| Author | Review |
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Lucid Dreams84
118,781
TA Score for this game: 276
Posted on 08 May 12 at 22:27, Edited on 23 August 12 at 05:52 |
This review has 10 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Original
Release Date: May 22, 1980
Platforms: Arcade, 360, Atari 2600
Publisher/Developer: Namco
Genre: Maze
ESRB/PEGI Rating: E
Online: No
Starting in arcade cabinets and later on being in multiple console systems in living rooms, Pac-Man is was where it’s at for over a decade. I still remember going to the local arcade and shoveling quarter after quarter into the tiny slot until the only things left in my pockets were lint, a few pennies, and the odd piece of Bazooka Joe. While I was searching through the arcade section on Xbox Live I found the classic 1980 version beefed up with some sweet HD. I couldn’t resist.
Pac-Man has been reincarnated numerous times since its inception in 1980, but gameplay has essentially remained the same. You’ve got to eat the pellets before the four ghosts (or goblins or monsters or whatever you want to call them); Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), Inky (cyan), and Clyde (orange) eat you first. However, if you get the power pellets placed systematically throughout the game, you can grab those, then eat the little ghost bastards that seem to want nothing more than to suck your yellow face. Seriously, if ghosts really wanted to eat faces we’d be in a world of hurt. Anyways, back to gameplay. Get the big pellets as you get the little pellets and try and snag all the fruit as well as you work your way to a grand total of 3,333,360 points and a level of 255 (8-bit technology at its finest).
The look on Xbox Arcade is very clean. I’m glad they didn’t try to do anything different with it because it just wouldn’t be the same. They had a version on the Atari 2600 where they made a really crappy version for it at home, but I never liked that one. They gave this some HD makeup and kept everything else the same, which was smart of them. Why try to improve on something that isn’t broken? One really cool thing everyone would enjoy is the leaderboards. Back in the arcades you would just be competing against fellow dorks that played on that certain cabinet. However, your score now is up against everyone that has an Xbox Live account, so if you find yourself to be even the top 50 you should be slapping a high five to that Mario poster we all know you have in your room.
It was kind of weird playing this on my 360 controller. There isn’t anything wrong with it because you are still playing on a joy stick, but having it on my TV with a controller made me feel like I was cheating on the cabinet I played with when I was younger.
THE VERDICT
GAMEPLAY: 8/10
DESIGN: 810
SOUND: 7/10
REPLAYABILITY: 7/10
OVERALL: 7.5/10
Closing Thoughts:
Even if this is a classic game it isn’t perfect. In 1980 people didn’t play every day because it cost money to do so, but if you had this, let’s say on your Xbox, and played it every day you could get bored really quick. For its time, and even today if for nostalgia alone, it is still a pretty good game and everyone should play this if they haven’t. If you are into Pac-Man, I would buy the arcade version on Xbox Live because it is only five bucks and takes you down memory lane.
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