Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection review

Unlike this month's Sega Classics, this is a collection of retro superstars that haven't been messed around with - and it's all the better for it. At least for authenticities sake.

Each of these games is an '80s classic - something that's demonstrated by the juddery carousel of arcade cabs that make up the game's rudimentary game selection screen - all accompanied by a never ending playlist of '80s tunes.

The game's compilation itself is, as usual, something of a mixed bag. There are 16 games in total, some are bona fide classics - Pole Position I and 2, Galaga, Pac-Man and Xevious for example. Others, we'll admit, we've never encountered in the past - 'gems' like Bosconian, Dragon Spirit and Sky Kid.

On the whole each title is pretty much spot on - but there are some irritating problems with a couple of games.

Pac-Man, for example, seems to have been speeded up slightly (or maybe that's just us) and both Pole Positions, devoid of that classic steering wheel, are rendered unplayable, leaving you struggling to do anything but crash on every corner.

That said, some of the better tiles here still play wonderfully. The unlockable Galaga '88, for example, is still absolutely brilliant - a solid tactical shooter and a sensitively refurbished update of an already excellent classic.

Meanwhile, the likes of Dig Dug, Ms Pac-Man, Dragon Spirit and Rolling Thunder, despite being visually dated, all have stood the test of time and prove to be perfectly enjoyable to this day.

Namco Museum is easily one of the better retro collections. Although many of the older titles here, like Galaxian, Xevious and Rally X are undoubtedly dated, they're still faithful to the originals, which will surely please the misty-eyed nostalgia freaks among you.