Namco Ms. Pac-Man Plug & Play with 5 TV Games

I got this primarily for Galaga and secondarily for Ms. Pac-Man.As others have indicated, the joystick has "issues"; specifically, turning corners in Pac-Man is just as likely to send you careening back the way you came (into pursuing ghosts in my case) as it is to actually turn the corner.

So why did I give it three stars, instead of one?Entirely for Galaga.I was one of those geeks that could spend a half-hour playing Galaga using one quarter.The nostalgia value of that alone is worth $20 plus shipping.

Even for just Galaga, there are issues.It is hard to hit the fire button in the rapid, staccato shots needed for "challenge" stages in Galaga (and helpful elsewhere).You have to use your thumb because of the small size of the unit.On the arcade Galaga, I use the tips of my fingers on the fire button, which is placed several inches away from the joystick.

Some intrepid video game maker needs to make a "universal" video game.It would look like an '80s stand-up or table-top game, but would be able to play many (say, 50) classic '80s games.The software issue would be trivial; the hard part would be having buttons, joysticks, knobs (Tempest), trackballs (Centipede, Missile Command), etc. able to handle the different games.Perhaps there would be modules that could be plugged in to the controls area as needed for different games.

This thing is a lot of fun but if you're buying it solely for Ms. PacMan you will be bitterly disappointed.The first one I bought was defective and you couldn't move Ms. PacMan vertically at all.The replacement was better but moving her vertically is still very eratic.Completely unacceptable in that sort of game.

The remaining games seem to work just fine and are a blast to play.

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I read the reviews from previous reviewers, but asked my GF to buy me this anyway.

The controller works perfect!Mrs. Pacman, Pole Position, everything works great.

I was most surprised and impressed at how true to the classics the games really are!!!They even have the demo modes if you don't touch the controller.The Sound Effects are just like the original games, as best as I can remember.

The graphics quality is as perfect as the original coin opperated arcade games.This is no Atari home system.This is just like the stand up arcade machines I used to play at "Pizza Hut"back in the early '80s.

Either I got lucky and got a properly made unit, or they redesigned and improved the joystick by the time mine was purchased on 11/26/04. This thing is well worth the money.I am impressed for the price paid ($20.00).

Thanks,

Rem

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4 of the 5 games aren't that bad.Galaga and Mappy are really well done.Pole Position was baffling until we read the instructions, and now it's ok.I don't remember Xevious that well but it's fun to play.

But we bought this for Ms. Pac-Man, and it's the pits.A bunch of people have already pointed out the almost non-functional joystick.Trying to get MPM to go down is like pulling teeth.And there are many bugs in the program:

1) The ghosts don't "chase" you.They just detect your general where-abouts.Try getting them to follow you so you can chomp them up after eating the big dot.It doesn't happen.Say bye-bye to high scores.

2) The Ms. Pac-Man is too slow in relation to the ghosts, so chasing them when they're blue is very hard, even in the first screen when it's supposed to be easy (and fun).

3) The collision detection is pitiful.In the arcade, if you hit a blue ghost halfway, you still get the points.In Jakk's version, you don't.Sometimes, MPM passes completely and directly THROUGH blue ghosts as if there were nothing there!!

4) Going through the tunnel?Good luck.MPM can get stuck in there, ending up in the "wall" between the two left tunnels, and you cannot move her.The ghosts just circle around her, not sure what to make of it!I'm not sure myself!

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I'm a retrogames expert and have played this extensively for the last two months.I understand the games need to be modified slightly from their original code, things like the insert coin and whatnot would need to be eliminated, but there's a lot of sloppy shortcuts with these games that make the end result a disappointing effort that could have been fantastic.

Much has been said about the bizarre responsiveness of Ms. Pac-Man, and I agree.It's true that if you think about the joystick snapping back to the center before turning a corner, it makes it a bit easier to use, but the fact is that the Pac-Man game on the first NAMCO joystick did not have this issue, so why they had to release it without tightening that up is just bad quality control.The game has slightly different sound effects and graphics than the original, too.

Pole Position is great fun, but again, shortcuts were made that take away from the original gaming experience.This was a game I could play with perfection at the arcade, and after adopting the rotating joystick for steering (which I really like) I was able to soon master this version.The problems?For starters, skidding does NOT affect your acceleration, and the puddles have absolutely no effect on your car as well.They're just there for decoration.Why they couldn't have made them reduce your speed slightly, is bizarre.The big crime though, is the finale.In the arcade game, once you get to the big race, once you finish your third extended play, there's a finish line with people cheering you.This has an anti-climactic bug-filled finish that's the result of hasty "hurry up we need to get this product to market" programming.Once you finish, and cross the line, EXTENDED PLAY shows up again, but it forcibly stops your car and makes you wait until your remaining time disappears with no fanfare whatsoever.Bleh!

Galaga is fine, and is about the closest to the arcade original of the bunch.Galaga alone is this stick's saving grace.

Mappy is just a game I never liked much, but it's pretty close tothe original as well.

Xevious is pretty close to the original, but some graphic shortcuts make it look pretty sloppy as well.

I like the ability to pause the games, which is a feature missing in the original stick.

I called Jakks to report the bad responsiveness of Ms. Pac-Man and they offered no help at all, save returning it for another, but since it's a design flaw, that won't help.