Pac-Man Collection

"Not a bad collection but..."

This cartridge consists of four Pac-Man games from Namco only two and a half of which are worth playing. The only problem with this compilation is you can’t save your high scores.

Pac-Man Arrangement - 8/10
This game is apparently an arcade game that has been converted to the console for the first time and what a game this is. This is a fast paced Pac Man game that in my opinion is the second-best game on the cartridge (It’s obvious what the first is!) This doesn’t take after the original game it adds an extra monster and it gives you power-ups which takes it away from the original Pac-Man that makes a welcome change.

Graphics – 9/10
The graphics on this game are outstanding the colours give the game a lot of improvement to the original Pac-Man all the graphics give a 3-D feel to the game which is also good.

Gameplay – 8/10
As I mentioned before this game is fast paced which improves the game even more. You can also change the difficulty also this game gives you infinite continues which makes the game TOO easy but your hi-score gets reset to 0 so that measures it out.

Sound – 8/10
The sound is the usual sound you get with Pac-Man eating the pills so no originality there but it set against a suitable background of tunes which doesn’t sound like a few random notes strung together.

Long-Term – 8/10
This game should take you a while to complete but it makes it too easy to play with the infinite continues which you can’t remove in any option.

A great game overall. Setback by the infinite continues no challenge in that.

Pac-Man – 9/10
This is of course is where it all started and is Namco and set a course for many clones and spin-offs (Ms. Pac-Man etc) this little character has also appeared in many other Namco games such as Ridge Racer and Smash Court Tennis this game is a perfect conversion of the original. There is no point giving individual reviews for graphics, sound etc because everyone is bound to have played this you’ll find that the graphics, sound and gameplay are identical to the original the only difference in the gameplay is you have two views to choose from Full Screen (You’ll see the whole maze with a small Pac-Man) and Scroll (The original view). This version of the game is as addictive and difficult as it has always been.

Pac-Attack – 6/10
This is Namco’s take on Tetris that features Pac-Man of course. The object of the game is to get rid of all the monsters with Pac-Man and his friends and get rid of the lines. There are two options to choose from Normal mode and Puzzle mode more of this will be mentioned down below. This isn’t a great game the only thing worth playing is the puzzle mode.

Graphics – 6/10
The graphics on this game are not improvements over the classic Tetris in fact the graphics are poor.

Gameplay – 7/10
The two options on this game are Normal mode and Puzzle mode and I recommend you not to bother with the Normal mode because it’s repetitive and there it won’t save your Hi-score. The Puzzle mode is much better it features 100 levels and it gives you a password to continue when you run out of batteries or go and get some food. This plays different to the Normal mode what you have to with this mode is to try and get rid of the monsters using the blocks and Pac-Man and you only have five Pac-Men to use.

Sound – 8/10
The sound is the only other high point on this game much like P-M Arrangement is doesn’t sound like a load of beats mixed together it actually has a tune to it.

Long-Term – 7/10
You’ll enjoy the Puzzle mode until you get to level 100 the Normal mode will keep you going for a while other than that there is nothing else to be done.

Overall this game has only reason worth playing. The Puzzle mode.

Pac-Mania – 5/10
I remember playing this game on my old Master System ithis game was good for 1987 but Namco shouldn’t have bothered to bring this back. This plays like Pac-Man but in a 3-D view read on.

Graphics – 7/10
The graphics aren’t bad for 1987 for the millennium they are still pretty impressive. Pac-Man is given a face in this game and the monsters look quite good as well.

Gameplay – 6/10
The game is slow which doesn’t help this is probably due to the 3-D dimension this game is given. Pac-Man is given one extra ability, the ability to jump. The longer you’re in the maze the lower you’ll be able to jump hence making it easier for the monsters to get you.

Sounds – 4/10
The sound is terrible it’s just a load of notes badly thrown together I urge you to keep the volume down when playing this game on the other hand I urge you not to play this game.

Long-Term 6/10
The game is easy enough for you to continue through the levels this doesn’t live up to the original Pac-Man at all.

Overall a poor game. Not worth playing at all.

As for Pac-Man Collection it deserves 7 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/03, Updated 01/28/03