![]() Occasionally some of the 1999 Playstation stiffness can be felt in the controls, though it's hard to judge them too harshly for being largely accurate to the original. Gameplay is straightforward, with a strong focus on exploration and collectibles. After completing each of these, another round of areas will open up. From the start several different areas can be taken on in any order. Levels are spread across a variety of areas with a few levels and a boss fight in each one. Levels also contain a variety of fruits which serve as keys for locked doors, along with a Galaxian which can unlock classic style Pac-Man mazes. Pac-Man can also charge up a Sonic-like rolling dash to plow through enemies and launch off ramps. Pellets, picked up throughout levels, can be thrown at enemies as a secondary attack. Pac-Man’s primary attack is his butt bounce which both defeats weaker enemies and allows Pac-Man to bounce slightly higher into the air than his regular jump. Pac-Man himself runs and jumps through levels picking up collectibles, defeating enemies, and saving his family who have been kidnapped by the evil Toc-Man and his ghosts. A more modern comparison would be something like Super Mario 3D World. You’re always free to move in any direction even when takes on a side scrolling perspective. However, unlike Crash Bandicoot, you’re never limited in terms of movement axis. The camera is entirely scripted and receives no input from the player. Pac-Man World is a 3D platformer that falls somewhere between Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64 in terms of perspective. ![]() With that out of the way, we can get onto the actual game. The loss in image quality is so minor, especially when playing handheld, that I’m baffled as to why this isn’t the default display mode. Switching to performance mode drops the resolution very slightly and smooths out performance significantly. However, hidden at the very bottom of the options menu is a toggle for resolution and performance modes. By default the game outputs at a full 1080p resolution which, while it looks great in terms of raw image quality, causes the framerate to fall well short of its target. Now, 23 years since its initial release on the original Playstation, the first Pac-Man World returns in a remastered form as Pac-Man World Re-Pac, and brings a spark of hope for those itching to revisit the rest of the trilogy down the road.īefore we get too far, a PSA for those looking to pick this up on Switch: As has previously been announced, the Switch version targets 30 frames-per-second as opposed to other platforms' target of 60. This trilogy of games spanning the second half of 3D platforming’s golden age are rarely thought of as the peak of the genre, but they are fondly remembered by many who think back on that period. And yet among all of those, the cult classic, 3D platforming spin off, Pac-Man World has been oddly absent. The Switch itself is home to four different releases of Pac-Man-seven if we count the three different Namco Museum releases. There’s his classic butt-bounce where he can stomp on enemies or be used to gain a bit of height on jumps, there’s his move where he briefly runs in place and charges a big rolling attack, and his trademark air hover-not unlike Yoshi’s flutter kick-that is absolutely useless.Over the years we’ve seen quite a few Namco Museums and even specifically Pac-Man collections appear on various platforms. Pac-Man has a variety of moves that are semi-functional, and feel a bit janky to use. ![]() It’s as generic a 2.5D platformer as they come, working in elements from Pac-Man, like the pellets, fruit, and ghosts, to a pretty weak effect. “ Pac-Man World: Re-Pac begins, much as the original did, with a big birthday celebration for Pac-Man being ruined by the Ghosts…” But the story is hardly what matters here, what really matters is the game itself, and it’s nothing to write home about. It’s about the kind of story you could reasonably expect from a Pac-Man game, however I was a little underwhelmed to see it compared to the opening cutscene of the original 1999 release of Pac-Man World, which was way more goofy and featured extremely campy voice-over-complete with a hilarious close-up scream from Pac-Man. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |