Pac-Man

"He just never stops eating...!"

Who hasn't heard of Pac-Man? Every girl and boy all over the world know who Pac-Man is! Except for your pets, newborn babies, and people who live in caves all their lives. Pac-Man has been around since the 70s, and even if he's over 20-30 years old now, he's still loved by many. Namco's icon has even spawned several games, and a couple sequels to the original Pac-Man... Ms. Pacman, and Baby Pac-Man. Then we have the SNES Pac-Man adventures and a few others I probably can't remember the names to. Pac-Man has even spawned an old cartoon series, courtesy of Hanna-Barbera (which I didn't think was all too great), and he's possibly going to get a movie... I think.

Basically, there is no storyline to Pac-Man... but I'll make one up anyways.

-One day in the land of blackness...-

Pac-Man: -sits around, and suddenly becomes hungry- Damn! I'm one hungry pac. I'm goin' out to eat.

-Pac-Man's journey to continually eat begins!-

[-Graphics-][5]

Well, okay... while they were big back around the time of its birth, it's not quite as good now. Basically, each stage is the same. The pellet layout is the same. Even the Power Pill layout is the same. And there's only two cutscenes that I've seen so far. That's just about it. Everything else is black, save a few colors.

[-Sound-][7]

The sound isn't too awe-inspiring, but hey, keep in mind that this was made LONG ago. So back then, sound wasn't as advanced in video games back then as it is now. It's all still good, although I could have sworn Pac-Man sounded different in the arcades when he was eating.

[-Control-][8]

Control, at times, can be a trifle difficult... Pac-Man moves automatically without the use of holding down the direction on the D-Pad. You can manuever around the corridors of the level and whatnot, turning around and around and around and around... till you eat all those pellets.

[-Gameplay-][8]

You can't get any simple than this. You have no attack buttons. No jump buttons. No special weapons. Well, except the Power Pills, which, when eaten, make the Ghosts that chase you, turn white and blue and fear you like the one-Pac-Army that you are, and also allowing you to chomp down on them and score some more points. To beat a level, you have to eat all the Power Pills and pellets to advance. But those Ghosts aren't going to make it for you. Inky, Blinky, Pinky... who else... Kinky and Sue? Okay, so I forgot the other two's names, but whatever. Anyways, the Ghosts will be chasing you down throughout the level, and they are pretty damned clever. They will attempt to surround you or cut you off ahead of time, or just chase you down until they catch up to you and kill you. This can be frustrating, at times. Getting by them takes careful decision and movement. The biggest downside to the game is that once you earn your extra life, you never get another one. Bummer!!

[-Replay Value-][7]

This game could keep you hooked for hours, if not forever. You'll eventually get frustrated by those ghosts, but it could be frustrating in a good way.

-Replay Value-

No matter who you are, you've had to have played Pac-Man once or twice in your life. Maybe even more. Either way you look at him, he is a legend in games, and belongs there with gods like Mario and Sonic. If you thought Yoshi had a bottomless stomach, look at Pac-Man... he eats more than Yoshi or Garfield could in a day--he literally eats all the time.

[-Overall-][8]

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/13/02, Updated 12/13/02