Namcollection (PS2) (2005)
Developer: Namco

Review by Faididi and Co.

Now completely Pac-Man-free

Gameplay: Above Average

Celebrating Namco's 50th Anniversary, Namcollection is a compilation of five PS games developed by the company during the 1990s. Three of them being ports of arcade games, they are (in chronological order) Ridge Racer, Tekken, Ace Combat 2, Kaze no Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, and Mr. Driller. Each represents a different genre to show off Namco's true versatility, and these games are all significant classics for very good reasons, even if some of them have clearly aged more than the rest.

Ridge Racer has been a pioneer of racing games, offering friendly physics and full-blown 3D graphics (maybe except for the cute race queen). Its course design remains well-laid and jam-packed with small details, be they helicopters zipping across the skies or the changing times of day.

Tekken has likewise broken new ground as a 3D tournament fighter, pairing its polygons with a large variety of characters who come with elaborate combos, complex grappling moves, and other advanced tricks. The numerous secret characters are a plus, too.

The youngest in the batch, Mr. Driller, is a puzzler with a twist. It provides a more tangible set of goals and obstacles, instead of merely calling for the abstract elimination of colored blocks. The simple thrill of digging into the depths of the earth while trying to avoid getting crushed by collapsing blocks or running out of oxygen stays as fun as ever.

Ace Combat 2 (the only sequel in the group) delivers its series' well-balanced flight simulator gameplay. Its wide selection of playable craft is loosely based on real-life machines, and there are over a score of missions centered around many types of objectives, sometimes with multiple mission paths.

However, the biggest draw in this set is the legendary Kaze no Klonoa: Door to Phantomile. This is the action platformer that has redefined its genre with its unique play on double-jumping, its creative level and enemy designs, its rich story, and its wonderful music.

More than a basic bundle, Namcollection also holds a museum mode that contains a wealth of supplemental data for the games involved. This museum mode can be fully perused right out of the box, without requiring you to play through the classics beforehand. Besides outlining each game's secret bonuses and the conditions for earning them, it features expert-play movies for Ridge Racer's four default challenges and Mr. Driller's time trial courses, complete moves lists for Tekken's characters, a summary of terms pertaining to Ace Combat 2's world, and over forty conceptual images for Door to Phantomile's characters and scenery (including early designs and unused material). The movies and the concept art galleries definitely make this compilation worth seeing for hardcore fans of the games.

If Namcollection must be criticized on one matter, that would be why its selection of games simply isn't larger, in order to better represent the high quality and vast scope of the company's over three decades of colorful gaming work. For one thing, why not carry members of more genres, such as space shooters or RPGs? For another, why not pack in more sequels as well, instead of stopping with the earliest installments? Namcollection would have further rocked if it had thrown in additional classics like Ridge Racer: Type 4, Tekken 3, Ace Combat 3, Soul Edge, Galaxian^3, Star Ixiom, and maybe even Time Crisis.

Controls: Above Average

The controls for the games remain virtually unchanged, which means you're left with their same great responsiveness (as well as the minor limitations in the customization of Ace Combat 2's controls). In more good news, the left analog stick is fully supported throughout this compilation, so you can finally use it for Ridge Racer.

The only noticeable problem here is that the save data for the games are all collected into a single file, and there's no way to individually clean out one game's save data and start from scratch without affecting the rest. Namcollection probably should have created separate files for each of the games' save data, just like how the original PS versions would have normally done so.

Graphics: Above Average

The visuals of every game are perfectly replicated, right down to Tekken's now-blocky-looking characters. Of course, that also means Ridge Racer still enjoys minimal loading times, Ace Combat 2 still brings out crisply drawn characters and environments, and both Door to Phantomile and Mr. Driller still bloom forth with dazzling colors.

Audio: Above Average

Likewise, the audio effects are faithful to every note. Sure, Ridge Racer's announcer hasn't grown any less annoying, but the explosions in Ace Combat 2 boom out forcefully once again, and Door to Phantomile's score continues to awe. The choice of the Xevious-themed music for the museum mode is strange, given that this set doesn't contain the PS package of that space shooter, Xevious 3D/G+ (which itself is a compilation, too).

Overall: Above Average

Namcollection showcases five of Namco's most memorable PS games, along with a sizeable amount of supplemental information in its handy museum mode. The inclusion of masterpieces like Door to Phantomile and its related concept art galleries is reason enough to check out this compilation, which would've been a more perfect celebration had it bundled in a greater number of Namco classics.