Pac-Man Museum + is fantastic and should be the blueprint for other retro game compilations

This is finally out on the eShop and I'm really impressed by it.

Firstly £17.99 (or other regions equivalent) is a fantastic price for 14 games. I get that the lineup isn't going to please everyone (and I'm hoping for a sequel down the line with the other games) but you can't deny it's value for money compared to many other retro compilations (*cough* Space Invaders *cough*) As someone who's only played the first Pac-Man from this (I've played others like Pacman VS, Pacman 99 and Championship Edition 2) I'm having a blast.

But games aside (which are all top notch) what I really love about it is the Animal Crossing style museum design feature or moreso the arcade design feature... Being able to not only earn so many different achievements for the games (including high scores) but to be able to use them to unlock equipment to decorate your arcade with various items/wallpaper/carpet/trophies etc. Plus the 70 songs to unlock for your museum jukebox! It just makes playing through the different games so much more enjoyable and really incentivises you to go deep with them, plus properly try out the ones you might ordinarily pass on. It also helps with deciding which game to play next as you can see what arcade furniture you can unlock and what you'll have to do to get it. It's an incredibly fun way of presenting the games and really feels like you have something to work towards, as well as just making the entire concept feel "whole" rather than just a collection of scattered software with no purpose.

It's not perfect - You don't seem to be able to remove the game border art at present, some people will lament the missing games/changed characters and it's a shame there's no online multiplayer but as a complete package and for a budget games compilation I can't recommend it enough and it'll be hard for me to go back to compilations that just feature a menu and no achievements or ability to design your own increasingly elaborate play area. Also feel like the online leaderboards will keep me playing even the basic older games long after I've earned everything.

I really hope they release a follow-up with the other games or possibly a paid DLC so you could add them to your arcade which would make sense. I have a theory that they will (if it sells well) based on the fact that they held off from including Championship Edition DX but we'll see. I do understand some of the games might have legal issues due to the Ms Pacman situation but would love to play the Pacman World series.

Lastly to add I'd say this is one of those games where it feels like the Switch has the definitive version by proxy of it being a handheld device (as the other versions won't even have better graphics) All these games definitely feel like they were designed to be played on the move in short bursts (even though most of them obviously weren't!) and that's something I'd miss a lot on the other consoles, though it's free on GamePass at the moment.

Curious to hear how the rest of you who've brought it are finding it