This is the game that got me grounded. Multiple times. All for "Inappropriate Language" infractions. Ah, happy memories. My mom banned this game from the house at one point, but she gave up and let it back in when she realized she missed it too. And then she would get into trouble herself for the occasional slip of a naughty word.
Graphics: 8
Not too bad, considering when it was originally made. The colors are bright and crisp, the pixels are clean, and everything looks cheerful and clean. It's aged pretty well, all things considered. The puzzles are bright and colorful without being eyeblinding painful to look at, unlike a few other Pacman games I could mention. I wish the cut scenes were a little more pretty, but you can't have it all.
Sound: 2
Annoying. Repetitive. Horrible. Electronic Arcade Tunes. They brand themselves into your brain, but unlike other, more notable examples (Mario, for example) they just aren't 'singable'. I used to hear them in my dreams, but I couldn't hum them to save my life. After about the second or third screen I usually end up muting the sound.
Addictiveness: 10
There's just something about this game-almost all Pacman games, to be honest-that keeps you playing. Just one more try. Just one more try. I'm going to get those stupid ghosts this time. Just one more game. One more...just one more game....
Story: 4
Unlike other Pacman games before this, we actually have a 'story' of sorts Lonely yellow ball meets his beribboned soul mate-as a reward for making it through levels, we get to watch the unfolding romance through short 'acts'. It's kind of cute, but considering how impossibly difficult the game gets the farther you go up, I have yet to actually see much of the story.
Depth: 1
Eat dots. Chase ghosts. Chomp fruit. Repeat. Pretty much says it all, right there.
Difficulty: 8
Between the ghosts getting impossibly faster (they can outrun you at various times), smarter (they begin to hunt as a team and actively work to trap you in corners), and the control issues the game suffers (I said UP. UP UP UP UP UP NOOOOO) this game can get quite challenging quite fast. For average people with average reflexes, you'll find yourself dying pretty quickly.
To be honest, the control issues cause more death than the ghosts themselves. I can't count the times I've gotten eaten because I tried to do a cool duck maneuver to get out of a ghost trap only to have Ms Pacman cruise serenely past the opening I'm trying to get her to go into. If you're lucky you'll have time to do the 'reverse insert' move where you go back and forth in front of the opening until she finally realizes that you are, in fact, trying to go that way. This was where most of my "inappropriate language" was born.
Overall: 9
I'm not afraid to say that I love this game, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. While it hasn't aged that badly, it was never that great of a game to begin with, honestly. It's a great way to kill time between more serious games, and a fun way to try for high scores, but there's not much to keep you playing for hours. I can usually go about two or three games before I need to put the controller down and move on to something else for awhile. But despite everything, I keep finding myself coming back to it for just...one...more...try....
This is the game that got me grounded. Multiple times. All for "Inappropriate Language" infractions. Ah, happy memories. My mom banned this game from the house at one point, but she gave up and let it back in when she realized she missed it too. And then she would get into trouble herself for the occasional slip of a naughty word.
Graphics: 8
Not too bad, considering when it was originally made. The colors are bright and crisp, the pixels are clean, and everything looks cheerful and clean. It's aged pretty well, all things considered. The puzzles are bright and colorful without being eyeblinding painful to look at, unlike a few other Pacman games I could mention. I wish the cut scenes were a little more pretty, but you can't have it all.
Sound: 2
Annoying. Repetitive. Horrible. Electronic Arcade Tunes. They brand themselves into your brain, but unlike other, more notable examples (Mario, for example) they just aren't 'singable'. I used to hear them in my dreams, but I couldn't hum them to save my life. After about the second or third screen I usually end up muting the sound.
Addictiveness: 10
There's just something about this game-almost all Pacman games, to be honest-that keeps you playing. Just one more try. Just one more try. I'm going to get those stupid ghosts this time. Just one more game. One more...just one more game....
Story: 4
Unlike other Pacman games before this, we actually have a 'story' of sorts Lonely yellow ball meets his beribboned soul mate-as a reward for making it through levels, we get to watch the unfolding romance through short 'acts'. It's kind of cute, but considering how impossibly difficult the game gets the farther you go up, I have yet to actually see much of the story.
Depth: 1
Eat dots. Chase ghosts. Chomp fruit. Repeat. Pretty much says it all, right there.
Difficulty: 8
Between the ghosts getting impossibly faster (they can outrun you at various times), smarter (they begin to hunt as a team and actively work to trap you in corners), and the control issues the game suffers (I said UP. UP UP UP UP UP NOOOOO) this game can get quite challenging quite fast. For average people with average reflexes, you'll find yourself dying pretty quickly.
To be honest, the control issues cause more death than the ghosts themselves. I can't count the times I've gotten eaten because I tried to do a cool duck maneuver to get out of a ghost trap only to have Ms Pacman cruise serenely past the opening I'm trying to get her to go into. If you're lucky you'll have time to do the 'reverse insert' move where you go back and forth in front of the opening until she finally realizes that you are, in fact, trying to go that way. This was where most of my "inappropriate language" was born.
Overall: 9
I'm not afraid to say that I love this game, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. While it hasn't aged that badly, it was never that great of a game to begin with, honestly. It's a great way to kill time between more serious games, and a fun way to try for high scores, but there's not much to keep you playing for hours. I can usually go about two or three games before I need to put the controller down and move on to something else for awhile. But despite everything, I keep finding myself coming back to it for just...one...more...try....
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