Bandai Namco Entertainment persists as a video game manufacturer and distributor having involvement with several titles popular in the present day, such as the Tekken, Klonoa, and the Tales series. That said, one can argue Namco’s peak of cultural relevance was prior to its merger with Bandai, when its arcade machines flooded everywhere from bars to restaurants.
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Even many years later, the DNA of these games, if not the games themselves in some form, can be seen in a lot of entertainment. Remasters, sequels, and console ports are plentiful for games from this era, which one can say is a testament to their endurance. These are the best Namco games to have first originated as arcade cabinets.
5
Rally X
An A-Maze-Ing Race
- Developer: Namco
- Genre: Maze
- Release: October 3, 1980 (JP), February 1981 (NA), 1981 (EU)
Released the same year as Pac-Man, this arcade classic has the player controlling a blue Formula One race car scrolling through mazes and collecting flags, all the while trying to dodge debris (specifically rocks), and red rival race cars. The player can sacrifice some of their fuel for a smoke screen, which hinders rival racers. One of the flags is also a “Special Flag” (which eagle-eyed viewers may recognize from its appearances in the Super Smash Bros series) that multiplies the remaining collected flags.
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Rally X was one of many games to be heavily influenced by Sega’s Head On, a game which boasted a similar concept, but inferior graphics. Rather than a full-on racing game, Rally X and its counterparts are more appropriately classified as maze games, much like that of Pac-Man. Although something of a hidden gem for many years, it would continue to gain recognition through rereleases, the most recent of which occurred in 2021 via Arcade Archives. It has also been remade several times, with versions including New Rally X and an updated take for Namco Museum Remix, where the driver of the blue Formula One car is revealed to be none other than Pac-Man himself.
4
Dig Dug
Breaking New Ground
- Genre: Maze
- Developer: Namco
- Released: February 20th 1982 (JP), April 1982 (NA/EU)
Dig Dug focuses on a man with the given name Taizo Hori, traveling underground to take on creatures known as Pookas and Frygars, the latter of which breathe dangerous fire. Taizo can defeat these characters by inflating them with his digging instrument, until they explode. The player can also crush enemies with rocks located throughout the underground.
Unlike other Namco arcade games, which tend to put the player in established mazes, Dig Dug tends to revolve around mazes created by the player themselves, albeit usually also sporting some paths created for the immediate convenience of the characters. The game makes an interesting choice to score the steps themselves with a short melody (played by Yuriko Keino), which was created in lieu of actual stepping sound effects.
Dig Dug influenced other games such as Taito’s Mr. Do!, which has a similar concept and gameplay. Fascinatingly, through Taizo, Dig Dug is directly connected to the continuities other Namco franchises. The Mr. Driller series, initially conceived as a spin-off, stars Taizo’s son, Susumu. Additionally, this game also posits that Taizo was previously married to Masuyo Tobi, the protagonist of Baraduke.
3
Galaga
The Sort-of Sequel to Galaxian
- Developer(s)
-
Namco
- Released
-
1981
Galaga was one of many space shooters that flooded arcades after 1978’s Space Invaders, which has come to be synonymous with gaming as a whole. That said, it is not Namco’s first foray into the genre. The similarly-named Galaxian was the initial game designed to compete with Space Invaders. It was a big hit at first, and resulted in many knockoffs hitting the markets.
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Galaga was a later game designed in that vein, originally conceived for the same hardware as Galaxian. However, one could argue its differences are what caused Galaga to overshadow its predecessor. The idea of rescuing abducted ships, which the player could rescue and merge into “dual fighters”, was conceived when Shigeru Yokoyama thought back to a movie he saw where aliens used a beam to perform abductions. From there, Yokoyama initially thought about salvaged ships giving the player an extra life, but decided the “dual fighter” idea was more interesting.
Later takes on the game, such as Galaga Arrangement, delved deeper into this idea, by turning the dual fighters into different, uniquely designed ships, whose appearances depended on which boss galaga the abducted ship was rescued from.
2
Mappy
A Game of Cat and Mouse
- Genre: Platformer
- Developer: Namco
- Released: March 1983 (JP), April 1983 (NA), 1983 (EU)
This game features a police mouse, the titular Mappy, breaking into a mansion of literal cat burglars called meowkies, led by a larger red cat known as Goro. Inside the mansion, Mappy retrieves stolen goods, while avoiding the cats. There are trampolines which Mappy and the cats can make use of, that end up being destroyed if bounced on too many times in quick succession. There are also doors, which the cats cannot open, that shoot out blasts to knock out cats temporarily for points.
Although perhaps not as simple or well-known as other Namco arcade games of the era, it is the moving parts that add to the novelty of this iconic game. Mappy, alongside its sequel, Hopping Mappy, were released as part of the Arcade Archives, a series of emulated arcade titles published by Hamster Corporation for various platforms.
1
Pac-Man
The Iconic Arcade Game
Pac-Man
- Platform(s)
-
Arcade, Nintendo Entertainment System, Commodore 64, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Sega Game Gear, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android, iOS
Pac-Man was not the first Namco arcade game, or even the first Namco arcade machine to be successful. That said, the extent to which it did succeed helped put Namco on the map. The formula is simple; Pac-Man collects pellets and fruit whilst being chased by ghosts, commonly sporting the names Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde, all of which sport relatively unique AI that gives them a separate role in the operation. Whenever a maze is cleared, Pac-Man moves onto the next level.
Like Rally-X, there has also been some speculation that Pac-Man exists in part as a derivative to Head On, due to its maze-driven gameplay, but there is no explicit confirmation of this fact. Either way, Pac-Man has eclipsed any perceived doppelgänger, with its own appealing nature allowing it to become an iconic piece of gaming history in its own right. Pac-Man himself is commonly depicted as Namco’s mascot and has had appearances in many games, and other separate media to this end.
Various spin-offs, including but by no means limited to Ms. Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, and Pac Mania, have also been created as a result of the game’s continued success.
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