2001, the year that everyone seemed to notice that everything is getting smaller.
The big, bulky arcade cabinets you see at your local arcade are now slipping away into
obscurity, becoming obsolete in their beautiful, boxy glory.
But you soon started to realize that this is a good thing.
This means that you can bring those beautiful, boxy cabinets along with you on a car or bus
ride, to the cafe, to your buddies' houses, hell, you can even climb up Mt.
Everest and have Ms. Pac Man come with you!
Ok, maybe you wouldn't do that.
The Game Boy Advance led the charge in contemporary handheld gaming, itself a continuation of
the legendary Game Boy, in a smaller, 32-bit package that was simply a hit.
So, when the Advance and arcade all-stars Namco decided to join forces and put together
a package of old school arcade gaming, who could doubt that they would deliver with Namco
Museum, developed to satiate the hunger of arcade gamers on the go.
Anyone who has lived in the late 20th century will immediately recognize each game, of which
there are five, jam-packed into one tiny cartridge, each game based on the high-scoring system
that is so typical of the arcade craze.
You get the shooter Galaga and its bigger, slower translation known as Galaxian, the
esteemed chase-and-dot eater sequel to one of the most famous games of all time Mrs.
Pac-Man, the arcade F1 racer Pole Position, and the underground
blow 'em up classic, Dig Dug.
Everything here is pretty much self-explanatory except for maybe the way that the normally
vertical screens for the arcade versions of the games are shrunk down to size so that
they can fit into your pocket and under your desk during math class.
Unless you're racing around the track in Pole Position, you'll remember that all the other
games involve playing on a vertical screen, but there's little to no effort involved in
transitioning from the cabinet to the GBA.
Instead of being able to see the whole screen in Dig Dug, the game scrolls from side to
side or top to bottom when its called for.
Mrs. Pac-man comes equipped with the same scrolling option, but if you want, you can
change the view to full screen, although things appear a lot smaller than usual.
Each game feels like arcade controls, and the sound and music of each game have been
preserved well.
To be sure, Namco Museum is one you should take along with you on a long road trip.
Long, tedious college lectures come to mind as well.