Namco Museum (PSP, JP) - Longplay

00:00 - Bootup
01:46 - Pac-Man (1980)
15:34 - Ms. Pac-Man (1982)
23:10 - Galaxian (1979)
32:52 - Galaga (1981)
55:48 - Rally-X (1980)
1:02:36 - New Rally-X (1981)
1:17:57 - Dig Dug (1982)

In the world of handheld gaming, a system that you don't hear too much about these days is the PlayStation Portable. A system far ahead of its time with extensive online connectivity, an online store, being able to download movies and music, and so much more. It might not have been the greatest of systems (its control stick leaves a lot to desire), nor was it able to compete with the Nintendo DS, but what it was able to do was provide a home for some of Namco's best compilations to date.

Released in 2005, the Japan-only PSP edition of Namco Museum was a large step forward for the Namco Museum series. The main attractions here are the four "Arrangement" titles for Pac-Man, Galaga, New Rally-X, and Dig Dug. Unlike the 1995/1996 Arrangement games from Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 and 2, these are brand new titles designed specifically for this collection. And while there are varying opinions on the quality of those titles, as well as how they compare to the arcade Arrangement titles, they are still massive selling points for this collection. They even support wireless multiplayer, using the PSP's wireless Ad-Hoc functionality. Those aren't featured in this video, as I chose to focus exclusively on the arcade titles here.

Alongside the Arrangement titles, the original arcade versions of each game are included, plus Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, and the original Rally-X. (I guess they thought the Pole Position games would play terribly on the PSP, which to be fair, they probably would.) But this time around, things are a lot different. Gone are the days of the highly inaccurate PS1 Namco Museum ports that Mass Media lazily included in the past few compilations. Namco brought on TOSE and Gotch Technology this time around, and for the first time ever, we would receive true emulation of the arcade versions. And they did an impeccable job, as even with the limitations of the PSP, the graphics, gameplay, and sound for all arcade games is near immaculate, in addition to the benefit of playing incredibly well on the PSP. It's even possible to transfer one-level demos of the arcade games to another PSP, again using the wireless Ad-Hoc feature.

But it's not just the incredible emulation quality. The entire interface of the arcade games has been changed. Now, when inserting a "credit", the intermediary screen pulls up a menu where you can access the game settings. You can toggle the usual like lives and extend thresholds, but there's also complete sound tests built in for every game, the ability to toggle the self-test modes upon startup, a wide variety of screen layout options, and so much more. And if that wasn't enough, you can even unlock the "Maniac Options" for each game, featuring an additional Score Attack mode, plus some really niche settings like changing the ROM version, or patching out bugs from the original arcade releases. Each game also has a continue feature, allowing you to start at any stage up to the highest one you've reached. Point is, there's so much customizability available, and it all lends itself to providing tons of replay value. You're almost never going to run out of enjoyment with these collections.

Of course, there is still the unfortunate downside of a limited game list. But as you probably know, Namco didn't let it stay that way. When they brought this over to the US, they took it upon themselves to add 10 more arcade games to the roster, in what would become the amazing Namco Museum Battle Collection. A longplay of that will be coming in the near future, but for now, this is where it all began.

Side note: I'm not sure how I pulled off that kind of game in New Rally-X; that was far better than any other game I've ever done. Galaga was also quite the highlight for me here.

As I said before, the Arrangement games aren't included in this video, and that's because I felt they deserved their own videos. You can view my playthroughs of those games here:
Pac-Man Arrangement:    • Pac-Man Arrangement (PSP) - ALL Hard Clear...  
Galaga Arrangement:    • Galaga Arrangement (PSP) - ALL Hard Clear ...  
New Rally-X Arrangement:    • New Rally-X Arrangement (PSP) - ALL Hard C...  
Dig Dug Arrangement:    • Dig Dug Arrangement (PSP) - ALL Hard Clear...  

Played on my PSP 3000, using Composite cables to play and record from my TV.