Namco continues their extremely popular museum series with volume #4. I give Namco credit for starting an avalanche of classic video game re-releases from other companies. Nichibutsu started it on the Super Famicon with their Crazy Climber, Moon Cresta and Frisky Tom cartridge about 2 years ago. They released a version of it on the Sony Playstation in late '95 which did very well. When Namco released volume #1, it answered many a classic video game fan's dream request. Namco 1 featured a collection of fan favorites from the early 80s that old-time gamers grew up on. Pac-Man was probably one of the first arcade games that I played in the back of a bar. Hm, a bar that was very close to the elementary school that I went to no less. It was love at first sight - Pac-Man and Donkey Kong are my earliest memories of arcade games. Oh, and who can forget Omega Race and Asteroids? The idea that I could play these same arcade games at home was very cool since I couldn't get them on JAMMA or converted to work with my Super Gun. Subsequently, we have seen Irem Arcade Classics, Williams Arcade Classics, multiple Sega Ages volumes and Sega's classics series which include Outrun, Afterburner and Space Harrier, Toaplan Shooting Battle, Bubble Bobble, etc.

Namco 4 begins with another rendered intro animation that involves all of the characters from the games on Namco 4. The theme of the intro has Pac-Man as an explorer who is being chased as always by the ghosts who are on foot (on sheet?) and ride after him in the Assault tank. This volume features 5 classic releases which I will list below. Namco 4 includes some modern games whose levels are a lot more involved than the games in the other volumes. For example, Assault is more than just another search and destroy mission and Ordyne includes many features that extend it beyond the status of 'just another shooter'. Since this week is extremely slow in terms of new releases, we will take an in-depth look at each and every game that is in Namco Vol. 4. Each game now has a static image of the game as it loads instead of Pac-Man running around as you wait for the game to pop up.

Assault in the arcades was played with two joysticks. This was one of my favorites and I tried for years in vain to get an original coin-op for my collection but was never able to. A pizzeria near my high school had an Assault machine but I never had enough money back then to buy a coin-op, much less a video game cartridge. Lunch money was pretty much it. Assault is a tank game where you control a heavy duty tank in search of enemies in different worlds and in various types of terrain. To move forward, you would push both joysticks forward; to move left, you would move the left stick up and the right stick down. Pushing both sticks down would make your tank go into reverse which was at times necessary to avoid enemy fire. Moving the sticks apart would make your tank do a roll which was useful for avoiding enemy fire. The firing scheme in Assault is a simple one where you have a single shot weapon at your disposal. This shot is user controlled in terms of the spray that you can do; you can affect the direction of your firepower by spinning the tank in a circular motion . As the world moves around you, the shots will scatter out and hit whatever is in their way. You can thus fire a continuous line of shells and then rotate left and watch as the shells curve to follow the curvature of your tank's spin. The other thing in Assault that was useful in destroyng enemy tanks was the jumper pad. When you moved your tank over such a pad (and it was lighted up to indicate that it was active) your tank would shoot up into the sky. This was great because once you were airborne, you could spin and fire at everything below to eradicate any resistance that was in the local and far-off vicinity. The effect of this was awe inspiring back then as you shot up and then floated down, shooting at everything as you descended. Its not so impressive now but it still looks good. The other weapon in your tank's meager arsenal is a concussion bomb that can lay waste to enemies within a small radius of where it lands. This is useful when you find a cluster of enemy armor; the blast can destroy multiple enemies at once. The game has been ported over directly from the arcade code and I consider Assault to be one of the finer tank battle games. Assault is addictive and its gameplay is top notch. The control is horrible with the standard control pattern so go into the options screen and change the joypad mode to Type-B which plays fine. You can also opt for analog joystick control which is the perfect controller to use with this game and brings the arcade right into your home. The viewable range is rather small in the standard horizontal screen mode so those of you who can rotate your monitor 90 degrees to the right should do so for the full screen mode. This tilting of your monitor will let you see more of the screen, just like the arcade version. The horizontal mode scrunches the screen down with massive black borders on the side of the screen.

Ordyne has been released on home systems before (on the Commodore 64 and the Sega Master System) but this is the first time that the actual arcade code has been ported to a home version. This is a one or two player shooter where you control a couple of guys who pilot colorful planes and try to shoot down everything in sight. The graphics are very good and colorful and may remind some of Sega's Fantasy Zone shooter which was also colorful and somewhat similar to Konami's Parodius game. Your air ship has two attack weapons, a forward shot and a bomb that hits objects below you. You can enhance your weapons later on by visiting a floating store where you can buy your power-ups. The screen moves up and down to reveal small unseen slivers of the level that you are on. This scrolling didn't really matter too much as the oncoming enemies will usually stay in the center of the screen. The power up scheme in Ordyne works differently from most other shooters where the power ups are free and you can gather them up after defeating a carrier ship. Capitalism is alive and kicking in Ordyne because you will have to go into a shop and buy your power-up weapons with the crystals that you have gathered up. The crystal is the monetary denomination in Ordyne. You can speed your ship up by buying boosters and weapon power ups are plentiful as you progress through the levels. You can choose between the three way shot, the vulcan (which is a streaming laser shot that is quicker than your normal shot, a double flame shot that covers both your back and your front, a wide shot which is a green laser which can cover a wider range than just the single shot and so on. Crystals appear when you destroy an entire line of enemies that come at you - their defeat will leave behind a 500 or a 1000 crystal bonus. Some levels feature big mother ships that pass from the back or from the front and can fire at you. They add another element of danger to your flight because you can get killed if you are not wary of these passing airships. Ordyne has two levels of parallax scrolling which don't convey a sense of depth in the levels but the graphics are attractive and the gameplay is fun. There is a nice effect in level two where you enter a rotating portion of the level and have to avoid the platforms and shooting lights as you progress to the end of the sub-level. This could have been where Nintendo got the idea for rotation on their Super NES. The bosses in Ordyne are varied, with level two having a fiery turtle that emerges from the lava and spins out rivulets of lava at you. You can destroy these lava bits with your weapon which makes him an easy foe to defeat. Level 3 is played underwater with a bit of air that you can emerge into. This is a veritable maze of glaciers and floating ice blocks that you will have to avoid. There are some formations that have bombs that will drop down as you pass them so you will have to avoid them as well as the obstacles that are in front of you. Ordyne also has a bonus game that is activated when you touch a plane with a banner trailing it. The bonus game is a simple one where you spin a wheel and win a monetary prize. Its not much but it is another option that you can find in this fun and engaging game that is well worth the price of any shooter that is available on the Saturn or Playstation today.

Pac-Land takes the Pac-Man legend to a side scrolling adventure. The controls are very simple as you control Pac-Man who now has sprouted legs and arms. Your repetoire of moves consist of running, running faster and jumping. The graphics look very simple with line art portraying everything. The colors are bright and everything looks cartoony. Pac-Land is a playable game with simple controls and simple goals (get to the end of the level). You can gobble up power pills throughout the levels which will change the ghosts that chase you into eatables that you can chomp on. The ghosts in Pac-Land are no longer relegated to travelling on their feet. The ghosts now ride in cars to run you down and fly in bi-planes. Since they are air-borne, the ghosts will drop objects on you to knock you out. Some points in the game require very precise timing and may cause frustration if you are not exacting in your control. Of all the Pac-Man games however, I would consider this to be the weakest of the bunch. The goals are simple and the levels as you travel through them are plain and not much to look at. The later levels are more interesting to play through but overall Pac-Lan doesn't give you enough substance. Pac-Man is a classic, Ms Pac-Man was great, Pac-Man Junior gave us huge scrolling mazes to eat in, Super Pac-Man was weird but fun to play and the Pac-Man pinball game was inventive and lots of fun. Remember Pac-Mania? That was the 3-D isometric view Pac-Man game that was released in the arcades in the late 80s. It has not been announced for Namco Vol. 5 yet but it would be great if Namco includes that one on their last volume. Pac-Land is standard fare that offers nothing new in terms of play mechanics or special effects but it plays well enough. Its also your only chance to play as Pac-Man in a side scroller which is a treat in itself.

The Return of Ishtar is the sequel to Tower of Druaga, the Gauntlet clone from Namco Vol. 3.  Druaga and Ishtar play slower than Gauntlet does but they are somewhat interesting. Both are maze exploration games with an emphasis on gathering up power ups and treasure as well as warding off plodding enemies. The first level in Ishtar introduces you to the play mechanics which may be awkward to some because of the odd control scheme. You control two characters with your joypad; one player is controlled with the directonal pad while the other is controlled by pressing on the buttons in the four cardinal directions. The main character that you control with the directional pad can be considered your explorer while the swordsman that is controlled with the buttons is more of a guard since his sword will protrude everytime an enemy is near. This game is confusing to play but button configuration type D plays well though you will have to alternate the movements of the characters with this configuration. Button Configuration B and C will allow for simultaneous movement of the characters. The levels are attractive to look at and the monsters are well detailed. The pink monsters that you encounter in the first level are pretty stupid so it is no problem to defeat the lot of them. They all have something hanging out of the side of their mouths but I couldn't figure out if it was a gold chain or a line of slobber. Oh well. I did not spend much time with this one because of the slow paced action and the odd goals that I was not interested in finding out about. The Namco 4 package includes an Ishtar password/room sheet so that you can keep notes for yourself as you progress through the levels.

Genpeitoumaden is a side scrolling hack 'n slash game which pits you against Japanese ghosts and demons. There are also a lot of animal enemies such as tigers, snow monkeys and other creatures that run and fly at you .This reminded me a bit of the game Shinobi except Shinobi plays more fluidly. Your main character carries a sword and wears a kabuki mask with red hair.The movement between levels is depcited on a world map which you view before every level. There are three types of gameplay in Genpei; the first type of game gives you a far off view of the action where you jump and slash at the different enemies that are coming at you. The other game is a close up side scrolling action game with three levels of parallax scrolling. The animation here shows its age with parts of the main character's body and parts of the enemies bodies seemingly moving independent of each other. Check out the poor looking tiger who leaps half-heartedly at you. The third type of game is a Gauntlet type game where the action is viewed from overhead. The phasing in and out of levels is done buy crossing gates. This game is playable but the mechanics of the game are sometimes unfair to the player. There are many occasions where there are so many enemies lunging at you that there is no way to avoid getting hit. This was the case in all three types of games.The gameplay overall however is good and there are some forgiving parts in the game. For example, if you should be so clumsy as to mis-time a jump across a ledge and fall to your seeming death, you will find yourself in hell. If you have the sense about you to find the exit to hell, you will be granted permission to return to the land of the living. Thats fair enough for me.

Namco 4 is a fine addition to the spate of classic releases that we have seen in the past year. The addition of Assault on this one did it for me and Ordyne is an added bonus. If Namco had released this volume with just these two, I would have been a content man. As it is though, the other games are diversions that you can play on a rainy day.

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