Tag Archives: Evercade 06: Namco Museum Collection 2

Evercade A to Z, Videos

Evercade A to Z: Pac-Attack

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Pac-Attack is an unusual and highly memorable puzzler from Namco with a bit of an interesting history!

Those of you who listened to our end-of-2020 podcast episode will also recall that Chris declared it his Game of the Year 2020, despite the fact it released in 1993. Our recent discovery of it is all thanks to the little wonder-machine that is the Evercade — and you can enjoy it too as part of theΒ Namco Museum Collection 2Β cartridge for the system.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

Evercade, Namco Museum Collection 2, NES

The Tower of Druaga: Persevere, Sir Knight

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The Tower of Druaga is an important part of gaming history — yet it’s also a game that has somewhat divided opinion over the years.

Back in its native Japan, it was widely loved and appreciated for its revolutionary nature at the time of its original release; in the West, however, it was lambasted for its slow pace, obtuse mechanics and monstrous level of difficulty.

Regardless of your feelings on it, you can now play the Famicom version as part of theΒ Namco Museum Collection 2Β cartridge on the Evercade retro gaming system. So let’s take a closer look, and see why this game is so important.

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Evercade A to Z, Videos

Evercade A to Z: Dig Dug II

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Everyone knows and loves Namco’s Dig Dug — it’s an all-time classic of arcade gaming’s golden age. But not so many people know about Dig Dug’s official sequel.

This is partly due to the fact that it didn’t leave Japan until pretty late in the 8-bit home console era, several years after its original launch — and as such, it got rather overshadowed by most of its contemporaries.

Now, though, we can enjoy it in all its glory on the Namco Museum Collection 2 cartridge for the Evercade retro gaming system. Take a look in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

Evercade, Namco, Namco Museum Collection 2, NES

Warpman: Another Lost Namco Treasure

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Probably the best thing about Blaze’s Evercade retro gaming platform is the fact that the releases so far have specifically eschewed hugely well-known retro titles in favour of hidden gems, lost treasures and just plain previously unlocalised titles.

A great example of this can be seen on the Namco Museum Collection 2Β cartridge. Have you ever heard ofΒ Warpman? Chances are, unless you collect Famicom games, probably not; it’s a 1985 Japan-only sequel to a fairly obscure 1981 Namco arcade game called Warp & Warp,Β also known asΒ Warp WarpΒ for its North American release.

Warpman (and, by extension, Warp & Warp, which it closely resembles in gameplay terms) is a particularly interesting game, because it introduces a specific mechanic that, today, is more commonly associated with a later game from a completely different company. But Namco did it first! So let’s take a closer look.

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Evercade, Namco, Namco Museum Collection 2, NES

Dig Dug II: Bring Out the Drill

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Dig Dug is one of those retro games that is an established classic, but which relatively few people seem to be aware actually got a rather enjoyable sequel.

Most of this is likely due to the fact that the 1985 arcade original was only released in Japan, and the game wouldn’t come West until the 1989 release of the NES version. And, well, good luck to any mid-’80s 8-bit arcade-style game releasing in the same year that gave us Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Phantasy Star II, SimCity, Populous, Mega Man II, Golden AxeΒ and an early incarnation of Windows Solitaire.

Still, that doesn’t meanΒ Dig Dug IIΒ should be consigned to the dustbin of history by any means. It’s fortunate, then, that we can try it out for ourselves on theΒ Namco Museum Collection 2Β cartridge for the Evercade retro gaming system! Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Dig Dug II: Bring Out the Drill →