The gold standard for all retro compilations just got even better. Atari 50 was an incredible, unmissable compilation at launch, and with the addition of its DLC, the bar continues to be raised.

The Wider World of Atari brought Stern games and more Atari titles to the compilation. The First Console War added Intellivision titles too. Both of those packs also added new documentary and archive content; absolutely fascinating, and unmissable for fans of gaming history.

The Legendary Namco Pack pulls the same trick for, yes, Namco titles. A new interactive timeline to add to the existing ones, featuring new interviews and archival material such as print ads, flyers, historical information and TV commercials.

Of course, there are games too, accessible right from the timeline so you can play while you’re exploring and learning. Included in The Legendary Namco Pack are the following titles:

• Pac-Man: Atari 2600, 5200 and 8-bit computer versions are included (the very first time these versions have ever been re-released, too!)
• Dig Dug: Arcade, plus Atari 8-bit, 2600, 5200 and 7800 versions
• Galaxian: Atari 2600 and 5200
• Galaga: Atari 7800
• Xevious: Arcade and Atari 7800

Though it’s a much smaller list of games than those found in other DLC packs for Atari 50, what’s here is genuinely fascinating stuff.

Though no one would choose to play the Atari 2600 or 5200 versions of these titles over the more faithful and technologically advanced versions that are readily available (although I adore the 2600 version of Galaxian, which is both a technical marvel and more fun, arguably, than the incredibly challenging arcade original), they’re fascinating snapshots of a specific moment in time. It’s also worth noting that if these were how you experienced these titles back in the day, you might feel overwhelming pangs of nostalgia when playing them.

Atari 2600 Pac-Man gets a bum rap these days, but back when I had it on the 2600, I played it to death. It’s not exactly a faithful adaptation of Pac-Man, but it’s far from the disaster that many retro gaming YouTubers make it out to be right now; it’s still a perfectly playable game, and it’s given a lot of time in the spotlight via the interactive timeline here too.

Though there are a couple of unfortunate omissions here in terms of versions (Pac-Man arcade would have been a good inclusion of course, but its link to Atari is tenuous for the purposes of this historical collection), the fact that Digital Eclipse/Atari have managed to collaborate with Namco at all is a minor miracle. It’s genuinely cool to be able to try out all of the versions of these games and see how close (or not) they came to the arcade originals. Another absolutely essential piece of DLC for Atari 50 then, and an absolute godsend for retro game enthusiasts, and old people like me (with me being both old and a retro enthusiast of course!).

Hi! I’m Jason, and I write for midlifegamergeek.com, every single day. If you’re interested in supporting original, regularly published, human created content (which has never been plagiarised or otherwise copied from the hard work of other writers), you can donate and help me to keep this site running.

Not only do I earn no income from my writing here (though I may earn small fees from affiliate links posted on my pages; as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from these links), but it seems that my work has, at times, been stolen and re-used by lazy, morally bankrupt idiots.

There’s no pressure of course, but I’d be truly grateful for any support that you could offer – and it’s easy to do so at either of these links: Ko-Fi.com/geekmid or PayPal.

Any donations are truly appreciated – and I also appreciate you taking the time to read my articles. Remember: this whole article was by Jason Brown, and appeared on midlifegamergeek.com. Take that, Skynet!