Bandai Namco announced that Pac-Man Championship Edition will be getting a demake as an additional bonus. If you purchase all ten Namcot Collection games, which will be part of the first wave of games, it will be your reward. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]
As a reminder, here’s how Namcot Collection will work. You’ll be able to download a digital games shelf for free alongside Wagyan Land. Each individual title afterwards will cost 300 yen, or you can buy all 10 games from the 1st wave of DLC at once for 2,400 yen. Think of it as being similar to Capcom Arcade Cabinet.
Excluding Wagyan Land, the following titles are part of Wave 1:
- Pac-Man
- Galaga
- The Tower of Druaga
- Battle City
- Star Luster
- Family Jockey
- Youkai Douchuuki
- Dragon Spirit
- Quinty (Mendel Palace)
- Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti
As the planned physical version of Namcot Collection is set to include all ten titles, you’ll likely be able to download Pac-Man Championship Edition (FC Arrange Version) for free by default.
As you can see, the demake has gotten new artwork for its fake video game cover. From the screenshot, we can see that the demake will use original Pac-Man art style, but will play similarly to the rules of the first Championship Edition, which released in 2007. The demake, alongside Namcot Collection itself, are being developed by M2 and, according to them, the team developed it under the restrictions of the original Famicom hardware.
Apart from the bonus game, a few other new details were revealed. There will be a save system, the ability to rewind gameplay, and screen options such as scan lines, pixel perfect resolution, and fullscreen.
In related news, listings on Microsoft Store have been found that seem to show that the Namcot Collection will be brought over as the Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 and Vol 2, especially as it also details the Championship Edition demake among the collection. Some of the titles in Wave 1 of the Japanese release have been moved back to Vol. 2, and it seems the games that a brand-new Famicom port of Gaplus is also in the works by M2.
Namcot Collection (Namco Museum Archives) will release on the Nintendo Switch on June 18, 2020. While not officially announced, it’s coming to Xbox One on June 18 as well. Check out gameplay of the first eleven titles here.
