Pac-Man World (PS1) Review

A lot has happened with me over the past two weeks. I beat Fire Emblem Awakening in Classic Mode, my friend wants to throw stuff at me for making her watch Madoka Magica, my WiFi going up in smokes along with all the fireworks, missing the premiere of Sailor Moon Crystal with it happily dancing out of my reach that entire weekend, Sword Art Online Season 2 doing much of the same for much longer, and Doraemon premiering on Disney XD. Now I bring special mention to Doraemon because it seems that every summer, Disney XD premieres something that I can talk about, for better or worse. Like two years ago when they showed Sonic Underground, reminding me why I hate that cartoon so much. Or last year when they decided to premiere Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, which officially sealed the death of one of my childhood heroes.

For all you young ones out there, let's have a talk. Once upon a time not too long ago, Pac-Man didn't have teeth. AND IT IS NOT A TIME IN WHICH WE ARE CURRENTLY LIVING. And it seems Nintendo remembers this time, because instead of using the childhood killer design, they're using the Pac-Man World design for the new Smash Bros. That actually let's me segway into my next point. There was also a time where Pac-Man did games besides licensed games and stupid iOS infinite runners that are a dime a dozen now. Pac-Man was a creative franchise, and that led to the creation of the Pac-Man World trilogy, all of them being games that I played to death when growing up. And hey, I have to see the name of Pac-Man and the Death of my Childhood every time I watch Doraemon, so let's just talk more about the good times and discuss Pac-Man World.

The year is 1999, and it's Pac-Man's 20th birthday. It's fine if you need to take a few moments to remember how old you are. Pac-Man goes to his home to celebrate his birthday, only to find his home ransacked and devoid of life. You see, a Pac-Man impersonator known as Toc-Man sent the ghosts to kidnap all of Pac-Man's friends and family. They even took the dog. Pac-Man then sets off to Ghost Island to save his friends and stop Toc-Man and the ghosts. It's a very simple plot, but it's Pac-Man, so I'm not expecting an epic. Because then you get Pac-Man World 3, but let's not open that can of worms.

Pac-Man World is a 3D platformer, where your goal is to traverse a number of levels and make it to the goal token at the end of each. To do this, you'll have to platform like the best and defeat enemies by using all of Pac-Man's moves. Starting off with what Pac-Man can do, he can obviously move around with the D-Pad or Dualshock, as well as jump with the X button. Pressing X while in midair will cause Pac-Man to perform the Butt Bounce (that's what it's actually called) to bounce off of enemies, press switches, break open containers, among other things. In case the Butt Bounce is too effective for you, then you can press O to launch one of the collected dots at enemies, but I myself never use this attack. Pressing Square lets Pac-Man use the Rev-Roll, which lets Pac-Man roll around and launch off of ramps.

So Pac-Man has a lot of moves to his disposal. And that's good, because they all prepare him for what's in these levels. A number of elements from the original Pac-Man make an appearance in this game. Most noticeable is the ghost zones, where a large number of dots appear along with a few ghosts. They can still be killed with the classic Power Pellet, so that remains the same. Fruit is also found throughout the level, although this time they do more than just increase your score. Doors can be found in the levels with a certain fruit on each of them. Having that fruit will let you open the door, which usually contains something that will let you  find more stuff. Also scattered in the level are letters spelling out PACMAN, which lets you access a bonus level at the end of each level, where you can score more fruit to increase your score and perform the next part: Gambling. At the end of each level, all the remaining dots you have, as well as all your fruit will be added up and a slot machine will appear, where you can score extra lives if your timing is good enough. The end of a level is also where you can save your game.

Also found in each level is the Galaga door, which can only be opened with the Galaga. Opening this door will send you to a maze, where things get much more traditional. Here, your goal is to collect all of the dots in the maze while avoiding ghosts and other hazards. These are nice and all, but there are problems with them. First off is the fact that you mostly unable to tell where the ghosts are, leading you to run into them often. Coming along with this problem is the fact that there are gimmicks in most of these levels. In the Pirate maze, you have to swim, making you even slower than you normally are, and in the Space maze, there are lasers that deal damage if you touch them. Ghosts aren't affected by these, leaving you at a disadvantage. Thankfully, you don't die in one hit if a ghost touches you, but you are unlikely to leave without losing some of your health or worse, a life.

There are six worlds to conquer in Pac-Man World. There's Pirate, Cave, Space, Funhouse, Factory, and finally Toc-Man's Mansion. Each world contains three to four levels along with a boss at the end. In the second level of each world, you can find a key to save one of Pac-Man's friends, but it's actually not required. They help in the final boss, but you really only need to save them if you're going for completion. You can only tackle the first three worlds once you start, but you have to complete all the levels before you can advance to the Mansion. Mazes and friends saved are not counted to getting to the game, though they do count towards completion, so watch that.

Pac-Man does look good in terms of graphics. It definitely looks like a PS1 game, but the models for the characters actually aren't too reliant on many polygons due to the simplistic design, meaning it actually ages quite nicely. The art direction of this game as a whole is pretty good now that I think of it. This definitely feels like it belongs in the world of Pac-Man, and each world stands out from another. Even the few FMV cutscenes look good, and for PS1, that says a lot. The music is also really catchy, largely using variations of the main theme, which is the intermission theme from the original arcade. Each theme is modified to fit the world they're playing in, and it leads to a very catchy soundtrack.

There are two other modes in this game. First is the Mazes mode, where you can play the mazes from each of the worlds either on their own, or in a marathon. There are three unlocked for each world at the start, but you have to clear the other mazes in the main game in order to play them in Maze mode. My problems with the mazes themselves aside, it's nice that the option to play them at anytime is nice to have. It also unlocks an art gallery if you complete the marathons, so that's nice. And hey, worse comes to worse, you can play the original arcade Pac-Man from Classic, start-up screen and all. So there's definitely a lot to do in Pac-Man World.

Now it may have seemed like I spent this whole review spewing as many praises that I can about this game, and I do feel like nostalgia plays a big part in this. There's a few problems, like Pac-Man's control when handling small platforms, and his health dropping like a rock in some areas, but I overall still had a very fun time playing Pac-Man World again. As good as I remember it? Probably not. In fact, I still think that Pac-Man World 2 is still my favorite, submarine section aside. But as a whole, I think Pac-Man World is a platformer that anyone can enjoy, despite a few iffy parts. And hey, guess what was released on the PlayStation Network a few months back for $6? A physical copy doesn't cost too much either, so getting your hands on this game should be a complete non-issue.

All images are the properties of their original owners. That top one there? I wish I could make stuff like that.

The Silent Protagonist wanted gold streamers and red balloons! The DJ stinks, the banners are crooked, and the cake should be chocolate!