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Pac-Man Championship Edition

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Pac-Man Championship Edition
File:Pacmance logo.jpg
Developer(s)Namco Bandai
Publisher(s)Namco Bandai
Designer(s)Toru Iwatani
Platform(s)Xbox Live Arcade
ReleaseJune 6 2007
Genre(s)Maze
Mode(s)Single player

Pac-Man Championship Edition (alternatively Pac-Man C.E.) is the latest Pac-Man game, developed by original Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani, exclusively for the Xbox Live Arcade. The game was released on June 6, 2007 for 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD). [1] Championship Edition features the first new Pac-Man mazes in more than 26 years. The promise of the game actually spurred more purchases of the Xbox 360 in Japan, and it was Iwatani's final game before retirement. [2]

Gameplay

Like the original Pac-Man, the basic gameplay of Pac-Man C.E. consists entirely of navigating Pac-Man through a maze, eating dots, power pellets and bonus fruit, and avoiding the four ghosts that roam the maze as well. Eating a power pellet causes the ghosts to turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them and send them back to their "home", where they re-emerge in their original form. If Pac-Man is caught by a ghost, the player loses a life.

Key Differences from Pac-Man

In addition to its support for Xbox Live leaderboards and its updated high-definition graphics and sound, Pac-Man C.E. contains a number of major differences from its original counterpart. The game is bound by a time limit in which the player must score as many points as possible, and the game ends when this time limit is reached or the player runs out of lives. The game speeds up as the player scores more points, and slows down slightly when the player loses a life. Unlike in the original game, Pac-Man respawns where he died rather than at a set point in the maze. Extra lives are awarded every 20,000 points, in contrast to the original's single extra life at 10,000.

Typical gameplay screenshot.

Each maze is divided into two halves. Eating all the dots in one half of the maze causes a bonus fruit to appear on the other side, and eating the fruit causes a new maze to appear in the original half. In most cases, the maze patterns vary significantly throughout the game. The value of each dot gradually increases as the player stays alive, and power pellets stay in effect for a set period of time, rather than ending as soon as all four ghosts have been eaten. The player can eat another pellet before the first one ends, allowing the player to continue to eat ghosts for progressively higher points. (Unlike in the original, the ghost values do not reset when power pellets are overlapped in this manner. This ghost value scheme was also used in Pac-Mania.)

For the most part, the ghosts behave the same as they do in the original version, allowing experienced players to predict how they will move in certain situations. However, Pinky now moves towards where Pac-Man is currently heading, making it a more dangerous enemy than in past games. To balance this, the player can cause Pac-Man to emit sparks by pressing in the direction he/she wishes to turn while in a tunnel, enabling him to move and turn corners faster.

In addition to all of the original bonus fruits in the original Pac-Man, a variety of new bonus "fruits" appear in this game, including ships from Galaxian and Galaga, and a crown worth 7,650 points (a number that has special significance to Namco in Japanese). As was the case with the key in the original game, the crown appears for the rest of the game once it has been reached.

After each game, a detailed statistics screen is displayed, showing a histogram of the player's score over the course of the game. The score is broken down into three main categories: Points from dots and power pellets, ghosts, and fruits. Following the stats screen, the player can watch a replay of their game or choose another level to play.

Levels

Pac-Man C.E. consists of six levels (referred to as "modes" within the game), each with their own unique set of mazes and time limits[3]. Aside from differences in design, each level plays essentially the same way and is only offered in single-player mode.

  • Championship Mode: Closely resembles the appearance of the original Pac-Man maze. Timed limit of 5 minutes.
  • Challenge Mode 1 (Patience and Reward Course): The mazes alternate between an abundance of power pellets and no power pellets. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
  • Challenge Mode 2 (The Darkness Course): Only the area directly around Pac-Man and the Ghosts is visible and the maze walls are completely hidden. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
  • Extra Mode 1 (The Freeway Course): Starts at near-top speed and features many long, horizontal tunnels. Timed limit of 5 minutes.
  • Extra Mode 2 (The Manhattan Course): A maze inspired by the streets of Manhattan. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
  • Extra Mode 3 (The Overall Course): A mix of all other levels. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

Reception

Reviews Score
1Up 9 of 10
CVG 7 of 10
Eurogamer 7 of 10
GameDaily 8 of 10
GameSpot 7.9 of 10
Snackbar Games 5 of 5
Gaming Target 9 of 10
IGN 8.4 of 10
Planet Xbox 360 8.2 of 10
Talk Xbox 80%
TeamXbox 8.6 of 10
X-Play 5 of 5

Pac-Man Championship Edition was released to mostly rave critical reviews, with reviewers stating the gameplay was "fresh and exciting"[4], "one of the best 'exclusive' pieces of downloadable/casual entertainment available"[5], and that it was "nice to see a classic remade instead of simply repackaged."[6] Jared Rea of Joystiq called it "the first true sequel to Pac-Man since Ms. Pac-Man."[7]

Criticisms include a lack of a multiplayer mode, and an apparent relapse to "patterns" that had been in the original.

As of November 13, 2007, the Metacritic score is 83.[8]

References

  1. ^ Joystiq, June 5, 2007
  2. ^ Joystiq, June 7, 2007
  3. ^ XyHD.tv, June 6, 2007
  4. ^ IGN, June 6, 2007
  5. ^ 1Up, June 11, 2007
  6. ^ Team Xbox, June 9, 2007
  7. ^ Joystiq, June 8, 2007
  8. ^ MetaCritic: Pac-Man C.E.
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