I said that I'd be going through the skins for Pac-Man 99--I've spent the $29.99 for all the DLC (no regrets) so that you don't have to. That, and I like having a lot of various themes. In this session, I get a better idea of how to play this game, and I think it shows to an extent. Maybe once I cover all of the skins, I'll start taking requests. Or not. Do you think it's a good idea?

Match #1
Skin: NAMCO CLASSIC 2 - Mappy
This is the second of the skins simply referred to as "NAMCO CLASSIC" for reasons beyond me. In addition, unlike the other four, whose corresponding icon is named, Mappy is simply known as "CLASSIC 2." Perhaps it's because "mappo" is a pejorative term in Japan for a police officer? I haven't seen Bandai Namco have any problem with Mappy's name anywhere else. (By the way, I love how Inky, the red Ghost, is represented as Goro in this skin.) If I recall correctly, as a 2-D platformer, Mappy did not have a front-facing or back-facing sprite in his base game, so it looks like new sprites for Mappy matching the old style were created for this as are back-facing sprites for the Meowkies Gang, and the same goes for the characters for the other skins. The Bonus Fruit, by the way, are the stolen items Mappy would search the Meowkies' mansion for to return to their recipients. Apparently, a later one is the Mona Lisa.

Match #2
Skin: Wonder Momo
For this one, I skipped ahead as I was curious as to the maze's appearance. Unlike any of the other skins, Wonder Momo's maze is drawn out to not look like a maze at all, but as a series of catwalks, backstage areas, and a beach. This reflects the premise of Wonder Momo in that the protagonist is not actually a heroine, but simply acting out the role in front of an audience (and the same goes for the enemies). Unfortunately, I find this one of the less pleasant skins, as it's visually cluttered and it is sometimes hard to see Momo herself as she blends in with some of the backgrounds. On the other hand, I think this is the only skin in which the player character sprites change depending on if the Power Pellet is active or not--as Wonder Momo when it is and as her civilian identity, Momo Kanda, when it isn't. It's also one of the few skins out there with a music change accordingly.

Match #3
Skin: Galaga
Namco had quite the arcade presence back in the day, but nowadays, aside from Pac-Man and Pac-Man variants (Ms. Pac-Man, Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man--which was unauthorized, Pac-Man Jr., Pac-Land, etc.), Galaga seems to be the only one I ever see anymore among collections of retro arcade games. I know arcade games in general are a rare sight, even more so due to COVID-19, but it's oddly common here, found even in laundromats and pizza parlors, but almost nothing from Namco aside from Pac-Man stuff. I don't know why, but perhaps it's that Galaga was something real special back in the day. (The lead Ghost is Galaga itself, appropriately enough.)

Match #4
Skin: Dig Dug
Meanwhile, Dig Dug has had quite the legacy, spinning off into Mr. Driller while being included in every Bandai Namco retro collection...but I've never actually seen a Dig Dug arcade machine in person either. And if you know me, you'll know I've been to a lot of arcades. It's tough being a non-redemption machine. I don't know quite as much about Dig Dug as the other games whose skins I've featured on this video though. I was kind of surprised when I got the icon for this skin and found the player character's name is Taizo Hori, not Dug or Dig Dug or whatever. This is another skin with a player character appearance change: Taizo Hori's air pump is out when a Power Pellet is active, and he's unarmed when it's not.

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