POSTED 3/10/16


PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION 2

Bandai Namco

Imagine Pac-Man where you could safely touch ghosts anytime. Madness!

Uh, not anymore. While the last time Bandai Namco messed with the pixelated cheese wheel of joy the result was the ace Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (not counting the brilliant Aussie-made Pac-Man 256, which was mostly faithful to the original), their bonce oases seem to have since run dry. As such they appear to have shoehorned in everything – no matter how daft - that came up at the planning meeting.

Obviously the most egregious is that you can touch Inky, Blinky, Pinky or Clyde. Several times, in fact, until they get justifiably pissed off and hunt you with a vengeance. About to hit something? Just apply your brakes. Or you can hit the jump button and return to the starting point – which you don’t do upon dying anymore. Boss battles? Come on! Leaving a sheet before eating all pellets? Hey, why not?

Sure, the classic sounds remain – it’s not like Monsieur Pac has traded his beloved “Wukka” for something slicker - but, as The New Pornographers may remark, the laws have changed now. The object isn’t survival, it’s scoring. As such you have two modes, ‘Score Attack’ and the exceedingly frustrating ‘Adventure’ challenges.

Specific paths are plotted, and strict adherence is required to score the scoriest. This is hampered by the fact that you’re soon moving so fast that whether you plump for D-pad or analogue stick, the PS4’s controller isn’t slick enough to have you go where you want to go every time you want to, well, go. Then there’s the distracting visual cacophony – yipes!

The key to Pac-Man has always been that anybody can play due to its simplicity – its fiendishly addictive simplicity. This thing’s so complicated that it has a massive two part tutorial that yields two trophies should you manage to complete it!
 
Inexplicably fiendishly addictive, it’s Pac-Man, Jim, but not as we know it.

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