Namco Museum Vol. 4

by Sony

Product Features

• Assault
• The Genji and the Heike Clans
• The Return of Ishtar
• Ordyne
• Pac-Land

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00002SVCV
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,978 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

The Namco Museum series is just about out of steam. The first two volumes were spectacular; almost every game was worth owning. Volume 3 had about a 50 percent hit ratio. Volume 4 is just plain depressing. It contains five games, and most of them are little known games that were little known for a reason.

As always, the emulations on these arcade games are perfect. They have every feature and dip switch setting that the original game had, plus a crazy 3-D museum section that shows off some of the promotional materials for the game. The five games on the pack are pretty rare ones; I hadn't even heard of three of them before I saw this collection.

Pac-Land is the most recognizable title on the disc. It's a side-scrolling game that was loosely based (well, graphically speaking) on the Pac-Man cartoon. Pac's mission is to save a Fairy Princess and return her to Fairy Land. He does this by, well, running and jumping. The occasional power pellet allows him to eat ghosts, but it's usually just easier to avoid them.

Assault is the gem of the package. You are placed at the Battlezone-style controls of a tank, and are forced to traverse countless levels, blasting away at enemy forces in the process. The tank can also roll over onto its side, which makes avoiding unfriendly fire a breeze.

Ordyne is a shooter that plays like a mix of Parodius and Forgotten Worlds. There are shops along the way that allow for weapon upgrades, but these are limited in ammunition and don't last very long at all. The bosses in the game are pretty big, and all in all it's a decent game.

The Return of Ishtar is just plain weird. It uses Robotron-style controls to maneuver two separate characters around a dungeon. It's a sequel the Tower of Druaga and incredibly boring.

The Genji and the Heike Clans is a joke. Calling this an arcade classic is preposterous. You are cast in the role of a little samurai who runs around hacking stuff up. There is also a separate game mode where the characters are really huge, but they just look goofy. This one is a real loser, and it's probably the worst game on any of the Namco discs.

If you're a completist, you'll want to get Namco 4 for your collection, but it'll probably start collecting dust about two days after purchase. If you want a good arcade compilation, check out the first two volumes of the Namco Museum collection. They're packed with arcade goodness. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Manufacturer Description

PacLand Assault Ordyne Return of Ishtar and The Genji and the Heike Clans are all back from the arcades of antiquity in this Namco anthology.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars awful-not even close to being worth the sky-high price tag, November 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Namco Museum Vol. 4 (Video Game)

This and Namco museum Vol.5 absolutely scrape the bottom of the barrell-these games are pitifully lame are an assault of sheer boredom to play. The only aspect of this title anyone might enjoy is Pac-Land, which is a side scroller starring Pac Man (actually released before Super Mario Bros!) that resembles the Pac Man cartoon show of yore. So if you are a Pac Man fanatic and must have every game the lil yellow guy appears in, try to pick this up used. Otherwise, stay the heck away from this stinker.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too much expectation..., September 16, 2005

By 

Moknbyrd (Gardendale, Alabama United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Namco Museum Vol. 4 (Video Game)

I'm writing this as one of the old timers who actually played most of these in the arcades. This disc is good for those wishing to relive the old days of the arcade. The only things missing are the loud pings and crashes of the other machines and the local rock station over the radio.

I don't believe people give this compilation a fair shake. They are SO use to Playstation, Xbox, Etc., that they forget when these games were released. Games like Pac-Man (an oldie but goodie) doesn't need a lot of memory. But people overlook a game like The Genji and the Heike Clans. When this came out, it was breaking new ground for side-scrolling fight games. It looks hokey...Because it's OLD. It's not gonna look like Metal Gear Solid.

Yeah the games might be harder to control...on the Playstation. These games were made for an arcade Joystick. The controls don't translate well to the Playstation for whatever reason. Other than that, I've enjoyed the flawless recreations of these old games.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pac-Land memorable, but the rest is not, July 18, 2001

By 

Bruce Gray "gurpsgm" (Shenandoah Valley, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Namco Museum Vol. 4 (Video Game)

This is the fourth in the series of Namco recreations of Arcade classics. It includes: Assault, Pac-Land, Ordyne, The Return of Ishtar, and The Genji and The Heike Clans. Assault is one of the better ones - it puts you at the controls of a 3-D tank fighting other tanks. Pac-Land is a memorable side-scrolling world that most Pac-Man fans will remember, but the rest of the world forgot. The rest of this collection consists of (at best) second rate arcade conversions that have no business being called "Classics". Only worth buying for Pac-Man and Play Station completists.