NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES Vol 2 (Nintendo Switch) Review

Let this begin with an ultra-fast recap of what can be found in NAMCO's two-volume MUSEUM ARCHIVES: single-press and auto-fire buttons, a rewind feature and four save slots, a variety of visual modes and settings, as well as the option to play borderless. The collection is a pretty minimalist kind of deal, without any added firework to make it more impressive, which is great for this critic's, old-fart-ish tastes. You just select your game, read a tiny description that provides the goal, and off you go!

…But now it's time to look at the titles on offer. Sadly, this isn't as strong as what came before, with the only "big" name being Galaga, the more aggressive version of the classic shooter, Galaxian. On the other hand, there are also less bad-to-mediocre games, and more mediocre-to-good. Yes, there are still borefests such as the no-reason-to-exist Pac-Land, the-somewhat-less-forgettable-Mappy, Mappy-Land, and the controls-a-bit-too-stiff shooter Rolling Thunder, but the rest of the collection is generally a lot better than Vol 1.

None of the following are true classics, but they can definitely be enjoyable. Battle City is a fun tank battle sim that includes two-player deathmatch and level construction; Dig Dug II offers a neat take on the original recipe; and Super Xevious remains almost as simple as Xevious but is generally better. There some options (mostly action games) that one can safely pass by, but as mentioned before, these aren't as bad as the ones that can be found in the first volume.

It's important to note that, like with NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES Vol 1, this includes an upgraded, modernised (yet still 8-bit) version of a classic game, in this case Galaga. The name? Gaplus, which isn't as impressive or addicting as Pac-Man Championship Edition, but its new features definitely make this a fun experience, with your ship being able to create a line of attack made out of captured aliens - be careful, though, the invaders have become far more aggressive as well.