Pac-Man Championship Edition Reviews

Pac-Man CE Review
Forward Notes:

You may have noticed that I had a review up here before, and this one is significantly different. Although this may sound a bit fishy, I promise that that review was lackluster and that this one is far superior. For being my favorite XBLA game I didn’t feel like my review was doing justice, so let’s get this new one started. I should also note that this game comes on one of the XBLA compilation discs, so before purchase off of Xbox Live in general, you might want to consider that, since you can pick that up for around $7 used.

Single Player:
You know Pac-man. I know Pac-man. If you don’t know Pac-man, let me sum it up for you in three sentences here. You’re a yellowish blob that goes around a stage eating little lit up pellets in an attempt to get a high score. For some reason some ghosts don’t want you to eat these pellets, or just plain like attacking you, and chase after you. You can turn the tables on these ghosts by eating a special pellet which will turn them all blue for a short period of time, in which, you can eat them for bonus points.

The game also brings back the old system of giving you bonus points by creating food type items appear (The cherries for example), which will increase your score. Get enough points and you’ll earn yourself an extra life. Run out of lives by being hit by the ghosts and you have a game over. We all know that stuff, but here’s where Pac Man CE becomes different.

Unlike many of the other Pac Man remakes (Pac Man 3D, Pac Man Adventures), where they drastically changed the gameplay and just threw in the brand name to sell the game (no offense to those games), this one brings back the original creator of Pac Man to take this on – yes, the original guy, not some team who has a general idea of what Pac Man is about. It seems he has realized that while his game is a classic, the scoring system of the old days isn’t what compels quite a few gamers in this era of gaming. As a result he put a time limit on all his levels – usually of five or ten minutes – and the game becomes more of a “stay alive” type feel rather than a high score type feel. That isn’t to say you aren’t vying for the best score, but there is a larger sense of accomplishment when you “beat a level”.

There is also a general remake of the levels – no longer will you be seeing the same thing over and over – instead you can pick which level you would like to play, all new and redesigned, with individual traits. Some range from being only a couple “lines” big, while others are humongous, while another takes place almost entirely in the dark. It’s essentially quite a few variations on the old, tried and tested gameplay of Pac-Man, making the game recognizable but innovative and fun.

The only real gripe I have with the game was that, in their excitement of making the game new and innovative, they didn’t give the user the ability to turn off the time limit. This means that there is no “endless mode”, which would have been nice to see for more of the older community of gamers, who are used to the setting. I’m not saying that I dislike the time limit – I find it interesting and what not, but I still have that itch to see just how far I can get sometimes.

Single Player Score: 9.5/10

Multiplayer:
There is no multiplayer.

Multiplayer Score: N/A

Graphics/Sound/DLC/Intangibles:

The graphics are a true upgrade from what you saw back in the original Pac Man days. That being said, don’t panic – they didn’t make the game overly graphically oriented. They just spruced up what the levels look like, how they glow, what the food looks like, simple things like that. It doesn’t detract from the gaming experience by distracting you, and quite a lot it amplifies the excitement of the game as it becomes more vivid as the timer is reaching zero.

The sound is also excellent at underlining the excitement. Get under thirty seconds and your heart will be pounding as the sound speeds up. The game brings back a lot of the old music, but slightly redone, to be catchy yet not overpowering. Each level has a bit of a variation to fit the tempo of the level, which really amplifies the feel of the game. Of course you’ll still hear the tried and tested sound of Pac Man eating those delicious pellets.

The game also unlocks you some gamerpictures if you’re into those as well. And of course I would be arrogant not to mention here the “classicness” of the game. More than twenty years later and this game can still be found in arcades and on your xbox – that says a lot for a game’s character. Sure, it might not be the game for everyone, but its “easy to learn, hard to master” configuration makes this classic stand up to the force of time and the changes in gaming technology. You’d be remiss to not ever attempt to play a Pac Man style game.

Graphics/Sound/DLC/Intangibles Score: 10/10

Achievements:

An exceedingly large incentive for quite a few people that are on the cusp of purchasing this game is the simplicity of the achievements. Many report that they can completely 100% the game within three hours – although this might be a bit of a stretch to anyone that is relatively new to the genre in general. The hardest achievement is scoring 400,000 points, but even in the frustration you might feel you should find the challenge fun as your heart pounds when the seconds are counting down. There are quite a few helpful achievement solutions out there if you need some help. The rest of the achievements are mostly based around completing each of the levels or eating a specific food, which is all very doable. Anyone that hasn’t 100%ed this game either decided it wasn’t their cup of tea or just simply hasn’t gotten around to it. Of course, this would usually mean that there is limited replay value to the game, but that just isn’t the case. You can always come back and attempt to get a new high score, just like you could back in the day on the original Pac Man.

Achievement Score: 9/10

Final Score: 28.5/30 = 9.5/10 = 4.75/5

Final Thoughts:

A game that builds on the classic feel of the old games while incorporating a new system that appeals to today’s audience. Bringing in the original Pac Man creator underlines how serious they were in creating a unique game while still addressing the older audiences who grew up putting quarters into the arcade machine. A great pick up and a fun game to return to, with relatively easy achievements and solid sound and graphics for what the game deserved. Kudos to the creators.

Thanks!

Pac-Man: Championship Edition is one of those rare games that actually improves on a classic, while leaving the original gameplay pretty much intact. You still have all the basics of a classic Pac-Man game: Pac-Man, high scores, extra lives, four ghosts, and power pellets. Plus, it's still in the classic 2-D mode. To someone who hasn't played it, you might wonder why you should even bother giving this a shot since you probably, at some point, have played Pac-Man and/or Ms. Pac-Man until your eyes crossed.

What makes Pac-Man: CE special is that it takes all the good things about the game and somehow manages to make them better. The ghosts are smarter, the action is more intense, and the games are finite! No longer do you just play and play until you run out of lives. You're in full-on survival mode now, and it's not nearly as easy as you think!

Depending on the mode you choose, you have to survive five minutes or ten minutes, and then the game is over, regardless of how many lives you have left. This might sound easy at first, but you quickly realize that as time wears on, both Pac-Man and the ghosts are moving a LOT faster, and it takes all of your skill to avoid dying. In that last minute, you could easily go from 3-4 lives down to your very last life, struggling to beat the clock for just a few more seconds.

The various modes change in the layout of the screen and in how much time you have to survive, but not really much more beyond that. One mode changes the layout of the screen after each fruit you eat. Another mode puts you in a darkened maze where you can only see the walls in your immediate surroundings, forcing you to rely on a combination of memory, luck or pellets you still need to eat to determine where Pac-Man can go. Other modes change up the gameplay slightly as well, but never deviating from the classic Pac-Man formula.

The screen is essentially divided into two halves. Once you clear off one half, a fruit appears nearby on the closest side of the other half. You have to eat that fruit to repopulate the pellets (and hopefully a power pellet or two) on the side you just cleared. Those fruits add up in points quickly, which will be helpful in picking up a few score-based achievements. Another way to build up your score quickly is just to survive. After eating a certain number of pellets, you get a multiplier that can raise the score of each pellet eaten up to 50 points. If you die, though, it resets back to the standard 10 points.

Finally, you can rack up points by eating multiple ghosts in a row. No longer are you limited to four ghosts as in the classic games. Instead, as long as you remain in "power pellet mode" (or whatever you call it, but it's that classic, distinctive sound you've probably heard once or twice) and constantly refresh your power by eating another power pellet, you can continue to eat on the four ghosts, after they've gone back to their base to recharge, for more points. It quickly gets to a point where you can get up to 3200 points for every ghost you eat.

Achievements range from simple (creating sparks against a maze wall for a few seconds) to relatively challenging (earn 400,000 points in a single game), but they're all easily done with some practice. You get achievements for surviving each play mode, as well as achievements for eating 8 ghosts in a row (see previous paragraph).

All in all, this is an excellent update on a classic game that I highly recommend for any fan of the classic arcade genre! You won't be disappointed, although be warned: Classic Pac-Man, as well as Ms. Pac-Man, will feel VERY slow after a few rounds of this!

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Release Date: June 6 2007
Platforms: Xbox Live Arcade // iPhone OS // Android
Developers: Namco Bandai
Genre: Maze // Arcade
Publishers: Namco Bandai
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It's that old school game you remember from all those years ago, with that little yellow fellow munching in lines on those strange balls whilst being chased by crazy ghosts... with a slight twist. Compared to the original that we all know and love, it doesn't vary a great deal in most departments but with the various modes added in this version a whole new dimension of Pac-Man is ready to be explored. It's also available on a XBLA disc, so there's absolutely no reason to miss out on this great game.

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Storyline: N/A
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Length and replay value: 8/10
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While it doesn't have a ridiculously long length if you have a reasonable amount of skill in this game, the replay value cannot be questioned. For some reason, that little ball eating guy just keeps you addicted. I could quite happily play this game for hours on end trying to beat my previous scores just through shear enjoyment, and I would recommend this to practically anyone.

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Gameplay: 8/10
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Unlike some of the other variants such as the original Pac-Man, this version has multiple game types which challenge you in different ways keeping you sucked in. Some are obviously more challenging that others with some requiring you to play in almost entire darkness, which is no easy feat. They range in length too with a few being 5 minutes and the rest 10 minutes in length but they all promise you a great time.

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Graphics and Audio: 9/10
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Obviously, as this is Pac-Man, graphics aren't exactly being looked for particularly. You expect to see the little yellow guy nomming away in his 2D prowess, and those 4 dastardly ghosts chasing him relentlessly. So, for what's expected it's great. The audio also helps to maintain the retro feel of the game, with those blippy sounds, leaving nothing to be desired.

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Achievements: 5/10
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The achievements in this game are far from hard, but they're definately not incredibly easy at the same time. It'll most likely take the average person at least a few tries on each of the levels, and for the scoring achievements probably a few more still. This helps to keep you going though I felt.

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Overall Score: 30/40
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Pac Man Championship Edition (Xbox 360) Review

Introduction

Pac-Man is one of those Coin Op Game Characters from the 80’s that never seem to die off. Championship Edition has a few modes that not only brings the Pac Man experience to the latest generation of consoles but also add a different twist. This is the second Pac-Man live game available. I am writing this review on the premise that most gamers will know what Pac-man style games are like. Enjoy.

Game play: 7/10

There are a few different game modes mainly 2 with each having variations. The same layout applies with you controlling Pac-man and traversing the maze swallowing pellets and power ups while avoiding ghosts. While each you start with lives, developers added set times to end the game. While the original game has set puzzles of pills to digest, one mode of Pac-Man CE does add a twist. Once you chomp down all the pellets on one side of the puzzle a fruit appears near the middle and once you swallow the fruit the completed side changes the puzzle on the go. This makes some interesting combinations on terms of how your overall puzzle looks like as you can continuously clear one side of your screen while leaving the other side alone. The other mode is a faster pace, as Pac-Man with plenty of tunnels to go from one end of the screen to another with all characters seemly on permanent energy drinks.

Graphics: 4/10

I thought developers would have added a 3D mode to enhance the experience. Sadly all modes are just as graphically as their co-op ancestry. The screen does look like its 8-bit predecessors and nothing more. There are not even little movies or opening intros that separate the game to show its now in this generation of consoles.

Sound and Music: 4/10

Menu music is standard and repetitious as most of the in game sounds. After a few minutes you might want to just lower the sound.

Difficulty:

Very easy game, very little areas where one can get frustrated.

360 Achievements

Very easy 200 points that can be done within a few hours if not less. Some achievements might generate a few anxious moments but sequences can easily be memorized to gain big points.

Final Thoughts:

Being a person who grew up with the Coin-op version of Pac-Man, I enjoyed the countless hours (and quarters) the original game offered. I am somewhat disappointed that there is no “endless” mode where you can play until you run out of lives and not get restricted on time. It’s a decent game that will not wow you because of newer puzzle games out there. A great value at 400MS Points also you can get yourself a version inside Namco Vitual Museum or Certain Xbox Bundle CD that came with Arcade versions of Xbox 360.

The following review has been copied and pasted from my blog. I do not aim to properly review the actual game, instead I mention the odd good or bad point and focus on discussing the achievements.

Like Feeding Frenzy (the last game I completed) I also got this on disc with 4 other arcade games for £4. That's enough for an intro, on to the game.

I was now around back when Pacman was first created I believe however I have managed to grow up playing it due to it's popularity. I'm yet to play the original on the 360's Arcade but I have gone and completed MS Pacman which I enjoyed. Championship Edition is definitely a brilliant remake of the classic, adding various different game modes to spice up the gameplay a bit. It works brilliantly as does the achievements which involve you needing to play through every mode (ranging from having tinted light so it's hard to see to changing arenas and more) as well as eating the key and crown which crop up during the game and eating 8 ghosts in succession. The other two achievements are for getting a high score of 200,000 and 400,000 in any game mode you wish. I was able to get 200K quite easily but 400 was confusing me. After 30 minutes of trying to work out the best way to get points I finally decided that simply trying to eat lots of ghosts for 3200 points each isn't the best way, it's in fact staying a live so every pellet you eat is worth 50 points. When I put my theory to the test it worked and I was delighted to see the achievement pop up!

Final Verdict: - If you like Pacman then you'll be sure to like this game as it improves on the classics and gives it much more replayability. It's good on the gamerscore as long as you stay motivated long enough to get the hang of it (as in learn how to react when ghosts are nearby so you don't get caught). Try this out, it's 200 gamerscore than can be gotten in an hour and is fun challenge in the process.

Pac-Man is without a doubt a classic video game. It's excellent in its simplicity. From a time when narrative storytelling and excellent graphics were almost non-existent in games, Pac-Man excels with its game play and pick up and play ability.

Pac-Man CE is no different. The developers didn't stray from the core game play, but were also able to add new modes and update the graphics slightly to bring it into the modern era.

The core graphics haven't changed much in this version. NAMCO did add some new level layouts and some additional particle effects and lighting to make the game pop more. All of these are welcome changes.

The game play, as mentioned, it essentially the same. Pac-Man tries to devour pellets while avoiding the ghosts. When he eats a "special" pellet, he is able to eat the ghosts as well. New timed modes help extend the game play. Some of the modes can be pretty difficult and get very tense as the clock is winding down.

Music was added to give some atmosphere to the game. As the game progresses the music gets faster and more vibrant.

I'd recommend this game to any Pac-Man fan.