Pac-Man is back at full force. Just a few months ago Namco released the console version of Pac-Man 256 to very positive reviews. Now Namco releases the sequel to one of the best downloadable games. Get ready for an all-new arcade experience that builds on top of the original game, yet manages to feel different enough to make the first game a viable option.
Does it even matter?!
As far as story goes there isn’t any. After beating certain levels you will unlock an adventure mode that tasks the player to go through levels collecting stars and fighting a boss of some sorts. After beating the boss there is a little cut scene but this is the closest to what could be considered as a story. Its lack of a story is lamenting to no one because what makes Pac-Man fun is not any narrative structure but old-fashioned arcade action, and that Pac-Man has a ton of.
There is a little cut scene at the end of the every boss but not much more.
Amazing arcade experience.
The original Pac-Man’s objective was eating all the pellets on the map until they are all gone. Once that’s done you do it all over again. Championship Edition 2 has the same arcade experience but it asks the player to do a ton of different things except eat all the pellets. There are ten maps and three game types for every map. You have five minutes to get as high of a score as you can. There are a certain amount of pellets that the player needs to collect before fruit appears on the map. Once the player collects the fruit they go to the next level of the map where they do the same thing again.
The pellet trail usually goes past sleeping ghosts that wake up when you pass them. In the previous game, these ghosts started following Pac-Man until he collected a Power Pellet. In this game, Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde are back and work the same way they did like in the original. The sleeping ghosts now join up with the original ones, which makes it effectively harder to maneuver.
However, there is one big change that makes the game play very different. Touching ghosts doesn’t kill you. When hitting a ghost Pac-Man will bump off them and the ghosts will recoil back a bit. Once Pac-Man hits the same ghost twice in a short amount of time they will enrage the ghost. Once the ghost is enraged its train will collapse into itself and make the ghost bigger and faster. This is when the ghosts can kill you. At first glance, it looks like it makes the game easier but in actuality it makes the game way harder. When Pac-Man collects a Power Pellet the ghosts will try to escape which makes it way harder to kill them. When Pac-Man does manage to get to a ghost they can only eat the ghosts by eating the head of the train. Trying to eat the train from another place will make the yellow muncher bounce off the train.
Bombs are back too, but this time they don’t blow up all enemies around you but now you can do something the game calls Bomb Jumps. Once you use a bomb it will send you back to the starting point. Another small change is that fruit and Power Pellets sometimes come in bubbles that flee from Pac-Man. The game is extremely fast and intense. It’s just a blast to try to escape ghosts while trying to collect the pellets. While the game is a sequel in every way it does things so differently that it makes the original still a viable option. Championship Edition 2 is a sequel that, while amazing, doesn’t undermine its predecessor.
One of the biggest new game modes is Adventure mode. In adventure mode the game takes a more traditional style of the first game. In this mode, you start in a world with ten levels and one boss level. Levels task the player to collect a certain amount of fruit or eating all ghosts within a small time limit. A certain amount of pellets are on the map, when all the pellets are collected fruit will appear and when that’s collected Pac-Man will jump to the next map with a different layout and more ghosts.
The boss levels need to be unlocked by collecting stars in the other levels. The higher the difficulty the more stars you get. Boss levels are fairly tame. The game works with the same moves but instead at the end of the level you collect a power pellet and beat the ghost. Players can collect more stars than usual by collecting 1-UPs that appear when all the pellets are collected. The Adventure mode is a neat addition that extends the game’s playability. Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is an amazing game. It’s not better that the first game but it’s not worse either. It’s so different, yet the same that both games stand and shine next to each other as equals. Which game is better will be up to the players.
Fast and fun are just a few ways to describe the game.
Positively electric vibes.
Just like the first game, Championship Edition 2 looks amazing. The game’s style is neon lights and color with techno music perfectly complementing it. Players can choose what kind of visual design they want to use. Being able to choose a combination of the neon maze with the pixel art, for instance, makes sure you can play with your visuals and mix things up enough too. The strong colors make everything stand out and the designs of the game make sure you know what is going on at all times as long as you can keep up with the speed. One main visual change is rather interesting. In the original Championship Edition when Pac-Man started eating a train it was incredibly satisfying and while it is pretty satisfying in this game they show the combo with a dynamic angle. These look especially cool when they are used as transitions to the next maze. While in the first game it felt good, in this one it looks cool. The music is a definite step up. The predecessor’s music fit the game and by no means was bad, it missed that catchy-ness and engagement it should have had. This game does however. There are around 19 tracks which is an upgrade from the original three. The new tracks are amazing and are all pretty memorable. Championship Edition 2 looks pretty, vibrant and colorful.
The style is vibrant and lively. Just playing it wakes you right up.
Closing note:
Championship Edition 2 manages to surpass the original in many ways but also is different enough to make the first game still a viable option along with the new one. CE2 is fast, frantic and incredibly fun. The new additions make the game feel fresh and new while still feeling like a sequel. The presentation is also up to snuff with the audio being the most improved element. Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is another solid, amazing fun arcade style game.
8.5/10
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