Released: 1999
Difficulty: Hard
Time Spent: 20 to 40 Hours
Headline: Pac-man feels like a starters concept overstretched into a full sized game relying on the franchise name and fame
Pac-man is a situation of a game that should have stayed in its roots rather than emerge and cross the 3D dimension. It is quite a situation where you will appreciate a rental but if you actually try to beat this game, you'll get to see just how redundant this platformer becomes. The plotline is very simple, it's Pac-man’s 20th anniversary and everyone's coming over for his special surprise party but they all get kidnapped and it's up to Pac-man to save all six characters. So off goes our hero on his quest to brave his brawn and win.
When I was younger, this boss scared the hell out of me
Stages are usually comprised of jumping along moving platforms, defeating enemies, wall jumping, swimming, eating Pac-dots, fending ghosts, pushing levers, finding keys or power-ups, and running through mazes. It all sounds familiar to what you've played before and unfortunately, it’s fun will disintegrate away after the first five or so levels because there's not a lot that’s new to come along afterwards, just a mesh of obstacles with dress-up themes like space, pirate land, caveman era, etc. It also feels like playing the game doesn't really give you a sense of accomplishment. If you are the collector type, you will try to get as many points and items as possible so that you can head to the bonus stages… to get more points. Or play a little match ‘em-up game with the fruit you have gathered to increase Pac-man’s number of lives and score. The only issue is that all you get is the opportunity to raise your high score; no real reward for going to the top of the mountain does feel a bit, missing. Pac-man brings along at least some power-ups, but most feel a little similar to other iconic characters, Pac-man can rev roll which looks and feels similar to Sonics own speed roll. He can shoot at enemies with his Pac-dots like Mario’s own fireballs, there are a couple others but you can see the similarities.
The camera itself isn't meant for this game, it usually shows Pac-man from a 2D dimension but the worlds err... gauntlets that Pac-man works through are 3D. That makes judging your distance extremely challenging, especially when you're trying to get across areas with moving platforms and enemies that require heinous precision and timing (which are quite frequent). Besides yelling at the camera for providing a super awkward angle of perception that lead to half your lives disappearing, you are going to not believe the learning curve that comes along. The second and third boss battles are some of the toughest encounters I have ever played. It's so unbelievable to face off against bosses that become nearly impossible to destroy and then somehow have to face an easier boss. It’s like you had to climb up a huge mountain in your way and then it actually becomes a nice, easy stroll, WTF?!
TWiSTEDmerc says, ‘These bosses get too hard!’
In terms of graphics, Pac-man boosts some awesome looking levels, with nice lighting and particle effects, bold colors, no tearing of textures, or frame-rate issues. It may become a bit too cutesy with its smiles and sunshine attitude but it is what it focuses on. The audio is full of tracks that will fall on deaf ears, its mostly over-charmed tunes that are backed up by good tech support and strong sound effects.
Pac-man will keep you occupied for a while, it has 20 levels that all averaged should take about an hour to complete each plus loads of similar mazes (including the original) should provide about 25 or so hours of content. In the end, it's hard to recommend Pac-man; there are more fun games with lots less frustration available elsewhere. Pac-fans may be able to overlook its flaws for a while, but I was having the most fun when I finally got past a tough level or a big, bad boss; and there's a lot of grief to go through to get to that...
6.0/ 10 FAIR (PS1)
+Looks great
+Long game and extra mini-games
-You’ve seen all these game mechanics before
-Bad camera
-The learning curve is way out of balance
TWiSTEDmerc
Difficulty: Hard
Time Spent: 20 to 40 Hours
Headline: Pac-man feels like a starters concept overstretched into a full sized game relying on the franchise name and fame
Pac-man is a situation of a game that should have stayed in its roots rather than emerge and cross the 3D dimension. It is quite a situation where you will appreciate a rental but if you actually try to beat this game, you'll get to see just how redundant this platformer becomes. The plotline is very simple, it's Pac-man’s 20th anniversary and everyone's coming over for his special surprise party but they all get kidnapped and it's up to Pac-man to save all six characters. So off goes our hero on his quest to brave his brawn and win.
When I was younger, this boss scared the hell out of me
Stages are usually comprised of jumping along moving platforms, defeating enemies, wall jumping, swimming, eating Pac-dots, fending ghosts, pushing levers, finding keys or power-ups, and running through mazes. It all sounds familiar to what you've played before and unfortunately, it’s fun will disintegrate away after the first five or so levels because there's not a lot that’s new to come along afterwards, just a mesh of obstacles with dress-up themes like space, pirate land, caveman era, etc. It also feels like playing the game doesn't really give you a sense of accomplishment. If you are the collector type, you will try to get as many points and items as possible so that you can head to the bonus stages… to get more points. Or play a little match ‘em-up game with the fruit you have gathered to increase Pac-man’s number of lives and score. The only issue is that all you get is the opportunity to raise your high score; no real reward for going to the top of the mountain does feel a bit, missing. Pac-man brings along at least some power-ups, but most feel a little similar to other iconic characters, Pac-man can rev roll which looks and feels similar to Sonics own speed roll. He can shoot at enemies with his Pac-dots like Mario’s own fireballs, there are a couple others but you can see the similarities.
The camera itself isn't meant for this game, it usually shows Pac-man from a 2D dimension but the worlds err... gauntlets that Pac-man works through are 3D. That makes judging your distance extremely challenging, especially when you're trying to get across areas with moving platforms and enemies that require heinous precision and timing (which are quite frequent). Besides yelling at the camera for providing a super awkward angle of perception that lead to half your lives disappearing, you are going to not believe the learning curve that comes along. The second and third boss battles are some of the toughest encounters I have ever played. It's so unbelievable to face off against bosses that become nearly impossible to destroy and then somehow have to face an easier boss. It’s like you had to climb up a huge mountain in your way and then it actually becomes a nice, easy stroll, WTF?!
TWiSTEDmerc says, ‘These bosses get too hard!’
In terms of graphics, Pac-man boosts some awesome looking levels, with nice lighting and particle effects, bold colors, no tearing of textures, or frame-rate issues. It may become a bit too cutesy with its smiles and sunshine attitude but it is what it focuses on. The audio is full of tracks that will fall on deaf ears, its mostly over-charmed tunes that are backed up by good tech support and strong sound effects.
Pac-man will keep you occupied for a while, it has 20 levels that all averaged should take about an hour to complete each plus loads of similar mazes (including the original) should provide about 25 or so hours of content. In the end, it's hard to recommend Pac-man; there are more fun games with lots less frustration available elsewhere. Pac-fans may be able to overlook its flaws for a while, but I was having the most fun when I finally got past a tough level or a big, bad boss; and there's a lot of grief to go through to get to that...
6.0/ 10 FAIR (PS1)
+Looks great
+Long game and extra mini-games
-You’ve seen all these game mechanics before
-Bad camera
-The learning curve is way out of balance
TWiSTEDmerc