| |
|
|
| Archives | Archives |
 |
Pac-Man World: 20th Anniversary (PSX) Nostalgia. "The Classics". True triumph of gameplay over graphics, or just a bunch of 30-year-old geeks remembering the first woody they got grabbing their first 1600-point ghost? Damned if I know. But there's certainly a trend now for companies to go back to their wells, dig up their ancient, fondly-loved properties, and give them a "90's makeover". Sometimes, it sucks. Like Frogger. Sometimes, it's prety cool. Like Asteroids. And sometimes, it's positively trans-friggin-cendant, like Tempest 2000. And then there's Pac-Man World. PMW:20A is actually the spiritual descendant of Pac-Land. Where Pac-Land took America's favorite muncher (at least before Ellen came along) and slapped him into a side-scrolling Mario-type game, PMW takes America's favorite yellow ball and slaps him into... a 3D side-scrolling Mario-type game. And somehow, it works. It helps that the game is thoroughly steeped in Pac-Man lore, from the sound effects and power ups to the 200/400/800/1600 ghost chomping progression. Throw in 36 themed 3D "classic" maze boards (like Pac-Mania, only even cooler), the original Pac-Man (for those non-retro-geeks who didn't get Namco Museum Volume One the instant it was released), and you've got one hell of a decent way to kill the two and a half weeks until the delayed-yet-again Speed Devils comes out for Dreamcast. |