Pac-Man

"Blip blip blip blip bloop blip BLOOP!"

Ah, Pacman. If you DON'T know what this game is, then you're probably too young to remember it. Pacman has become a cultural icon. Anyone from age twenty to one hundred can tell you who Pacman is, if they haven't been under a rock.

Pacman is a little yellow circle with a mouth cut out. His job is to save Mrs. Pacman. He does this by eating dots in a maze. While he does this he is chased by four evil ghosts, the ones that trapped Mrs. Pacman. One touch from them and he's gone, unless he's eaten a power pellet. It's not known why he's collecting dots to save her though... Probably something to do with world peace... But as you can probably guess, Pacman is not known for its storyline.

The gameplay of Pacman is purely addictive. That's the only way you can describe it. You'll frantically twist and turn through the levels, attempting to avoid ghosts and collect dots. Thankfully, you do get four power pellets per level, located in the corner alleys. When eaten, all the ghosts become afraid of you, and you can eat them for extra points. There is also the occasional fruit bonus, which gives you extra points. Extra lives are given based on point values. There is a two player mode, where players switch back and forth each time they die.

If Pacman has a problem, it is that it's horribly antiquicated. It's well over ten years old, and it shows its age. The graphics are in plain colors, and there's absolutely nothing spectacular. Pacman is just a yellow circle, and the ghosts are blobs are various colors.

The sounds likewise are very weak, pre-Nintendo. The effects are strangely addictive though. Like most arcade games, they manage to sound good, despite the fact that they don't particularily sound like anything. The graphics and sounds haven't been updated in any incarnation of the game.

However, if you've never played Pacman, you owe it to yourself to try it at least once. It's an essential part of any gamer's education. The Nintendo platform is the best home console to choose, because it's available cheap (2 to 5 dollars) and it's in color. Get it, I gurantee that you won't be sorry.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/03/01, Updated 03/03/01