Pac-Man

"This game is bad right across the board."

Yes. As horrifying as it is, I've actually played this game. I remember the day I recieved the news that my dad had bought me some games for my Atari. Among the list were Space Invaders, Berzerk, and Pac-Man. As soon as I was done chewing my dad out for buying Pac-Man, I comforted myself with the thought, "I least I still have Space Invaders and Berzerk." Well, anyway. I assume you're wondering why this game is so bad. If so, read on...


Gameplay: 3/10

Well this game may follow the basic concept of the arcade masterpiece, after about a minute or so realize that it isn't very fun. You run around the maze eating dots and avoiding ghosts to win the maze, but once you do so and proceed to the next maze you'll discover something: it's the same @#$! maze over and over and over again. The difficulty never increases, and the characters never get any faster. There's also another glaring flaw, being that the game is too easy. You get 4 lives, and as I said before the difficulty never increases. The only thing that can possibly present a challenge is the background and incessant flickering problems, which I'll get to later.


Graphics: 1/10

This is easily one of the worst-looking games to ever come out for the Atari 2600. Pac-Man looks like a graphical glitch, and the ghosts don't look much better. The maze itself is rendered in an ugly mauve and blue color scheme, which really looks hideous and isn't at all like the arcade version. Pac-Man himself is rendered in a slightly lighter shade of yellow than the maze, and is the same color as the dots. However, he also looks like a horrid pixellated curve with an eye (?) that doesn't resemble his arcade model at all, and can only face left or right. The ghosts are bad too, and are all the same color, which happens to be green. The ghosts also flicker like crazy, and almost completely disappear when you get a power pellet. For some reason, the ghosts are completely silent in this game, and don't make noise even when you get a power pellet.


Sound: 1/10

The sound is completely butchered here, and doesn't even slightly resemble that of the arcade. After you pick a mode, you are violently assulted by an ugly 4-note tune, and then by the honking noise made from eating the dots. Not much here to say about the sound other than how atrocious it is.


Value: 2/10

Due to the extremely lacking gameplay and short-lived experience, this game packs very little value. Even if you've never played the arcade game before, this game will provide little enjoyment due to the games many hideous problems. Only buy if trying to get a collection.


Replay Value: 1/10

Another large problem with this game is the replay value, mainly that there is none. Once you've played through the first maze, you've seen all the game has to offer, which is a shallow, watered-down iteration of a classic game.


Gameplay: 3/10
Graphics: 1/10
Sound: 1/10
Value: 2/10
Replay Value: 1/10
Overall: 1.5

To call this game flawed would be to suggest that there's actually something done right here. No, this game is bad right across the board, and takes the thrones as one of the worst games of all time.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 05/18/09

Game Release: Pac-Man (US, 1981)