Review

by Dave "Marauder" Kratky, Dec 4/2000.

 

I've posted death threats to companies who put out Classic Game remakes that suck ass. Weeeeellll. It seems that Hasbro has tackled the ultimate in Classic Gaming..... That little yellow dot muncher we like to call Pacman.... How did they do? Not bad actually. This is going to be a fairly short review as.. Well, it's Pacman. :)

We may actually permit them to live. Surprisingly enough, Pacman is the one "Classic" game I've seen redone that doesn't suck ass in horrible fashion. Hasbro has actually done a decent job this time around. It's certainly not the old fashioned Pacman we all knew and loved 15 years ago, but it's adequate. Unfortunately, no classic game will ever recapture the magic we felt playing the original in the arcades soooo many moons ago.

We all know how Pacman works hopefully. You're a little yellow guy (Now 3D) who boots around a maze gobbling up power pellets with a "Waka waka" sound. The ghosts try and kill you, you try to avoid them until powering up and chasing them down like the table scrap pilfering little mongrels they are and gobbling them up. (Waka waka this, bitch!)

The remake is actually fairly true to the original, other than being in 3D and having a few new twists. You basically run around fancy looking mazes, eating dots and trying to avoid the various beasties. (Usually ghosts in different costumes) Eat all the dots, you go onto the next level.

The story is the usual contrived crap with a little intro movie. Basically your eternal nemeses the ghosts have raided you planet and smashed your power pellets into approximately one billion pieces and scattered them not only across the planet, but also across time. Nothing more annoying than a meddlesome ghost, so you set out to get the dots back. Cheesy but it works.

Graphics on the game are clean and very nice looking. Pacman even manages to look just like you'd imagine he would in 3D. The game highly resembles a computer animated Saturday morning cartoon.

 

Sound effects are excellent, with the much mentioned "Waka Waka" sound being wonderfully rendered on my SB Live! The music uses many sound effects and the original game music. Disturbingly, the original Pacman death sound in used as a part of the in game music for Pacman 2. Really don't like that, as it puts the fear of imminent doom into me. *shiver*

Level design is decent, with classic styled maps with a few new twists. Some of the maps have upper and lower levels, usually reached by way of ramps. For instance the cannibal villages have walkways suspended in the air. Some of the jungle maps have hills you have to climb to get the dots. (As an interesting side note and a sign of attention to detail, you will slow down when climbing a hill.) There are a few interesting "chase" maps where you are running downhill trying to escape the ghosts. It's almost like a downhill slalom race. With you trying to dodge obstacles and eat dots and not get killed by pursuing ghosties. The round and cylindrical maps are interesting. Nothing really revolutionary, just a rather cool looking angle on boring map design.

 

Enemy design and AI are basic. Hey, again, it's Pacman damn it. How complex can you get?

The multiplayer is rather fun. It has a series of games, ranging from just eat the most dots to "Hot Potato". The later is the most fun, as you run around the maze trying to touch one of the other players and transfer the bomb to them before it explodes and kills you. Then you run like a bastard and try to keep him from touching you. Regrettably, the multiplayer gets boring after an hour or so of playing. You can only run around a maze so long before it just looses it's charm. For me anyhows. Then again, I'm a shooter guy.

The final analysis

It's Pacman, and it's actually pretty fun. Kids who never played the original will most likely get a huge kick out of this one. If you're a Pacman fan, get it. If not... Well... Duh. Don't bother. Be warned though. It's just not the original Pacman. It can't be. Well, I'm off to play some more shooters.