Ignore all the Ms. Pac-Man legal issues – awkward! – and it’s hard to imagine Pac-Man Museum+ being much more comprehensive than it is. There are absentees, of course – long-time power pill poppers may lament the lack of, say, Pac-Man World from the PS1 – but across 14 titles, you’re effectively getting the career highlights (and lowlights) of Bandai Namco’s yellow blob.
That includes the iconic 1980 arcade original – of course! – as well as its Super Pac-Man and Pac & Pal permutations, which have mixed success fiddling with the rules of the established maze formula. 1984’s endless runner-esque Pac-Land is present and accounted for – and looking surprisingly pretty scaled up on a 4K screen, we must say – while there’s even a slot for 1992’s Tetris-inspired SNES puzzler, Pac-Attack.
Of interest to PlayStation players, Pac-Man Arrangement ships in two permutations: the 1996 arcade original and as a rearrangement from Namco Museum Battle Collection, which first launched on the PSP in 2005. The isometric Pac-Mania from 1987 is an obvious inclusion, but the borderline unplayable Pac-In-Time less so: it’s fiddly and heavily flawed, but noteworthy nonetheless. Other curios include Pac-Motos – a rudimentary battle game inspired by Namco’s 1985 arcade game Motos which first released as part of a Nintendo Wii compilation – and the Marble Madness-style Nintendo DS puzzle platformer Pac N Roll.
The absolutely superb Pac-Man Championship Edition rounds out the package, alongside the surprisingly sturdy smartphone game, Pac-Man 256 – presented here sans microtransactions and with multiplayer. You also get the brilliant 2010 arcade game Pac-Man Battle Royale, which is a hoot if you’re able to convince people to play with you.
As you may have observed from our overview, there are highs and lows here: the original Pac-Man is still outstanding even 40 years after it took arcades by storm, but input lag on the likes of Pac-Mania make it a less compelling proposition in 2022. The emulation is largely no frills, with a CRT shader and online leaderboards, although Bandai Namco has produced a compelling 3D wrapper, which sees you interacting with your arcade cabinets in a 3D environment that you can customise.
Overall, this is a handful of games and a legal settlement away from being comprehensive, but it undoubtedly gives you a flavour for Pac-Man’s storied career – and between the ups-and-downs, there’s plenty to chew on.
Comments 9
I’ve really been enjoying this collection. It’s perfect for a dose of arcade goodness when I only have five or ten minutes to spare. Really, the only stinker in the bunch is Pac In Time, mostly for the jump mechanic that seems to have been designed by someone completely unfamiliar with the concept of jumping.
This could have been the definitive collection without the rights issues. Oh well, I love Pac-Man so I’m getting it anyway. Also, does anyone else find it weird that two of the cons are just that it includes bad games? If anything, I think not hiding lesser parts of Pac-Man’s history is impressive, and there’s so much good content that it’s not like you can only play bad games.
@Goat_FromBOTW I agree, it's cool even the "bad" games are there! Certainly not a major negative, as the compilation is pretty good as a whole!
I initially bought it solely to play Pac Man Battle Royal but quickly found enjoyment in the entire collection, most of which I had either never played or heard of before. I'm currently addicted to Pac-Man 256!
Probably wait for a psn sale down the line, great to see the original Pac Man Championship Edition finally be playable on later PS gens again after being locked to ps3 for such a long time!
I might get this. As far as pure gameplay experiences go Pac-Man is one of the best there is out there, along with Tetris.
I am so happy to have Pac-Man Championship Edition again. Sorry if you disagree but Championship 2 changed the formula too much and ultimately failed because it did not feel like Pac-Man. In my opinion.
@hookedWORM17 Agree that the original CE is better. (But I do still like CE2!)
I can't believe I am going to buy Pac-man again I seem to buy it every Gen but I really want to get this for Pac-Attack I LOVE that game
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