Review: Pac-Man Championship Edition - Plus Video Review
by Staff Writer
December 11, 2009
Overview
Pac Man: Championship Edition (CE) is a brand new take on Pac-Man, and not just a re-tread ported to the iPhone. It was on Xbox Live arcade, but still a brand new idea compared to what we have seen on the iPhone. CE was created by Tōru Iwatani, the original developer of Pac-Man so you know it’s in good hands. In CE instead of an endless game with the same few boards that change every few levels you get an ever changing board within one level. The board is split into two halves, and when you complete one half a bonus fruit is given which replenishes the board with a whole new assortment of dots on the other half.
Features
Pac-Man C.E. ships with 20 missions which are pretty basic of learning controls, and the likes. Each mission has three difficulty levels to master. Five championship mode mazes are included, and you try to beat the local high score. Four control methods are included: directional pad, dual d-pads, main control stick swipe, or dual stick swipe. Directional pad provides one main up down button, and two left right buttons on either side. dual d-pads gives a d-pad for the left and right thumb. Then there is just one main control stick in the middle, and you swipe. Finally there are dual swiping control sticks for either thumb to swipe pac-man’s direction. One in-app purchase is included for $3.99 which gives you the remainder of the game. 100 extra missions, 10 extra championship mazes, and unlock challenge mode.
The Good
I’m a big Pac-Man fan, and a big iPhone game fan, so I have an extra high standard for Pac-Man iPhone games. Pac-Man: CE actually lives up to my high standards beginning with the brand new gameplay. The CE gameplay maintains the basic pac-man goodness, but adds a whole new element yet to be seen. Completing half the board to unlock the other half is absolutely phenomenal. Each time the half of the board becomes more complex, and shifts giving you a change within the level which we've never seen in pac-man before.
As you progress the ghosts don’t only become faster, but more intelligent in finding you as well as trapping you. Maybe the best aspect is that Pac-Man is usually just endless survival, but CE gives a five minute time limit to survive.
The most important thing for Namco thus far in making games for the iPhone has been the controls. Well they have finally got it right. The dual d-pad worked well, but the best for me was the dual control stick which allowed for precision turns, and speed through the mazes.
Also included is a neon theme to really make pac-man shine. The entire board feels brand new with the different glowing effects. The game looks great as there are trails from pac-man and the ghosts as well as chomping dots. The classic pac-man music and sound effects are included.
One small neat feature is the set-up of the score after a level. It shows it as a bar graph over time composed of different colors based on points from dots, fruit, or ghosts. Also the mission modes are quick little challenges of your pac-man skill. Also you can continue eating ghost chains by eating another power pellet while already in blue ghost mode.
