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  • 2001, the year that everyone seemed to notice that everything is getting smaller. The big,

  • bulky arcade cabinets you see at your local arcade are now slipping away into obscurity,

  • becoming obsolete in their beautiful, boxy glory. But you soon started to realize that

  • this is a good thing. This means that you can bring those beautiful, boxy cabinets along

  • with you on a car or bus ride, to the cafe, to your buddies' houses, hell, you can even

  • climb up Mt. Everest and have Ms. Pac Man come with you! Ok, maybe you wouldn't do that.

  • The Game Boy Advance led the charge in contemporary handheld gaming, itself a continuation of

  • the legendary Game Boy, in a smaller, 32-bit package that was simply a hit. So, when the

  • Advance and arcade all-stars Namco decided to join forces and put together a package

  • of old school arcade gaming, who could doubt that they would deliver with Namco Museum,

  • developed to satiate the hunger of arcade gamers on the go. Anyone who has lived in

  • the late 20th century will immediately recognize each game, of which there are five, jam-packed

  • into one tiny cartridge, each game based on the high-scoring system that is so typical

  • of the arcade craze. You get the shooter Galaga and its bigger, slower translation known as

  • Galaxian, the esteemed chase-and-dot eater sequel to one of the most famous games of

  • all time Mrs. Pac-Man, the arcade F1 racer Pole Position, and the underground blow 'em up classic, Dig Dug. Everything here

  • is pretty much self-explanatory except for maybe the way that the normally vertical screens

  • for the arcade versions of the games are shrunk down to size so that they can fit into your

  • pocket and under your desk during math class. Unless you're racing around the track in Pole

  • Position, you'll remember that all the other games involve playing on a vertical screen,

  • but there's little to no effort involved in transitioning from the cabinet to the GBA.

  • Instead of being able to see the whole screen in Dig Dug, the game scrolls from side to

  • side or top to bottom when its called for. Mrs. Pac-man comes equipped with the same

  • scrolling option, but if you want, you can change the view to full screen, although things

  • appear a lot smaller than usual. Each game feels like arcade controls, and the sound

  • and music of each game have been preserved well. To be sure, Namco Museum is one you

  • should take along with you on a long road trip. Long, tedious college lectures come

  • to mind as well.

2001, the year that everyone seemed to notice that everything is getting smaller. The big,

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