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A lot has changed since Pac-MAN World launched in 1999 on the original PlayStation, including what value players expect for their money when they purchase a game. This mostly comes from what the industry has set in terms of length of gameplay based on the price the person is paying. For example, experiences at the highest price now of $69.99 are typically over 50 hours of gameplay time, with tons of replayability. PAC-Man World Re-PAC is a remaster of the original PAC-Man World without much added on, however at the list price of $29.99, it does not meet the standards of what one should expect from a game at this price, especially with the advent of services like PlayStation Plus Premium that is (supposed to be) adding additional old games on a regular basis. For local players, a $29.99 price tag may be a little high for what this game offers and they are probably better off investing in a copy of the original game from a local game store.
Without getting too into the plot, PAC-Man is celebrating his birthday when his party gets crashed by the ghosts and kidnap all his friends and family and force him to come to their island so PAC-Man can face off against TOC-Man, another ghost in a massive PAC-Man looking robot suit. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Sonic: Generations borrowed its plot pretty liberally from this game almost a decade later.
It’s a pretty straightforward game and the gameplay is pretty entertaining. The controls are pretty simple, with only three attacks: a rev-run (think Sonic balling up and going fast), a butt-bounce (think Mario’s ground pound), and a ranged pellet throw. The puzzles consist of finding a fruit and bringing it to a door that has said fruit over it and they rarely pose an issue, with only one being cumbersome during my entire playthrough. The only thing that may be frustrating for players, even more experienced players, is that certain enemies in later levels are fast, swap how you attack them on a whim, and can very quickly deplete the player’s health. Same goes for the levels where there is lava and there are segments that go very two dimensional without much help. If you lose too much, the game will passive-aggressively recommend you go to easy mode, which just exacerbates the frustration.
The biggest issue with the game is the fact that it is short and not terribly complex. It does not hold the player’s hand, but rarely will it take more than one attempt to obtain 100 percent of collectables in a level. For me, there was one level where I had to play it twice, and that’s because the “C” in the collectible spelled out “PACMAN” in this level was placed in a blind jump that if missed, the entire level has to be replayed to get to it. The maze levels are too easy as well, which will create a shock for newer players (arguably the target audience) who go from those to the original PAC-Man which is available to play in the post-game. The fact that it is this easy is compounded by its length, which can be beaten to 100 percent without the intent to play through as quickly as possible in about seven hours.
Ultimately the problems do outweigh how great the game is and how inventive it was at the time. PAC-Man World Re-PAC is a great investment if one plays it as part of a subscription service like if it goes to Xbox Game Pass at some point, but at full retail it is an unfulfilling experience. It will inevitably go to a markdown and that is the way that the player will get the best experience out of the game. After finishing the game, everything about the experience was weighed down by the thought that I spent $30 for this when other games like Stardew Valley or Fez or even Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 are available at a much lower price with a bigger experience. If someone wants to experience PAC-Man World, and they have their old PlayStation or PlayStation 2 in working condition, they are better off picking up a copy of the game from a local retro video game store like GameOn.
Final Rating: 7/10
