I’ve always had a fondness for retro gaming, as well as many Namco games. I came across this Namco mini arcade on Amazon, and decided to look into it and give it a try. It’s a 10″ retro gaming cabinet by My Arcade. After spending some time with it now I’ll let you know my impressions and if I feel it was worth the $69.99 I paid for it.
What’s In The Box?
Everything you need to enjoy this little arcade machine is in the box: the 10″ cabinet containing 20 classic Namco games, micro USB power adapter, and the user guide. The cabinet itself is made of a sturdy black plastic, with Namco-themed artwork.
It features a joystick/crosspad, with the joystick being detachable. It also has standard A/B/X/Y, coin, reset, and start buttons. The power button is actually the coin-slots, which light up.
The front of the cabinet also features two front-facing speakers. The speakers sound pretty decent for the sounds needed to accompany the included retro games. Another feature on the front of the cabinet that I really like is the marquee. It simply reads, Namco Museum, but it lights up and looks good.
The back of the cabinet has the power adapter input, the volume controls, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The sound through the headphones is solid. The volume controls are easy to adjust and very responsive.
How’s The Screen?
The Namco Mini Arcade features a 4.25″ full color vertical display. It retains the feel of the original retro arcade displays. The screen provides a vibrant and bright display. Mostly the graphics are sharp for what they are for many games. However, due to the size of the screen, some more graphic intensive games, like Splatterhouse 1 & 2, and Dragon Sprit, come out a little blurry, but still plyable.
There is an option before starting each game to play it in the natural state, or stretching to fit the screen. I prefer playing in the original screen display, as it was meant to be played. I usually tend to keep the game displays in their intended state when I play.
One thing I’ve noticed as I play, I tend to see reflections on the screen, either of me, or things behind me. The viewing angle is somewhat limited, but my wife could see the screen well enough when she watched me play for a bit. Overall, I think they did a nice job with the display.
How Are The Controls?
The controls on the cabinet are actually a decent size for the cabinet. I have what I’d call medium-sized hands, and I can handle the controls well. After long play times, they do get a little sore though.
The A/B/X/Y buttons are responsive and feel springy and sturdy. The coin, reset, and start buttons are the right size, responsive, and out of the way for the control board itself.
The joystick/control pad works well enough for the majority of the games, but at times I had a little trouble with response times on Pac-Man, missing turns, when I was certain I moved the stick at the right time. The pad, without the joystick, did not feel right for me, but some may prefer to play with it instead of the joystick.
The power button itself is large, but tucked under the display and control panel. The decorative coin panel doubles as the on/off button. The coin slots light up red, but are just that, a red light. There is no “25cent” symbol or “Insert Coin To Play” wording. It’s still a nice touch.
The Games And Emulation
When turning the system on, you’ll see a quick loading screen, and then the 20 built-in games, with the title and screen shot, will appear on-screen that you’ll be able to scroll through to find the game you want to play. It’s easy to find the games you want to play and get into.
Some of the games will require pressing the start button to reload, but they are few. The other games will show a splash screen and then go into attract mode. To play, it as simple as “inserting a coin” by pressing the coin button. Then to start the game, simply press the start button. Very easy for younger children, as long as they are under parental guidance, as this has an age rating of 14+.
A few of the games will allow you to go into an options menu to choose difficulty level, lives, and music or volume of music. The majority of them are just like the original arcade versions.
From what I’ve found, the emulation is quite good and games play as they should and as I remember. I did find a few issues with 2 games however. Rolling Thunder 2, when jumping into a certain stack of tires, there is a bad guy who is hiding and seems to prohibit you from moving forward. This was a small annoyance. A few times I got out, other times I reset the game, and it is easy to avoid going into that particular stack. The other game is Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures.
There are 20 games included in this cabinet they are: Battle City, Dig Dug, Dig Dug 2, Dragon Spirit, Galaga, Galaxian, Mappy, Pac-Man, Pac-Man 2, Pac-Mania, Pac-Panic, Phelios, Rolling Thunder 1, 2, & 3, Sky Kid, Splatterhouse 1 & 2, The Tower of Druaga, and Xevious. My favorites are the Rolling Thunder games, and the 2 Dig Dug games.
So, Is It Worth The Cost?
The Namco Mini Arcade is a nice little cabinet. It does have a few small issues, but none of those issues hindered my enjoyment of the experience. The cabinet is colorful, the screen is bright and fairly sharp for most games. The games all play well, except for a couple of hiccups in emulation in 2 games I mentioned. The joystick is the only part of the controls that I would like a little better precision with, but it mostly works well enough.
This system is great for a fan of the old arcade machines, collectors (though not necesarily a collector item) and young teens. I’m not necesarily a collector, but I do like novelty type of items, or things to display on or around my desk/office. It’s the right size for a shelf, or a large desk. It is only a little bigger than a 16.9oz bottle of cola.
Most of the built-in games are available on other emulations or game collections and consoles, but there is something about walking up to an arcade machine (I know, work with me), putting that quarter in, and hitting the 1-player button. This mini retro cabinet gives you that feeling, just in a little different way.
So, knowing what I know now, would I still purchase this retro gaming cabinet? I think I would, however, I don’t think I would want to pay the $69.99 that I paid, but $59.99 or $49.99 would be a good price-point to go with. Amazon does list the game at $99, with a current sale price of $69.99 as of this writing.
Let me know what you think of retro gaming, mini arcade cabinets that are beginning to flood the marketplace, or any of your favorite old-school games in the comments below.