gator Panic, and Pac 'n Roll, which is apparently a classic now despite not even being two years old. For that matter, Gator Panic seems to be based on a cell phone game which is itself based on the Whack-a-Mole like redemption game, and we have no idea what Pac-Motos was originally. Interesting what passes for "classics" these days!

In addition to the remixes, the collection includes Cutie Q, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Gaplus, Mappy, Pac & Pal, Pac-Mania, Super Pac-Man, and Xevious. We poke fun at Namco for selling the same games over and over again, but this is an okay selection of somewhat less common stuff! Sorry to everyone who bought NES Xevious on the Virtual Console.

Check out our gallery of screens from the remixed games. Some are faithful, like Rally-X, and others are completely incomprehensible, like the image at the top of this post, which is supposed to be Galaga.

Gallery: Namco Museum Remix