Both of the games are sequels to popular games that improved upon their predecessors and became classics in their own right. Galaga is the sequel to Galaxian. It featured colorful bug-shaped enemies which had multiple forms of formations as well as attacks. The most unique part of this game was the enemy type which would beam the player ship up and away from the game area. If the player successfully destroyed the enemy, the captured ship would join the current ship to become a double fighter or triple fighter, depending on the amount of ships combined.
Ms. Pac-Man is the first sequel of Namco's popular Pac-Man. It expanded upon the original by having different maze shapes rather than just different colors and bonus fruit that would bounce along the maze rather than just sit in the middle. It was designed by General Computer Corporation as a Pac-Man conversion kit named Crazy Otto. The designers pitched the game to the company that held the American distribution rights to Pac-Man, Midway Manufacturing. Midway liked the game, purchased the rights, and worked with Namco to rework the game into a proper Pac-Man sequel.
This arcade compilation has the dubious reputation of setting off a series of lawsuits relating to the rights of Ms. Pac-Man. GCC claimed they were not paid the residuals that they were stipulated to earn in their agreement with Midway Manufacturing back in the 1980s. This led to a complicated rights battle that would become even more complicated after GCC was disestablished in 2015 and AtGames bought its rights to residuals for the games the former designed for Midway.
Ms. Pac-Man is now no longer included in Namco Museum and Pac-Man compilations, and the character of Ms. Pac-Man is now portrayed by other Pac women, the latest of which is known as Pac Mom. Because GCC also created Jr. Pac-Man, that character has also been replaced by Pac Boy. Midway developed Baby Pac-Man, so that character is now replaced by Pac Sis. It's a really odd situation that has resulted in retro games being edited in re-releases and remakes.
Class of 1981 also includes an awesome easter egg. It's one that I always use when I find the cabinet out in the wild, as even though I prefer Ms. Pac-Man, its fun to play a game not noted on the marquee. If you use a specific combination of joystick moves. If you turn the joystick up, up, up, down, down, down, left, right, left, right, left at the game selection screen, the red ghost Blinky will change into the pink ghost Pinky. Selecting Ms. Pac-Man will now play the original Pac-Man instead.
Namco 20 Year Reunion: Ms. Pac-Man / Galaga: Class of 1981 is a fun compilation of Namco maze games and shoot 'em ups, including Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, and the hidden game Pac-Man. Arcade1Up also has a stand up machine and a countercade that has the name of this compilation, but it includes a different third game, or more in the case of the stand up cabinet because it does not include the Class of 1981 PCB. The games are classics that are still fun to play, and this is a great way to experience them if you ever come across the 20 Year Reunion arcade cabinet.
Final Verdict:
4½ out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment