[Feature] Namco Roulette: An Introduction to Pac & Pals

Pookas might look cute, but if you’re playing Dig Dug then these little critters will kill you as soon as they touch you. Sure, they might be weak to being pumped full of air or having rocks fall on them, but they can also move through solid dirt! In the original version of Dig Dug, reaching round 256 results in a kill screen where a Pooka is spawned directly on Dig Dug, killing him instantly. You can never escape from Pookas; they’ll always win. Pookas even show up in the Pac-Man World games and Smash Run. They’re everywhere and you can’t escape their adorable wrath.

Uh-oh! There’s a hole…

Nintendo equivalent: Wallmaster (The Legend of Zelda) – Like Pookas, they live in your walls. Look out!

This game sees players fighting the inhabitants of Xevious on both land and air with the combat ship called the Solvalou. Going by Japanese word order I like to think his name is actually Lou Solva. Xevious wasn’t the first vertical scrolling shooter, but its sprawling landscape of forests, rivers and Nazca lines was far more interesting than the generic space background. It also has a surprisingly complex plot. Like, to the point where there’s a Xevious wiki. The Andor Genesis is a colossal flying fortress that shows up from time to time and unleashes a barrage of bullets. Lou can destroy it by taking out its core, but it’s okay to hide and just wait for it to disappear. This popular shooter is playable on a number of platforms, from as a 3D remaster on the 3DS to an unlockable bonus in Star Fox: Assault.

Now, fire! Whoa, that’s huge!

Nintendo equivalent: Mario and Bowser – Two iconic characters who cross paths several times. Do you think Andor Genesis has any children?

Mappy is actually one of the oldest characters on the list, as the rodent police officer and his nemesis Goro/Nyamco were originally designed as a pair of robots that could navigate through mazes. Mappy the arcade game came a few years later and saw Mappy trying to retrieve stolen goods from a cat-infested mansion, with some pretty great ragtime music playing in the background. The mansion is filled with special doors, bells and trampolines that Mappy can use – the trampolines also show up in Smash Bros. as Pac-Man’s Up-B attack.

This game of literal cat and mouse was followed by a number of sequels like Mappy Kids, a Famicom-exclusive title where Mappy’s sons, Happy and Rappy, have to collect enough money to prove they can provide for a family and get married. Son of Mappy, look to the sky. Lift your spirit, set it free. One day you’ll walk tall with pride. Son of Mappy, a Mappy in time you’ll be.

Run away! Run away! But… there’s nowhere to run!

Nintendo equivalent: Pikachu (Pokémon) – He’s a mouse Pokémon who sometimes wears a hat and fought Team Rocket in the cartoon. They were always trying to steal stuff and had a cat Pokémon sooo… Pikachu is also one of the few Nintendo icons who has children, or at least I assume that’s where this Pichu egg came from.

Despite also having a medley of music in Smash Bros., Libble Rabble is one of the more obscure titles to show up in the game. This oddity involves controlling two cursors simulatenously to manipulate a piece of string and capture all of the mushrooms on-screen. Look, I think Heidi Kemps over at Gaming.moe can do a better job of explaining it. The Topcaps are a bunch of cute fairies who show up occasionally. Capturing them is a challenge, but if you can snag them all there’s a bonus stage filled with loot lying in wait.

When you get the mushroom…

Nintendo equivalent: Sukapon (Joy Mech Fight) – Who?

The third game following Galaxian and Galaga, this chaotic shooter gave players the same tools as the aliens in Galaga. There are heaps of power ups, one of which gives your ship a tractor beam that can capture enemies to fight alongside you like the extra ships in Galaga. Additionally, by waiting patiently, shooting a specific enemy, grabbing the Special Flag from Rally-X and then crashing into another enemy, the ship will transform into the powerful Hypership. It can have three shots onscreen at a time instead of just two, which almost makes it worth the effort. The Hypership is kind of a weird thing for Pac-Man to summon as the iconic character for Gaplus since it’s almost impossible to obtain. It does show up on the title screen, though.

Nintendo equivalent: Wario (Pilotwings 64) – It’s hard to think of a Nintendo game that has such an obscure hidden secret, but in terms of a similar game about flying and shooting, Pilotwings has Wario’s ugly mug show up if you fire at Mario’s head on Mt. Rushmore. Wait, what was Mario doing there in the first place?

Only this little guy is brave enough to tackle the truly sadistic Tower of Druaga with just a sword and shield in hand. Of course, he won’t get very far with just that, since reaching the end of the game requires tracking down a number of hidden items, none of which appear until some esoteric, unknown objective has been met. Each floor has a strict time limit so there isn’t much room to actually figure out what’s required for the treasure, making Gil’s quest to rescue the priestess Ki quite frustrating. Despite this, The Tower of Druaga was quite popular in Japan; Gil and Ki show up in several RPGs and there was even a Tower of Druaga anime series produced in 2008.

I can do it! I’m the one!

Nintendo equivalent: Link (The Legend of Zelda) – Both heroes explore dungeons from an overhead perspective and need to find hidden tools to progress. Unlike Zelda, Ki actually got her own game – even if it did end with her being turned to stone.

The young prince Clovis has to explore the kingdom and rescue Princess Celia from a fierce fire-breathing dragon in this side-scrolling action adventure game. Dragon Buster has a number of innovative features – there are branching paths that lead to different levels and the first instance of a “double” jump, though it’s a bit dated in some areas like animation. The way Clovis runs is endearingly janky and he attempts to hit enemies by flailing his sword around wildly. The quest to bust up the dragon isn’t particularly long, but much like in Super Mario Bros., the real princess is always in another castle. Clearly Celia is a very common name in this kingdom.

He cuts repeatedly without mercy!

Nintendo equivalent: Shulk (Xenoblade) – Shulk destroys plenty of dragons with his Monado Buster, but the real similarity is in their janky animations. Even Clovis’ jumps don’t look as weird as Shulk’s!