Tech N' Tactile

Retro Revelations: Navigating Sega's Disappointments and Namco's Triumphs in Gaming Collections

• Tech N' Tactile • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Remember blowing into cartridges and pumping quarters into arcade cabinets? We're diving deep into the world of retro game compilations that have kept classics alive for new generations—and not all collections are created equal.

We start with a painful trip down memory lane as Cody recounts his disappointment with Sega Smash Pack Volume 2 for Game Boy Advance. What should have been a nostalgic trip back to Genesis classics like Sonic Spinball, Golden Axe, and Echo the Dolphin turned into a technical nightmare. The GBA's struggling sound chip made music sound "wrapped in paper," while Golden Axe suffered from missing boss fights and frame rate issues that would make any retro gamer cringe.

The conversation shifts to celebrate Namco Museum collections, which have appeared on over twenty different platforms since the PlayStation era. From the interactive 3D museums of the original PlayStation releases to the enhanced "arranged" versions on GameCube that reimagined classics with new features, Namco consistently delivered quality experiences. We explore the 50th Anniversary Edition from 2005 that included sixteen classic titles and discuss personal favorites like Dig Dug and Ms. Pac-Man.

Beyond the games themselves, we examine how these collections serve a crucial role in game preservation. As licensing issues and hardware obsolescence threaten to make classics inaccessible, companies like Namco have ensured their legacy lives on through carefully crafted compilations. Whether you're revisiting these titles through rose-colored glasses or experiencing them for the first time, these collections offer a window into gaming's formative years.

What retro compilation defined your childhood? Share your memories and join us next time as we continue exploring gaming history through Capcom's collections and the formation of Bandai Namco!

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Cody:

Hello everybody and welcome back to the Tech and Tactile podcast, as always. My name is Cody and I'm Michael, and today, oh boy, I went off on a tangent. I had to go and reclaim some of my lost childhood past that I didn't get to experience. And boy, let me tell you, I was really disappointed. Holy crap, I was really disappointed. Holy crap, I was really disappointed. Man, you think like the first emulation compilation that I got to play on the Sega Dreamcast would have been like super cool and everything, and I really enjoyed it. And then to find out that you know, the Sega Smash Pack quote unquote games like had a continuation and it turns out I'm glad I didn't, I didn't, I'm glad I didn't find out about them.

Michael:

Oh boy.

Cody:

I got to try out volume two on the GBA and boy, what a disappointment that was. Good games, bad port, oh all I can say. Like I I get it if it's your first time experiencing them on the go for a for effort I guess. But like the game will advance. I think we weren't ready to get compilations of uh older games on the gba. I think there there were uh better alternatives out there that I would love to get. Uh that I'll definitely be talking about. But who, boy? I mean uh like Sonic Spinball. I know that game wouldn't exactly would be something I would consider to be, like you know, fantastic. I love it. It's nostalgic for me. I think it's a pretty fun game uh, hard but fun. But the Game Boy Advance version just doesn't do it justice. Let me tell you that sound font.

Michael:

Oh boy, that poor sound chip, that poor sound chip was struggling.

Cody:

It was awful. And then they did it to Golden Axe. Like Golden Axe was in this compilation, it was Sonic Spinball, golden Axe and Echo the Dolphin, weirdly enough, correct. So yeah, sonic Spinball, I couldn't even make it past Toxic Caves, I just the sound chip was just so. It sounded like how do I describe it? Like everything was wrapped in paper.

Michael:

Like, I don't know, like a tinfoil type vibe.

Cody:

Yeah, like it was. Just I get it. The Game Boy Advance's sound chip was never to be that good, but holy crap, I would have not like that as a kid, or I would have been that you know annoying kid playing with no headphones in the car. My mom would have been like for god's sakes, turn that shit off. I'm throwing it out the window because, like the music is right, like a god awful and I swear video game music is good, mom, I swear, but this is not.

Cody:

This is not one of them, but yep. Then there's golden axe. Golden axe really disappointed me. That was like the most disappointment, uh, disappointing thing in the package, because I I seriously beat the whole thing super quick and I get.

Michael:

Golden axe is a pretty short game, but it felt like they took out the boss fights, like it was missing, like the stages were there in somewhat yeah, because when we went through it it seemed seemed like a really long, stretched-out piece of patchwork, Like nothing was all flowing correctly and it wasn't all patched and placed together like it was originally on the Genesis back in the day, Like don't get me wrong.

Cody:

They got the sprites, they got the magic is terrible. It looks like JPEGs, like you thought that the magic was kind of uh, basic. Looking on the genesis version, like try the game boy version.

Cody:

but oh, my god frame rate, uh, yeah, that frame rate. And then, not to mention the uh, the they got the uh in between sections, uh, with the text crawl and everything that. That got that stayed. But they basically didn't keep. They only had, like I think, one to two musical tracks, which is like stage one, and then the boss theme. Yeah, they just kept um, and then?

Cody:

and then the bonus level stage theme where you beat the crap out of the beggars or whatever they are to get the the potions right. Um, I had that, I mean, but oh my god, it sounded even worse. It sounded like my gameboy advance was going to catch on fire. My quote unquote legally obtained Game Boy Advance cartridge. Then there was Echo the Dolphin, and this is an underrated Sega Genesis game for me. I've talked about it before but, honestly, like it's hard, it's got its problems, but the game will advance makes them 10 times worse. Yep, like they. I've only heard like one track throughout the whole game, if not maybe two.

Michael:

I, I don't even think there was two Cause it was. It was all the same stuff.

Cody:

Yeah, and echo the dolphins music is pretty calming and serene as far as I remember, like I remember I mean it's been a while since I've seen the like, the playthrough, the whole game. The one thing I'll always remember, rebecca the Dolphin, is that final flipping level. But you know, everyone who got there, everyone who got there, will know the pain. I was not about to do that on the GBA. I beat Golden Axe. I could barely get through Toxic Caves and Sonic Spinball because I just could not deal with the music and then I wasn't dealing with the screen crunch of Echo the Dolphin Childhood me Definitely. I was fine with Sonic Advance. You know, I moved on. The Dreamcast died, the GameCube came out out, sonic advance came in my life and I'm glad I played that instead of what I played there.

Cody:

Oh boy yeah, for sure definitely that's really all I really have to say about sega. I mean, I went on that long sega tangent I. I will always have a soft spot for sega smash pack. Even though it's not the best way to play things, it's probably the most nostalgic little. That main menu theme will always be in my head that crunchy, funky techno theme that it would do.

Michael:

I love it. That menu theme would be great. And then yeah, so kind of switching gears. From our Sega tangent from last week, we wanted to talk about a collection that quite possibly made dethroned Sega and its collections. For those of you who don't know, there was another rival company at the time that had a large no pun intended, but museum of its titles, namco Museum and we're going to go over those today.

Cody:

I mean, who the hell doesn't know who Namco is? Man, come on, like everyone knows who Namco is. Have you played Pac-Man? If you haven't played Pac-Man and you play video games, and there's something wrong with you. You, how could you have not played Pac-Man? If you were this, if you have not found a way to play Pac-Man in some form of way, whether you're at an arc, you know, at a little arcade or doing something, I promise you, like someone has played some sort, someone has played some form of Pac-Man in their life and, by God, they're going to sell it to you. I grew up with so many Namco Museum games. It's ridiculous. I had one on the PS1.

Michael:

I had one on the Dreamcast.

Cody:

I had one on the Game Boy Advance. Yes, sir, and for the love of god I had. I had like one on the xbox 360. Yep, I think it was one on the ds that I had, correct? Oh my god, like I had so many, it was always a christmas present, like you know. Whenever I was growing up, like everyone was like I don't know what to get them. I played pac-man back in my day. Here's the pac-man thing. And then they just throw out namco museum, like I have so many namco museums.

Michael:

It's ridiculous.

Cody:

And they all have like the same offenders on them. That's like Pac-Man, galaga, dig Dug, maybe Pole Position, galaxian, and then after that anything else that you get as a bonus. You know what? Here's the rare thing Back in the days of the early Namco Museum days they used to put Ms Pac-Man on those compilations. And you know, namco doesn't own the Ms Pac-Man license, which is crazy anymore. But like that's. I used to play Ms Pac-Man a lot with my mom.

Michael:

I might like it more than the original, honestly a lot with my mom, but I might like it more than the original honestly, actually for um anyone that is a fan of miss pac-man, specifically due to its release um back in 1982 I believe I don't remember the exact date off the top of my head, um, but in japan miss pac-man was not bundled with any iteration of museum until its third go-around.

Cody:

That's interesting. I wonder why. I wonder why they never did that.

Michael:

I want to say it's because Volume 1 and 2 came out in Japan in 95 and 96, and I want to say just due to the way the cartridges were set up, because I know Volume 1 and 2 in Japan were for lack of a better word they were full because they had a lot of mainline titles and I know volume 2 had a secret title, so I'm not sure if they physically could fit it on there on the discs, like on the Playstation correct yeah um, yeah, I uh, I don't even know if I had volume two, I just know I had namco museum on the playstation, like it was everywhere.

Cody:

Man, if there's one namco museum game that I uh have some super fond memories for, it's the one on the gamecube. I don't remember which one it was, but they had the original and then they had arranged versions of their games. So they had like dig dug and then dig dug arranged, and it would be like the arranged version would be like a stage-based world map version of dig dug, with boss fights and everything, and like eventually you'd end up on the moon digging around and everything like it was. It was a cool little game. And then galaga, arranged, was like one of my favorites.

Michael:

Oh, I loved it it had like a final boss and everything I believe that was just um namco museum or I believe it was um I want to say, portable collections, namco museum. I can't remember what the exact naming schema that was, because this was on the gamecube.

Cody:

I just know that it was on the GameCube.

Michael:

Right. Yeah, I want to say, if I remember correctly, that that collection on GameCube had a few different rearrangements with it, because it had Dig Dug, Galaga and Pac-Man arrangements, if I remember correct as well.

Cody:

Yeah they did, they did, they were. I mean, these, these were like original games too, like it was like they had like the original arcade games, you know, a la normal namco museum. And then they had that. Um, I also had one of the gameboy advance that I remember that had like packland the 3d one or I think it was where you could like make pac-man jump. Um, oh, that was a fond memory of playing those. And talk about a collection of the gba that actually did good, because those were actually good. Like you know, I don't know what the hell happened to sega and some of their collections on the gba, like, oh boy, I don't know what they did, but we're limited man man.

Cody:

I mean, I guess because they're doing mega drive games and these are like old arcade games from the 80s, um, but like cool boy, um, they definitely did a lot better on the gameboy advance.

Michael:

Uh, namco had their shit together on that one I believe, I believe the biggest version of namco museum that was ever released, to my knowledge, of my vast memory of namco museums um was the 50th anniversary edition that came out in 2005 wait, what really? Yeah, so namco museum had a 50th anniversary edition that came out in 05 that had that tailored more toward the arcade accuracy kind of experience, because I remember it having things like Boskinen, Dragon Spirit and Rolling Thunder. Basically it was just a big celebration of their 50 years of work that they kind of went through.

Cody:

Are you sure it was 50 in 2005? I don't think it's 50, is it?

Michael:

to my knowledge from yeah namco, 50th was 0506 time frame.

Cody:

I want to say because, uh, I thought they were like, uh, in the 80s or so, is he?

Michael:

I don't have all the accuracies, uh, as I don't think right let me, um, let me, let me just see real quick, because I I do want to say that to my knowledge, it was 0506 no, I I think 50 might be too high.

Cody:

I think I know what you're talking about, but I just I need to know the name of it and then I could, because I'm pretty sure I played it yes, um namco museum 50th anniversary by digital eclipse.

Michael:

It was released for gba, ps2, gamecube and windows um on august 30th 2005 for north america holy crap, 50 years in 2005.

Cody:

See, I thought they thought they were like God. I thought Dead End was that old.

Michael:

It must be like a founding thing or something.

Cody:

Maybe. Yeah, that's crazy. I know what you're talking about. I didn't know there was a Game Boy Advance version of this. This is more research than I would.

Michael:

Because I remember the 50th collection having 16 titles, which included Pac, ms, pac-man, galaga, galaxian, dig, dug, pole Position, pole Position 2, I believe, rally-x, boskinon, zevious, mappy, rolling Thunder, dragon, spirit, spy, kid, pac-mania and the 88 version of Galaga as well, specifically with the handheld variant for GBA that they kind of tailored toward for their portable handheld market.

Cody:

It was only a subset of five from the 16, which included Pac, miss Pac, galaga Dig Dug and Rally-X Interesting. Galaga dig dug and rally x interesting.

Michael:

well, I mean oh wow, I I gotta do. I'm gonna have to replay that sometime. Yeah, because I remember the big thing with the 50th anniversary variant as well, not just with the games being like it's 16 like biggest titles for the company. It was also, I remember, having its own like little music um menu that it would celebrate all the music through the years. That was also a big piece of the 50th anniversary because, um, they're really big into their music, because you know how namco is yeah, man, I gotta tell you all these compilation discs and everything.

Michael:

It all started out for me just talking about emulation, and then it just all these comp, wow it's crazy to think that namco has nurtured their series so much to the point where they have gotten over 20 different iterations of namco museum on so many different platforms, in so many different ways yeah, yeah, right.

Cody:

I mean, holy crap, that's just a lot. You know, the funny thing is, how many times can you sit here and play Pac-Man and everything like that? But man, let me just tell you Some of these collections work, oh yeah for sure they work.

Cody:

I mean, it's one thing that I like that they're preserving their classics Because, believe it or not, most old school video games are inaccessible. Like a lot of games are held back from licensing issues, like Ms Pac-Man now is in the ether, apparently now, but a lot of older games just get lost to the ether because of licensing rights and you're just not able to play them anymore. I like when companies try to preserve their games and we wouldn't have these type of preservation projects without emulation, whether it's commercial or non-commercial ways.

Cody:

That's what brought this episode up? Uh, and then the episode before, with all that ranting and everything.

Michael:

It's all about preservation and how passionate I feel about it right, yeah, um, that kind of wanted to touch base on a few things with you as well for namco museum, because I know namco museum was a big part of it.

Cody:

I'm happy that companies like Sega and Namco do what they do. I really am.

Michael:

Right, yeah, I know that you grew up on Namco Museum.

Cody:

That aside, to be completely honest, my most underrated game in the museum for me is probably you know it'd probably be Dig Dug. Dig Dug's so beloved man. Dig Dug is great. It'd be the 3D Pac-Man or whatever. It is like Pac-Land, I think, I don't remember. That's the one that is probably the most underrated. I don't really hear a lot of people talking about that one Dig Dug, though Everyone loves Dig Dug.

Michael:

Dig Dug was number one for me growing up. I did want to ask you as well, since you grew up with namco museum on the ps1. I know that it had technically five different main volumes and there was also a sixth volume that was exclusive to japan. Their main thing um, with it being the museum title as well is they had that 3D interactive museum that you could walk around for it and its iterations of museum. So I was just going to ask you do you feel that the way they preserved with museum, especially in its early days? Do you feel like that it enhanced your nostalgia, hanched your nostalgia? Or did you see the um, the collections and its use of the walkable, viewable interactions in that museum front as something like a gimmick compared to something wanting to contain like a time capsule?

Cody:

it's a good time capsule, but if I'm going to be completely honest with you, I was too young man. I'm a 90s kid. Whenever I played that, I was a young lad, so I had no nostalgia for a lot of these games. A lot of these games I played for the first time on a Namco Museum instead of in an actual arcade, because that was before my time. But I gotta tell ya, namco Museum is always gonna be a throwback for me. It's something that I definitely am glad that we have more of For sure.

Michael:

Another big one as well, when you think about it, is considering that Namco kind of started on like Sony hardware back in 95 through 98 when it was releasing. Nintendo was not able to get their hands on any form of Namco Museum until 2000 when it was releasing. Nintendo was not able to get their hands on any form of Damco Museum until 2000 when it came out for Dreamcast in 64.

Cody:

Right, I never played the 64 variant. Never did that.

Michael:

Yeah, I don't. There's not a lot of like backtracking that I've seen a lot of people do. For the 64 version, I do remember it still having it, like you know, the core six um. It did have a lot of considering the difference in hardware it was. I do believe it was a little bit more simplified just due to that constraint, but it was still the same kind of core fundamentals that were they were trying to go for, whether or not they were able to um display what they were intending as accurately on PlayStation 1 versus 64 64 was definitely.

Cody:

I mean it's cartridge based. There's like no loading on 64, so maybe I don't know.

Michael:

I'm curious to see how that like a local multiplayer aspect for 64 versus PS1 when it came to that.

Cody:

I'd have to check. That's more research for me to do. I'd love to check that out. Oh, yeah, for sure Dreamcast version wasn't really tailored to. That's one that I remember. If it's like the Dreamcast version, then I have an idea. But seeing more compilations of emulation and stuff like that on Nintendo 64 actually fascinates me, because you don't see that a whole lot. I would love to get a hold of that.

Michael:

The one piece of Namco Museum for me that always standed out for me growing up, for the one that I had because I had the DS cartridge that came out in 07, which included a lot of its first wireless multiplayer variants of a lot of its tiles. Specifically, I remember playing through Pac-Man Versus on that collection.

Cody:

I used to kick your ass at that game back in the day whenever I'd come visit you. That'd be something else, dude. I remember that.

Michael:

That was also I believe, that was made by Miyyamoto as well correct?

Cody:

I don't know I uh do not know I, um, I'm not sure. I don't have too much of a fond memory of the ds version. I had it. I remember having it, I just don't remember playing it as much. Uh, whenever I uh played namco museum a lot, it was usually back on the GameCube days, Like I had the PS1 version. But you know, I didn't really reach for it that much unless I was, like you know, desperate or anything. The most time I played in Pac-Man Museum was honestly on the GBA and the GameCube. That was like, especially during car rides on the GBA and then on GameCube I would reach for it to play Dig Dug Arranged.

Michael:

Oh God, For I would reach for it to play Dig Dug Arranged. Oh God For sure, love me some Dig Dug Arranged. So I was going to ask you as well, considering the difference between a lot of older home console variants versus handhelds, what did you think the best way to experience these arcade classics were? Were you more of a handheld guy or were you more of a home console guy?

Cody:

I like home console guy or were you more of a home console guy. I like home console, I mean honestly, you know, because handheld is cool and all, but you still got to deal with the crunchy GBA sound chip. It doesn't do them complete injustice. But I mean, if you had nothing to do and you were on the go, a quick game of Galaga or Dig Dug or Pac-Man would be kind of a really cool thing to do yeah, and that music could be stuck in your head all night long depending on what you're playing.

Cody:

Yeah, um god, uh, a lot of, uh, a lot of memories playing miss pac-man with my mom.

Michael:

Yeah, uh, kind of circling back on that as well, for, like you know, having sit down, local multiplayer and how um arguably influential that pac-man has been over the years, just for, like a, the significance of like what pac-man brought for a lot of like home families and like in like first introductions to things with gaming, whether or not be through, like you know, just doing it on your on your own, solo, going through and eating the ghosts or, like you know, in classic mode or like actually going through a local multiplayer setting um, because it it really had a lot of weight back in the day for the early days for, like you know, expanding a lot of markets, showing that like hardware could be more than just a um, something you would set in a singular place and do something you know.

Michael:

Do you feel that the like you, you know, the old um, the wireless versions that they kind of came out with, do you think that Pac-Man, ironic as it may be, kind of opened the doors to um that expandability for people to be realizing like, hey, why don't we take this and do this with our other games? Because Pac-Man was one of the first in that time period? Um, as far as I can remember that we're the first of being like hey, let's kind of take this outside, if you will, if you get what I mean I know.

Cody:

I mean I I've not really known pac-man to be a multiplayer game, if I'm honest with you. I mean you know the original arcade cabinets anyway right, but just that premise, you know oh, just a running around eating ghosts and everything. Dude, pac-man was like something else. I mean they made a song about him. Like a song came out about it in the 80s.

Michael:

It was so popular yeah, there was also oh god, I forget the name of it, but there was also that movie that came out back in what was it? Like 2014, 15? Like that had miyamoto as a cameo with pac-man that like half ate him and he's like I am your father or whatever. Uh, what, what was that movie?

Cody:

not miyamoto I. It's that game, it's that uh movie. What's it called uh pixels? It was by uh. Yes, yeah, it was uh adam sandler movie. Yeah yeah as all typical adam sandler movies, it basically had the same typical Adam Sandler plot, but involving older video games.

Michael:

Mm-hmm. No, that was definitely a trip.

Cody:

Yeah, I mean, to be completely honest, the Amco Museum always will have a special place in my heart and, specifically, honestly, ms Pac-Man name code museum always will have a special place in my heart and, uh, specifically, honestly, miss pac-man uh, I don't know why my mom liked miss pac-man more.

Cody:

I mean, maybe because it was just a pac-man with a bow she's just yeah, it vibed with her more or something, but I always used to play that with her. And then there was, like that was an actual pac miss pac-man game that I would love to get into at some point later on the on the some of my emulation history that I have, because there was a Ms Pac-Man game that came out for the N64 and PS1 and Dreamcast and we played the heck out of that too.

Michael:

A lot of Namco in my house, like a lot, definitely that too, a lot of namco in my uh house, like a lot definitely, and when you think about it it's also.

Michael:

It's also wild when you think about it too, because collections like namco museum and sega smash pack and all these collections were um largely like well, at least, for I know in namco's case with his individual titles, they were confined to their cabinets individually for so long until they kind of put their foot in the door for these, like you know, emulation compilations with these discs and, you know, brought them to the mainstream audience on consoles, ensuring that they weren't lost in time, because the main museum concept on the PS1 editions allowed players to explore their history behind each game that they spent years crafting, that they may have never even seen before, and that also boosted, like you know, namco's credibility and legacy, because not only were they getting um new people and stuff just with um, all this arcade history preservation, first and foremost, that they were doing.

Michael:

It was one of the first like high quality, standard compilations that set the groundwork for later stuff. Like you know, like a few years down the line, how capcom would have um, I believe the one they have today is arcade stadium, and then you would have the, the, the modern steam version for the, the sega um classics collections and I believe there's also it's delisted now.

Cody:

Thank you, Sega.

Michael:

Yeah, thanks, sega for delisting that. What was the newest one for Atari? Was it Anthology?

Cody:

Yeah, it was something. I don't know if it's Atari Flashback or.

Michael:

No, Flashback was the old plug-and-plays.

Cody:

That's right. Oh God, there was this Atari one that came out. That was like crazy and they had like so many games on there.

Michael:

I know what you're talking about, um I think it was anthology, I can't remember yeah, I think it may have been. I uh, I haven't picked it up honestly, and I need to, because I am always a fan of the older games, always, and it's fun because you see all these companies doing this just to keep the arcade classics relevant, to keep the newer kids kind of in touch with where the roots are for a lot of these older companies that they might not have a lot of information on. Dude.

Cody:

I say just bring back some arcades. I mean, arcades are still around. They're around, don't get me wrong, you can go to a Dave and Foster's. But, like you know, we need to bring back some arcades. You know, get people in there, but there are still arcade developers out there. They're just far and few, and then a lot of their arcade games come to consoles.

Michael:

But, like man, yeah, I don't know man, I miss a good light gun shooter Nostalgia in a lot of the older audiences for today's market, you know, just in gaming in general.

Cody:

Yeah, I completely agree. I mean, this is another topic that I would love to continue on, because I'm just talking about Namco and there's so much more to talk about, so much more research that I haven't really done.

Michael:

You know what I can't wait to make an episode on if we continue this the formation of how Namco kind of became what it is today with Bandai Namco, and how that stretched out into a lot more different alleyways.

Cody:

There's a whole other company we could have been talking about whenever it comes to arcade compilations and everything. Can you guess who it is? Capcom?

Michael:

yep, I was going to.

Cody:

We just I just mentioned them yeah, my goodness, they're new strangers to compilation collections too, but maybe we can get into this at another time. You know, maybe I'll have another part two of Namco coming up. There's like a lot more to talk about this, for sure. So that that's gonna do it for this week, and I got some research to do so for now. Stay accessible. Remember that, indeed, stay accessible everyone. Thank you.