You can stick your Lara Crofts, Solid Snakes and Master Chiefs, I like my gaming hero to be down to earth and straight to the point, a genuine good guy in it for the fun, not the glamour. Nobody fits this description better than Pac-man.
Pac-man has been munching dots for well over 20 years now but the game has never lost it’s charm. The concept is so simple but as our man has shown, that is no bad thing. If you’re not aware of what the Pac-man games consist of you really don’t deserve to be here (harsh, but true) but in case any such people exist, lets run over it. Players take control of Pac-man in a maze and essentially eat-up all the dots while avoiding ghosts. The major plot-twist is that by eating special dots you can turn the tables on the ghosts and gobble them up for extra points.
To claim Pac-man only lives on for nostalgic reasons would be misguided, as Pac-man is a hit with many gamers who were not even around in its hay day. However, it’s undoubtedly the main selling point for the title. With the game available to play for free all over the internet and included in Ridge Racer 6 on the 360, even 400 points seems pricey for this classic which is essentially unchanged since it’s 1979 debut.
The game area is centred in the middle of the screen with a bright retro background filling out the rest. The only “additions” to the basic game are the ability to customise settings such as the number of starting lives (though this will make your high score void for the Xbox Live leaderboard) and the option to start your progress at the highest point you reached. The latter option makes getting to the last level and achievements, usually rewarded for collecting fruit, significantly easier.
A disappointing aspect of the game is the controls. The 360 d-pad really shows itself up here. The game is ideally suited to d-pad control but the 360’s just isn’t up to the job as the clunky controls make missing a turn too common. The analogue stick is a better option but is not best suited either.
Pac-man’s real shining quality on Xbox 360 is the simple inclusion of leaderboards. With no multiplayer form included they give you the opportunity to really show off your skills. With it being such a classic game, it seems particularly important that you’re not at the foot of your friends table and despite it’s flaws, this one aspect could have you coming back trying to improve your high score for months to come.
Pac-man was always going to be an essential inclusion in Xbox Live’s collection of Arcade classics. It’s certainly worthy of a place there, it’s just a shame some updated graphics, modes and extras could not have been included to make it stand out from all the other Pac-man’s available to play. The game is such a classic it’s a shame it’s not been given enough attention to make it an XLA classic too.
