Namco have had a many and varied existence covering the coin-ops, sports games and just fine action blasts. As such the Namco Gallery encapsulates the spirit of retro gaming amongst its volumes in a nutshell.
Volume 1 is a fine compilation of Mappy, Galaga, Namco Classic and Battle City. The platforming delights of Mappy, shooting action of Galaga and golfing exertions of Namco Classic are well known and summaries are on the site. Perhaps the lesser known element in the package is Battle City which involves the players tank defending a position against a whole armoury of opponents tanks with cool calculated shots a requirement to progress.
Volume 2 features vintage shooter Galaxian, Dig Dug, Tower of Druaga and the baseball winner Famista 4. In Dig Dug players scrape through tunnels in order to eliminate the various critters hindering progress in this simple concept with pure gameplay. A fine game to go back to and very nicely preserved for future generations in this GB form. Druaga is from a golden era of gaming where players take on the role of knight tasked with clearing mazes. Set apart by Namcot's flair for appealing sprite graphics and some fine gameplay blending quick thinking and fast pacing to create a title as loved today in updates and on virtual consoles.
Finally Volume 3 contains four titles: Sky Kid, Babel, Family Tennis and Jantaku Boy. So its sports, mahjong and building up staircases to escape from Babels action puzzle levels. But its Sky Kid likely to be of most interest: a plane based fun shooter where pilots zip along rescuing folk and firing off a few volleys against the Red Barron like adversary planes. A tasty compilation. Happy Genki gaming.
