| paleface [sys=PSP; cat=Action_Variety; reg=NA] |
| | | Larger than usual compilation for a Namco effort, with ports of Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, King & Balloon, Galaga, Rally-X, New Rally-X, Bosconian, Dig Dug, Dig Dug II, Xevious, Mappy, The Tower of Druaga, Dragon Buster, Grobda, Motos, and Rolling Thunder (list taken from GameSpot), and then arranged remake things of Pac-Man, Rally-X, Galaga, and Dig Dug.
You can adjust the aspect ratio of all the games--original resolution, or scaled up to fill the PSP's screen in one dimension, or even stretched to fit both directions, and the ones that were on vertically oriented monitors in the arcade can be rotated 90 degrees to play on their side. The PSP's resolution, though, is sufficient to fit the originals on its screen when held horizontally, so there isn't much need to turn them sideways.
The ports I tried all seemed perfectly solid. Some I hadn't played before, and of those, Grobda and Dig Dug II turned out to be rather pleasant surprises.
As far as the new "Arranged" versions go, they came out very pretty, but largely too easy, at least when compared against the originals. Dig Dug actually comes out with different gameply in the form of powerups, new level layouts, and new enemies, such as a rock-creature whose boulder-like head/hat drops like a rock after you pop his soft juicy body with your drill/pump. Pac-Man remake looks really sharp, all "3D" isometric Pac-Mania style, in tiny mazes with rippling rows of dots and nifty reflecting floors. Again, too easy compared to the original, but at least it looks nice.
Namco did a good job on this version. The presentation, particularly the extensive video and gameplay options for each game, as well as slick autosave features and so on, indicate a well-directed effort on their part. This collection is some of the best twitch action you can find on PSP at the moment--that isn't saying too much, true, but really, it's a good treatment. There's also some kind of WiFi multiplayer stuff in here, but I haven't tried any of that. |
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| | | The Arranged versions have multiplayer--Dig-Dug is pretty fun co-op (but you can pop each other, watch out); Pac-Man is sort of a competitive thing where you can turn the other player into a ghost, and that's kind of neat; Galaga is a useless sort of race thing where you each just play separately anyway; and I forget what Rally-X was, but that game sucks anyway. There's also game sharing of at least some of the older games; haven't tried that.
It's funny how Namco keeps including some of their crappy games in these compilations, like they're proud of them. I mean, Rally-X, Xevious, Mappy, Druaga, Dragon Buster, Galaxian, and King & Balloon are just turds. Ugh. I would rather they weren't even on here. |
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| | | | At least three times now, I've gone right through a ghost in Ms. Pac-Man without being affected by them in any way. This is out of many hours of playing the version in this compilation, so it doesn't happen with any significant frequency, but I wonder if this is a bug from the arcade version, or if it's something specific in this port? |
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| | | Did some Ms. Pac-Man research. Apparently, the arcade version also let you go right through the ghosts once in a while, so it looks like that's a faithful reproduction.
Also, this version appears to be the "Advanced" version released slightly later (1982), with slightly faster ghosts in later stages, and shorter times in which they are vulnerable after eating a power pellet. That explains why I've found it tougher than Ms. Pac-Man games I've played in the past! Phew, thought I was slipping. |
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| | | | Still the only really accurate port of Ms. Pac-Man that I have. If only I could attach a joystick to the PSP... |
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