Retronauts 148: Namco arcade history 1978-82
Added 2018-04-16 14:06:29 +0000 UTCLast year, we dug deep into SEGA's arcade history; this year, it's Namco's turn. Benj Edwards and Chris Sims and I begin a journey through the Namco library this week, which we'll revisit every few months going forward. Of course, Ray produced an overview of the Namco Museum PS1 series waaaaay back in 2013, and we've also done deep-dives into Pac-Man and Dig Dug (both of which are covered here), but this comprehensive overview of the Namco catalog touches on greats that haven't quite gotten their due yet (Galaga!) and sets the stage for in-depth journeys into some of the company's more offbeat games (such as King and Balloon, covered here).
And yeah, we'll finish up that final SEGA episode one of these days, honest.
Music this time around comes from a variety of official releases, including the PS1 Namco Museums, Namco Museum Megamix, and Yuzo Koshiro's thumpin' chiptunes from the X68000 version of Bosconian.
In summary: NAMCO!
Comments
We gotta do Taito, if only for Growl and Puli Rula.
Retronauts
2018-04-24 14:26:29 +0000 UTCthese eps are great. thanks.
Christopher Hyde
2018-04-19 22:22:09 +0000 UTCWonderful episode! Hope the Namco episodes will number as many as the Sega ones. đ
2018-04-18 21:49:12 +0000 UTCThese arcade history episodes are probably the most valuable to me. I grew up after the arcade boom was largely over and I only ever got to them after they were out of the zeitgeist. Being able to get some context about these games during the height of their popularity is so important to me. Thanks so much. Oh, and I hope you guys tackle Taito after you get through Namco. As Jeremy said, they didn't do much with Space Invaders letting everybody else eat their lunch, but they have some of the weirdest (and coolest) arcade output in the 80s.
Phazonmasher
2018-04-17 12:23:41 +0000 UTCAnother big up to Chris, made me laugh with that King of Kong reference!
Kormakur Gardarsson
2018-04-17 11:52:22 +0000 UTCKill screen coming up! Under appreciated line right there
Mark Lentz
2018-04-17 11:33:13 +0000 UTCMaybe let Chris know that I got a big laugh out of the King of Kong reference.
Matt from Hidden Machine
2018-04-16 17:12:00 +0000 UTC
