"If you want to play Pac-Man on the go, you can't go wrong."

After Pac-Man became such a hit in the 1980s, Namco created new games which borrowed a lot from Pac-Man to feed on the success. Most notably, Ms. Pac-Man hit arcades in 1981 with improved graphics, more levels and more colors. Then came Pac-Mania, which featured an Isometric level where Pac-Man could jump over ghosts. As time passed, more Pac-Man related games were created, like Pac-Man Arrangement, Pac-Attack, and many many others. Even today, Pac-Man is considered an icon, and the highest brand awareness of any other video game character, including Mario.

Like Sega's Sonic Gems Collection, Namco decided to house some of their obscure Pac-Man games in a compilation for the Gameboy Advance. This compilation consists of the following games: Pac-Man, Pac-Mania, Pac-Attack, and Pac-Man Arrangement.

Pac-Man

Due to the small screen on the GBA, you have two settings, full screen or scrolling. The scrolling option shows part of the level in better detail.

For those who loved this arcade classic, the emulation is perfect so you'll love this. Your goal is to eat all the pac dots on the stage while avoiding the ghosts. If a ghost touches you at any time, you lose a life. If you lose three times, game over. By eating a power pellet (the larger dots), the ghosts become temporarily vulnerable and you can eat them for points. Of course, we already know this.

My only complaint is the full screen setting. I know the GBA screen is small, but they could have made the board a little larger so I can see it better.

Final verdict: Classic.


Pac-Mania

Pac-Mania borrows a lot of aspects from the original Pac-Man, only this one is an Isometric display, giving it a 3D feel. Since the levels are extremely large, the game resorts to scrolling. Due to the large levels, it's hard to know where ghosts are at all times, so sometimes it's tricky to escape danger. Like with Ms. Pac-Man, there are multiple levels which give this game variety. One aspect that isolates this game from all the other Pac-Man games is the ability to jump. This jumping ability allows you to skip over ghosts who are in your way, making it easier. However keep in mind that there are ghosts who jump with you, making them a huge threat.

The music is unbelievably good. Sometimes I play this game just so I can hear the tunes.

The game comes with a reasonable challenge. The longer you take on a level, the shorter your jumps will become, until you're unable to jump at all. Therefore, it's vitally important to complete the level as fast as you can, especially since there are more ghosts than in Pac-Man. The challenge can make Pac-Mania frustrating, but it still retains its fun factor.

Final verdict: Challenging, but entertaining.

Sidenote: In the tips section, one tip specifically states "If you touch a power pellet and a ghost at the same time, the pellet will take effect first." Very generous.


Pac-Attack

This game, originally released on the Sega Genesis, SNES, Game Boy and Game Gear, is a puzzle game, heavily borrowing from Tetris.

It's another falling block style game. The blocks consist of Pac-Men, Ghosts, and regular blocks. When a Pac-Man block is dropped, he will eat the ghosts in his path. Each time a ghost is eaten, the fairy meter will go up. When the meter is full, the fairy will make some of the ghosts disappear. When all the regular blocks line up in a row, that row will disappear.

There's also a puzzle mode which consists of 100 levels where you have to clear the entire board. This mode is challenging, makes you think, and is fun all at the same time. My only complaint is the password system. The fact that the password input is only three characters makes passwords easy to guess. In fact, I tried typing in "NFL" as a password as a joke, and it worked. I can't believe it. Passwords should always be 4 characters minimum.

It's a creative idea for a puzzle game with slight similarities to Pac-Man. It's definitely a good pick for this compilation, since it's entertaining, full of variety, and has a high replay factor. I respect that Namco put this game on here. Yeah I know it's a Pac-Man compilation, but it's nice to be able to take a little break from it with this entertaining puzzle game. The game is also two players just encase you want to go head-to-head with your buddy.

Final verdict: Great puzzle game.


Pac-Man Arrangement

The Arrangement series is full of game remakes with improved graphics, gameplay and sound. Pac-Man Arrangement is the most popular remake of the Arrangement series which made its first appearance in Namco Classic Collection Volume 2 for the arcade.

Pac-Man Arrangement follows the same concept as the original Pac-Man with several power-ups to enhance gameplay, like one which adds another Pac-Man to the screen with you. However the ghosts can also power up as well. Unlike Pac-Man and most other Pac-Man-related games, each level has a different layout, giving it more value.

This game is impressive. The animation on Pac-Man and the ghosts are extremely well-done, along with bright and color graphics. It feels not only like a Pac-Man game, but like an adventure too because of the huge amounts of levels to explore.

The controls also get an honorable mention. It controls so well, it's hard to explain. Pac-Man makes such sharp turns it's unbelievable.

Final verdict: Awesome.


Bonus Features

Along with the four games included, there are also game tips for each game. That was very generous of Namco, they didn't have to do that! There's also additional settings where you can set the amount of lives you start off with, the score you need to get to receive a bonus life, and additional options depending on the game.


Sound and Music

I previously mention the music of Pac-Mania being excellent, but I never gave any credit to any of the other games. The music is all well-done with several remixes and new soundtracks. The sound is also high-quality and faithful to the original Pac-Man, which is good for retro gamers who want to go back to the past with this compilation.


Graphics

The graphics are perfect. There's not much to say, the detail of the characters, especially in Pac-Mania and Pac-Man Arrangement, are remarkable. I know it's a compilation which already had good graphics on each game previously, but you'd be surprised at how many compilations are graphically inferior to their standalone releases, notably Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis.


Drawbacks

My one and only complaint about this compilation are the lack of games. Namco doesn't have to overdue themselves, but I think it would have been nice to include other bizarre Pac-Man titles, like Pac-Man Plus, Super Pac-Man, or Pac-Land. I think there would have been enough room in the ROM to include at least one other game I mentioned. Pac-Man Collection is definitely complete, but it still would have been nice to play some other obscure Pac-Man titles.


Final Verdict

If you want to play Pac-Man on the go, or experience some of these obscure Pac-Man games on the palm of your hands, for $20 you can't go wrong with Pac-Man Collection. This game is an puzzle solving, nostalgic adventure. There's three games you can chomp your way through, as well as a an additional games to satisfy your puzzle-solving needs. It's a perfect match for a cheap price, therefore worth buying.

Also on the Gameboy Advance, Namco released another compilation called Namco Museam which has all their greatest hits. Check that one out too.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/25/11

Game Release: Pac-Man Collection (US, 07/12/01)