Pac-Man VS Review

[Blaine]

When I first heard about Pac-Man VS, my first impression was "good game gone bad". Pac-Man sequals have slowly petered off. Ms. Pac-Man was good. Pac-Man Jr. had some fine qualities. Super  Pac-Man was interesting but these days...something is different;

Tastes changed. Games like Pac-Man World bear almost no resemblance to the original Pac-Man. It's simply a platformer with a licensed character. The game design behind the original Pac-Man is really tight and highly enjoyable. A good idea executed well. A simple formula for success.

So Pac-Man is a good game. The remakes have really been someone else's idea of what today's "Pac-Man" would be. Subject to all the inequalities and happenstance of today's game industry...including designer ineptitude.

But let's try this on. We'll put an established, experienced and what many would say, brilliant designer in charge.  Someone like Shigeryu Miyamoto.

You get Pac-Man VS.

Adhearing to the age-old programmer adage of "don't reinvent the wheel", very little has actually changed about the game itself. Pac-Man still needs to eat all the pellets while avoiding the ghosts. He can eat the power pellets and then turn and eat the ghosts. Chomp on fruit for more points. Whoever gets the most points wins. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

But what really makes the game shine is the fact that other players control the ghosts. Ghost have a very limited range of vision and players controling the spookies will quickly learn that in order to catch Pac-Man they have to be either really lucky or they have to start working together- communicating, playing 'zone defense', and trying to out strategize and corner the pac.

Pac-Man has a total board view because the player who is Pac-Man is playing on a GameBoy Advanced. This is the maligned and controversial part. Many, many people on the game forums I frequent scoffed, huffed, scolded and in general just dismissed the game as a stupid, gimmicky promotional hunk of trash. "Why do you need a GBA?" "All this connectivity is stupid" "You shouldn't have to buy a GBA just to play this game" and so on and so on.

But the second you play this game, you can fully understand that the GBA connectivity is beyond just a style choice, it's a strong execution choice. The honor system associated with split-screen multiplayer games (like FPS) is really sad. I mean, anyone who plays a lot of First Person Shooters will tell you the element of surprise in these games is paramount. It's a lot easier to kills someone who doesn't see you. Along with controls, a main reason why those types of games flourish on PC's more than consoles...because Split-Screen comepetition for anything other than racing and puzzle games just isn't fun. By equiping the Pac-Man with a seperate, private screen, we finally get a multi-player experience akin to that we've enjoyed for over a decade on personal computers. That is, a sense of secrecy, privacy and the ability to out think the people sitting next to you not just out play them. Let me say that again...the ability to out think them. At it's heart, Pac-Man VS isn't a puzzle game (because ghosts do not move with predictable movements). It's closest to a strategy game.

That's of paramount importance whether you're playing as the pac or as a ghost. The player who is Pac-Man must be very aware that the ghosts will instinctively swarm towards the power pellets (for obvious reasons) so if they wish to clear the board they're going to have to out manuever the opponants by stayiing off thier screen and staying one step ahead. Ghost players have to be aware that while they are faster than Pac-Man, just getting behind him and running him down will get you nowhere fast. This is because Pac-Man is quicker through the tunnels than the ghosts, and any Pac worth his salt will immediately high tail it to a tunnel if he has a Blinky on his six.  In addition to thier limited vision (Ghosts can only see thier immediately surrounding area, which can be zoomed out by picking up fruit on the board [yes, in this game, ghosts can eat the fruit]) and thier vulnerablitly to power pellets, a single ghost is no match at all for Pac-Man. Get behind him and you will lose him in the tunnels. If you can possibly find him, you might be able to ambush him ahead...but you won't find him, and since he can see you, he'll just turn tail and you're in chase mode, which you will most likely lose. So the ONLY way to capture Pac-Man aside from blind luck, or bad Pac-Manning, is to co-ordinate your actions with the other ghosts.

Top this off with the fact that whichever ghost captures Pac-Man, gets to be Pac-Man the next game. And whoever gets to the target score first (7,000-10,000 or 15,000) wins...and the only real way to get points is by being Pac-Man.

Ghosts are on a team, but still out for themselves.

Where am I going with all of this?

Pac-Man VS is in a catagory that few games have been, particularly in recent times. It falls into the same catagory as the legendary M.U.L.E. for various consoles. A game that simply facilitates gameplay and does not comprise it. Imagine playing your favorite board game by yourself. Not very fun. Ditto for Pac-Man Vs. Do it with a group of people it suddenly becomes fun. It's the same game, but with human competition it takes on a life of it's own. M.U.L.E. was brilliant because it made no attempts at computer AI. Instead it was more of video board game that offered up rules and an environment for people seated next to each other to play. It's a game that would be no-where-near as fun over a computer network. It requires the physical presence of other people for the full effect.

It's a great social, strategy, action game.

It's very likely the best free game of all time. That's right, it's free. You can get it through many promotional means. It's packaged with several current Namco games. Word on the street is stores like GameStop will just give you the game.

Pac-Man Versus takes a solid idea, keeps what is inherantly enjoyable and just adds a few minor (albeit significant) additions. People who gripe about the additional equipment...have a point. But the fact remains that the GBA is not only desirable for this application but absolutely, positively, vital to retain this wonderful game.

I can't reccomend it enough. I just wish I could reccomend the purchase of a GBA and a link cable to play it.

I'd say.....at least consider it. If you have a GBA and a GameCube, then you just gotta get this one. It'll be a guarenteed hit at your next party.