Untitled Document Even after more than 20 years, "Pac-Man" is still fun. Playing it for hours and hours won’t entertain and dazzle the way it did two decades ago, but gobbling up ghosts is still a pleasant diversion. And now taking a power-pellet break is a snap on the PSP.

In addition to the classic bitmapped "Pac-Man" of yesteryear, this collection of Namco’s classics has an updated dot-chomping ditty, one that gives the big-mouthed yellow hero some new powers (with some power-ups he can jump, dash and even clone himself) and gives gamers the ability to play against each other wirelessly on the PSP. Players guide Pac-Man through more than two dozen revamped mazes. To win, players will even have to topple new giant bosses.

"Galaga," "Dig Dug" and "Rally-X" have all been given similar visual updates and multiplayer gameplay options.

In addition to these updated titles, "Namco Museum Battle Collection" features a hefty assortment of more than 20 unaltered classics. "Ms. Pac-Man," "Mappy" and "Xevious" are some of the highlights.

While everything looks authentic and sounds authentic, the PSP’s controls just don’t lend themselves very well to these classics. Neither the directional pad nor the joystick felt right, and that led to many unnecessary deaths at the hands of feisty ghosts.

However, that’s the only issue; otherwise it does a great job of turning nostalgia into modern-day fun.

—Ryan Huschka

© 2005, Detroit Free Press.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.