PSX GAME RECOMMENDATIONS |

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Games are recommended on a four-point scale like those "strongly agree/disagree" questions you get on surveys. This scale goes "Strongly", "If you like this kinda game", "Watch it online", and "Avoid at all costs" from best to worst. It's one part how likely I am to replay the game and one part how likely I am to recommend it to fans of that game's genre. I'm not in the business of objectivity, just what's fun to me. No reason to play a game if you're not having fun, yeah?

[#] Namcomuseum Vol. 2 (Namco, 1996)

It was only a matter of time before Namco followed up the first Museum with a second, and overall, it's a wash. Any time anyone puts together a collection of something, you have to ask about its intent, and the only intent to this volume seems to be "games no one's ever heard of". Like the first volume, you get six games, Mappy, Dragon Buster, Super Pac-Man, Xevious, Gaplus, and Grobda. Take your pick, and you have a 50% chance of landing on a dud.

Mappy is an cute little literal cat and mouse platformer where you recollect stolen furniture, and Super Pac-Man tinkers with the classic formula by locking off parts of the maze until you collect matching keys. They're fun on occasion, but they're just as often clunky. Xevious is by far the most fun game on here, but Xevious 3D/G+ is a far better deal if you want it. The rest are pitifully easy and often downright ugly (I can draw better sprites than Dragon Buster's).

If you're wondering about new features, you won't find any here. The museum portion is basically a reskin of the first game's, with the themed cabinet chambers for each game being about the only thing new to see. They're as novel as the first game, but man, with no Pac-Missus, no Dig-Dug, no Galaxian, you have to wonder if they were just trying to pad out the series to keep it going as long as possible. At least this one saves your high scores automatically.

Reviewed	Supports analog controls?	My favorite part	Recommended?
December 2, 2021	No	Ghost playing Super Pac-Man with you!	Watch it online

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