Pac-Man Collection
Reviewed by Dogg
We all know that Nintendo's new handheld, the Game
Boy Advance was brought up to restore the classics,
while also giving us fresh new titles. But some of
these classics are still going on today and now what
better way to show how there characters looked like
during the 80's and 90's. Nintendo earlier did a good
interpretation with Super Mario Advance featuring 2
old Mario games. Now Namco does it with their
franchise Pac-Man, but instead of 2 different games
it is now 4 different games.
Thus marks how Pac-Man Collection is played out. Play
1 of 4 different Pac-Man titles. Some of these
classic Pac-Man titles have even been going on in the
80's and most importantly in the 90's. Also Pac-Man
Collection adds a whole new breath of fresh air by
just changing the way the game looks and making it
look better. The 4 classic Pac-Man titles included in
this cart include: Pac-Man, Pac-Attack, Pac-Mania,
and Pac-Man Arrangement.
Pac-Man- Yes Pac-Man the game that made well
.............. Pac-Man. Yes this is the true classic
that was stopmed in the arcades and was played by
many people. This was also the game that brought
forth a new franchise and brung it into a new genre.
The genre this game was most included too was puzzle
and yes while it acts like a big puzzle, it really is
not. This game should be in a genre that is called
all eating puzzle game. Now that makes more sense.
The way Pac-Man is played out is actually quite
simple really. It goes like this. Just look for the
yellow figure that has a big mouth and lead him to
start eating these oval shaped dots. But of course
something has to try and stop you, right? Yes, of
course. Little strange looking ghost creatures will
be your main enemy. And all you really have to do
will be to simply get the hell out of their way.
However, just like the dots, ghosts are actually
edible. Don't believe me? Just go off and get bigger
looking oval shaped dots and now the ghosts will be
scared of you and will start to run away. Now your
main goal is to eat them up. To advance into a new
level you must eat every last one of the dots. Keep
on repeating this and you will eventually get rid of
this classic.
But is there a problem with this classic? Technically
there is. This classic does not take full advantage
of the Game Boy Advance's screen and it all appears
quite small and sometimes hard to see. Plus the sound
hasn't changed that much and might not be enought to
make you listen to it.
Pac-Attack- Pac-Attack takes the whole eating ghost
process to new heights. This game plays different
than most Pac-Man type games and instead Pac-Attack
plays more like a Tetris game. Yes this game does
involve blocks, but it also involves ghosts and when
there's ghosts there's always Pac-Man.
The main premise of this game is to just drop the
blocks. Most times ghosts are on the blocks. Then
build the blocks up and soon a Pac-Man like block
will fall. This Pac-Man like block will eat all the
ghosts it can eat, according to its direction. Sounds
simple, but it's not. The game intentionally gets
harder and blocks start falling faster. This really
help to provide a good sense of difficulty. Plus
there are 2 modes of play as well as different
difficulty settings. The graphics are also pretty
good as is the sound.
Pac-Mania- This game plays a lot like Pac-Man except
this game enters a 3-D approach, replacing Pac-Man
always being 2-D. The level premise is the same as
that of Pac-Man. Pac-Man also gets a new move. He can
now jump if you press the A or B button. The biggest
problem will be that ghosts just come out of nowhere
and you will likely always be killed if you do not
watch it. The graphics are great and the sound or
music this game makes is actually good.
Pac-Man Arrangement- Pac-Man Arrangement is exactly
the same as Pac-Man and Pac-Mania, but for a reason
this game feels different. This game brings many new
elements to the table while still giving you the same
task as eating ghosts and eating the oval shaped dots.
If you take out Pac-Mania, then Pac-Man Arrangement
has the best graphics of them all despite some of
it's flaws. Also if you enjoyed the sound or " music
" that Pac-Mania made then you'll surely appreciate
the sound in this game. Also something new that this
game provides is a boss after you pass all the worlds.
Rental or Purchase- Despite having four classic
Pac-Man games at the palm of your hand you might
still get a better kick out of this game if you rent
it. The main reason for this is that 3 games on this
cart all play mostly alike, while one plays like
Tetris. Still this game is also quite fun as a
purchase. Note that the main time you will have with
this game will range to about 4-6 hours.
Overall: 7 out of 10