Namco Museum[a] is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, Namco Museum Vol. 1, was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Entries in the series have been released for multiple platforms, including the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360. the latest being Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2, released in 2020.
The Namco Museum name was originally used for a chain of retail stores in the 1980s, which sold merchandise based on Namco video games and characters.[1] The compilations include video games developed by Namco for both arcade hardware and home game systems, including the Family Computer and Sega Genesis. Some iterations use software emulation for the games, while others instead reprogram them from scratch. The collections typically include interchangeable game settings, online leaderboards or unlockable extras, such as games or promotional material. The original PlayStation series, with the exception of Namco Museum Encore, instead placed the player in a virtual museum that housed the individual games.
The Namco Museum series has been met with a mixed to positive critical response, some praising the emulation quality and unlockable extras while others criticizing the overall presentation and lack of updated features to the included titles. The franchise has sold a total of more than 14 million copies worldwide.
