Welcome to our review of PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC, the newest game of one of the most recognizable characters in the world.
PAC-MAN arrives home on his birthday to find the Ghosts have kidnapped PAC-MAN’s family and ruined his party! Off to the rescue, PAC-MAN sets out to Ghost Island!
• With improved UI, fine-tuned mechanics and updated visuals, PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC is a modernized classic!
• Dodge Ghosts, solve environmental puzzles, rescue the PAC-FAM, and more in this platforming adventure!
• Butt-bounce, rev-roll, PAC-DOT attack, and hover-jump to the final face-off against TOC-MAN!
• Play a collection of 3D mazes in MAZE MODE! Clear QUEST MODE to unlock the original PAC-MAN game in ORIGINAL MODE!
PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC is one of those games where you just wonder if it will be a cheap money grab or not, cash in on the legacy of possibly the greatest gaming character of all time. I can immediately clear the air and say this is actually a really decent platformer, sure, it has some game mechanics that I would personally tweak a little. That jump and bounce mechanic, in itself, is really easy to use, but once you have to use it in combination with bouncers, it kind of makes you want to be in a Sonic game, where things just keep bouncing you around, but in PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC, you need to time every bounce right or you end up falling down.
A small example of what could be improved upon, sure, it is no Sonic game, nor does it attempt to, but it is actually a rather decent platformer, taking its inspiration from a handful of other platformers and with the number of mini puzzles inside levels, it is actually more fun than you’d expect it to be. Find a typical piece of fruit, you know the ones, so grab that, use it to open the corresponding door, and then you get access to new parts of the level, sometimes needed to finish the level, sometimes just for fun and giggles.
One thing I did find both funny and kind of misplaced, there are classical PAC-MAN bits in the game, grabbing all the pieces and then you get warped back to the level. I most definitely understand where they come from, heck, they are as PM as PM can be, I just felt they added nothing to the game and while the first few, I was amused to play them, the more I played them, the enjoyment was far and away and I just wanted that interlude to be over.
Weird to say about a PAC-MAN game, right? Well, I agree, but I stand by it, it just feels out of place, such a fun and entertaining platformer that kind of gets that blast from the past, and for me personally, that is a mix that does not tickle my fancy. Would I remove them? No, because I do think I am a small minority that will not enjoy them, let alone the fanservice it brings to the game.
In conclusion, PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC is actually well worth your time and if you do decide to sleep on it, at least grab it when it hits a discount, you will love it too if you like platformers.
