Developer: Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver, Hipster Whale, 3 Sprockets
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Tested on: Xbox One
PAC-MAN 256 – Review
Almost all of us have ever played one of the numerous iterations of PAC-MAN, be it in a rather classical coat, the competitive wave of games or even the poorly received adventure titles. This time the starved yellow critter makes its way onto our current generation of consoles, albeit in the form of a port of the mobile game with the same name. PAC is back, but whether this was truly necessary, we’re still not sure about.
Story
You’re yellow, and you like to munch. Yup, that basically sums up the entire life of PAC-MAN and honestly, seeing this is a score beater type of game, there is no need for more story value. If you’re looking for a PAC-MAN story driven game, we’re afraid you won’t like the alternatives either.
Graphics
Even though the game is a port of the mobile version, it still looks decent. Then again, there isn’t that much that you could do wrong with a PAC-MAN game. There are certain modern influences to be found, just like there are several different background themes. If you’re sick of roaming around the black and blue world of the original game, you could also switch to the office theme, which places you in an office setting, where your ghastly enemies are replaced with office chairs, or if you’re into cars, there’s also a kart theme. This creates a bit of diversity, which is well appreciated for a game such as this.
Sound
When first booting up the game, the iconic tune immediately starts playing, albeit in a more modernized coat. We were quite stoked for the rest of the game, until the music just dies after several seconds and you’ll have to make do with the sound effects alone. There’s only that much joy the original ‘waka waka’ sound can bring, which eventually causes everything to feel a bit more dull than it could have been.
Gameplay
PAC-MAN 256 keeps its original arcade vibe intact, but this time you’re not limited to several small arena’s in which you’ll have to collect dots, but rather one big randomized arena, in which you’ll have to keep going up, as the bottom part gets corrupted and this corruption will also make you die. As always, there are the pesky ghosts who foil your plans to eat, but power-ups can help you with that.
During your attempts of breaking your own records, you can set up a loadout of three different power-ups that will spawn during your run, outside of the typical PAC-MAN power-up that turns the ghosts into edible material. The more you play, the more unlocks you’ll get, as they simply require you to eat a specific amount of dots. These power-ups can also be upgraded, mostly just to increase your score when crushing ghosts. Other than that, it’s just a simple score beater.
Those who’d rather play this game with friends will be pleased to hear that the game supports local co-op up to four players. You’ll be able to pick out your favorite PAC-MAN avatar and dive right into the battle of scoring the most points. Sadly, the game is identically the same as when you’d play on your own, thus there are no new special modes for when you decide to have a few friends over to dive into the dot eating craziness. This feels a bit like a missed opportunity, as it would have given the game a substantial boost in content.
It doesn’t matter if you play single or multiplayer, as the game will keep track of the total amount of dots you have eaten, thus you will keep working towards unlocking all of your possible power-ups. The game also rewards you for frequently playing, as you’ll often get ‘coin rewards’, which help you upgrade your current arsenal of power-ups.
Conclusion
PAC-MAN 256 is a fun new iteration of the PAC-MAN collection of games, albeit one that did not necessarily need to make its way onto consoles and PC. Nonetheless, the game is certainly amusing to play in-between titles or simply if you’re a fan of good old fashioned arcade score beaters. Then again, with its current asking price there is not that much that can go wrong.
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