Pac-Man Review

By Kristan Reed Published 9 August, 2006

Pills, thrills and bellyaches.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. Welcome back. If it wasn't for Pac-Man and his relentless pursuers many of us might not have been lured into the gaping maw of videogames in the first place. When I first got pulled in by this gaming tractor beam, I was barely tall enough to see the arcade cabinet's screen, but lure of dot-munching proved instantly irresistible. It's easy to embellish these things after the fact, but Morpheus himself may as well have been standing there offering me the blue pill of normal life, or the red pill of a lifetime of staring at a screen, open mouthed. As it turned out, the four yellow power pills on offer inside the maze seemed way more interesting: it turned the ghosts blue, ma! Watch me eat them.

Unlike any other game, my entire family became ritually obsessed with Pac-Man, and latterly Ms. Pac-Man. Probably because it didn't involve shooting, punching or jumping, everyone loved it, and still loves it. The best Christmas present I ever bought my sister was one of those terrible plug and play TV joysticks with Pac-Man built into it. I still get regular high score updates.

However much people scoff (arf) about what Pac-Man means today, its seismic impact shouldn't be underestimated. For some people, it's still their game, and today's release on Xbox 360 Live Arcade will be the cause of much celebration for a lot of people. The chance to compete on worldwide leaderboards alone is enough for most of its fans to justify shelling out for it.

Eat to the beat

'Pac-Man' Screenshot 1

Ready for a lifetime in videogames, youngster?

For everyone else too young or too bored to indulge in the pill-munching feast all over again, that's fine. It's a game that's been re-issued so many times across so many platforms (particularly on the incessant Namco Museum releases) that we wouldn't blame you in the slightest for showing utter contempt for yet another thinly veiled attempt to tug at the flaccid teat of this most abused of cash-cows. In terms of actual bang for your buck, titles like this are massively overpriced compared to what it'd cost you per game on a compilation - but that's an ongoing issue that's only going to be resolved once Microsoft starts getting some serious competition in the downloadable console games arena. For now, yes, it's quite a high price to pay for something that originally came out in 1979 and is about as basic as gaming gets, but you're paying for convenience alone, folks.

In terms of what you actually get for your 400 points, well, it's not a lot. Exactly like Galaga, it's 'just' the original arcade game in non-modified form, which is to say the same pill-munching affair that it's always been. In short, you guide the gurning slack-jawed Pac-Man throughout the blue lines of a single-screen maze trying to clear every single dot without bumping into the four ghost-monsters along the way. Four power pills in the corners of the maze can be munched at appropriate times in order to become temporarily super-powered; this allows you to turn the tables and eat them, but your opportunity to do so is very limited. Belying its family-friendly appearance, it's a tough, hardcore, tactical game, where knowing the quirks, patterns and behaviour of your foe makes the difference between racking up huge scores and inevitable short-lived failure.

The speed soon ramps up, and getting truly into Pac-Man is no easy task - many millions have sweated over mastering it for decades. Inevitably, this latest port is the exact same thing repeated over and over again with the same intermissions, the same ghost patterns, the same quirks and exploits, the same fruit, etc, etc. And once again, if you change any of the default settings (to, for example, change the extends and number of lives) you're then ineligible to upload your subsequent high score to the worldwide leaderboard.

On the plus side, Microsoft and Namco-Bandai hasn't messed with the legend. Unlike the hideous and unnecessary brand pillaging that has ensued every year since its release, this is pure Pac-Man distilled to its very essence. On that level, this is a basic exercise in giving people a chance to play an all-time classic in the exact form that was intended, but it's also a missed opportunity to provide some semblance of value-for-money. Why not, for example, offer the many (official) variants for the purists? Why not throw in Ms. Pac Man, Super Pac-Man, or the bally Midway cash-ins like Baby Pac-Man, Pac-Man Plus or Jr. Pac-Man? Apart from the excellent Ms. Pac Man, they're not titles that anyone could make money out of sold separately, but would definitely be appreciated by the hardcore followers if they could prove themselves via worldwide leaderboards.

Pac-Man ate my hamster

'Pac-Man' Screenshot 2

Achievements? 10/10 for putting the minimum possible effort in, Namco Bandai.

As it stands, what you see is what you get, plus the superfluous artwork either side of the game's screen. Beyond that, the trial version lets you play just two rounds before it quits, while the 12 achievements rely on picking up the fruit and suchlike - essentially goading players into making serious progress in return for their points.

No one can have any complaints whatsoever about Microsoft releasing bona-fide gaming classics onto Live Arcade, but as with many of its other releases, you have to decide whether the price is right before you hand over the cash. In the end, the chance to claim Pac-Man bragging rights among your friends list may be enough to make it worth buying, and the chance to play one of the all-time greatest games again arguably makes it a compulsory purchase regardless of how many times you've played it before. Having said that, you can't help but wish that a little more love was put into these retro re-issues. A little extra value for money goes a long way - are you listening Microsoft?

Being entirely impossible to score in such an out of context fashion, it's a 10/10 for what it represents to videogaming, but a 3/10 for value. An eight seems fair to me, but then I suppose I was playing it when I should've been doing my maths homework.

8 / 10

Pac-Man is out now on Xbox Live Arcade, and costs 400 Microsoft points.

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (60) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Pho-Zoon #1 6 years ago

    Oh dear.

  • Bidermaier #2 6 years ago

    the king is back (again)

  • Azazel #3 6 years ago

    Basically I have two choices for my holidays: get into some mad leaderboard obsessed struggle with this, or master the art of quakeworld trick maps.

    hmmm.

    Either way I have no life.

  • stevencole7 #4 6 years ago

    Pac-Man has become the fastest-selling Xbox Live Arcade title to date.

  • Concrete #5 6 years ago

    So is it so authentic that it crashes when you get past a certain point like it did in the arcade?

  • Tomo #6 6 years ago

    I absolutely hate Pac-Man. I've just always found it so boring and frustrating collecting little "pills". How it's become so cherished really makes me curious. It's a glorified dot-to-dot without actually having to follow a path.

    :[

  • Latin #7 6 years ago

    @stevencole7 are you sure? I would've thought that SF2 would be more popular.

  • stevencole7 #8 6 years ago

    Ms Pac-man is coming out soon!!!

  • krudster #9 6 years ago

    Sadly I've yet to get to level 256 to find out if it still crashes, but I bet it does.

  • stevencole7 #10 6 years ago

    @stevencole7 are you sure? I would've thought that SF2 would be more popular.
    NO!..........I WAS ONLY JOKING MATE. :D
    But it is true that Ms Pac-Man is on the list of future Arcade games to come out.
    Edited by 1 at 09/08/06 @ 13:33

  • TripSkyway #11 6 years ago

    Pretty tempted, never owned Pac Man before. I bought Ridge Racer the other week and keep getting really into The Pac Man loading screen, and then being suprised when it finishes and Ridge Racer loads up.

  • #12 6 years ago

    8/10 lol

  • gizmo #13 6 years ago

    Its still playable on level 256, its just that half the screen is corrupt.

    Still, 2 levels is fine for me. I rarely clear the screen :)

    Besides, the FREE version on google homepage is excellent. Hear that MS? FREE!

  • gizmo #14 6 years ago

    Forgot to mention...

    As good as Halo then.

  • stevencole7 #15 6 years ago

    I think this game , along with other 80's Arcade games should be 200 points.

  • ilmaestro #16 6 years ago

    lol @ the score, in a bad way
    lol @ Trip, in a good way

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #17 6 years ago

    "Pretty tempted, never owned Pac Man before. I bought Ridge Racer the other week and keep getting really into The Pac Man loading screen, and then being suprised when it finishes and Ridge Racer loads up."

    Um, you know you can unlock the complete version of Pac-Man for free in Ridge Racer, yeah?

  • Pachinko #18 6 years ago

    So Galaga gets 5/10 because it's an unembellished classic - and Pac-Man gets 8/10 because it's an unembellished classic?

  • smelly #19 6 years ago

    So Galaga gets 5/10 because it's an unembellished classic - and Pac-Man gets 8/10 because it's an unembellished classic?


    Still it IS better than halo...

    EDIT: Dammit.. gizmo got there first.
    Edited by 1 at 09/08/06 @ 13:55

  • smelly #20 6 years ago

    Out of interest, When the wii comes out with most of the classic nintendo back catalogue downloadable on it. Is EG going to review every one of those classics too?

  • Darren #21 6 years ago

    8 out of 10!!! Even OXM360 could only muster enough enthusiasm for the game to give it 4/10! /shock

    Even though it was the first game I ever played on a home computer back in 1983 on the Commodore 64, I think it's a very dated, very dull game these days, sorry. Also anyone who owns Ridge Racer 6, as I do, will already have played this game as it's included as an unlockable minus the hideously distracting Pacman background of the Xbox Live Arcade version.

  • JetSetWilly #22 6 years ago

    Pac-Man. Bah! Give me Amidar anyday.

  • dbeamish #23 6 years ago

    If its more than £1 its not worth buying.

  • El_MUERkO #24 6 years ago

    Used to sit in the cock tavern in howth drinking those little bottles of coke with the straw and mashing 10ps into one of the table-cabinates while i mom and her hippy friends would get drunk and talk bollox, memories, la la la la laaa

  • Kelduum #25 6 years ago

    I think this game, along with all other games should be free.

    And they should pay you to play them.

    And send you free booze and hookers.

    Not gonna happen though, is it?

    ... is it?

  • kangarootoo #26 6 years ago

    @El_MUERkO

    You said cock tavern.

    Hehehehehe... (just reliving my early childhood for a second there).

  • smelly #27 6 years ago

    @Kelduum :

    I have the EXACT same thoughts about games like F.E.A.R...

  • Rambaldi #28 6 years ago

    Pac Man's good, but what XBL really needs is...

    STUNT CAR RACER

    SORT IT MS!!!!

  • MrCarrot #29 6 years ago

    Twice as good as Chromehounds! I'll have to get this!

  • smelly #30 6 years ago

    If you want stunt car racer, just buy trackmania..

  • pinhead #31 6 years ago

    I've got it on my mobile phone for nout' do I really want to pay hard cash for a game that will screen burn my plasma with the rubbish borders.

    Probably not.

    /* waits patiently for Alan Wake

  • peterfll #32 6 years ago

    Indeed, make it cheap to buy, or better still, why not sell us a package of titles for 400 points like the regular retro collections come packaged? Have a selection of 30 or 40 "classics" and let me pick 5 for 400 points a piece. or something.

    Somehow I just can't justify spending 400 points on this alone, AND I'm filthy rich.

  • Rambaldi #33 6 years ago

    Hey look, I only bought it for another 200 gamerscore ;)

    24 thousand here we come!

  • Grim... #34 6 years ago

    Ahahahah 8/10!

    What the *fuck*?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #35 6 years ago

    8/10 is definetly a bogus score. Especially considering the score Galaga got. It looks like someone rolls a dice to determine the score and the reviews themself deal with a random set of chosen topics. I consider Galaga and Pac Man games that are equal in every aspect. Old, simple, classic. Then I get scores ranging from 3/10 (means: try the demo if you have too much free time) up to 8/10 (buy without even thinking of it if you do not hate this genre). I really enjoy reading the reviews here on Eurogamer, I even read reviews of games I have no interest in or will never buy because I do not own the platform but the last Live Arcade reviews are a waste of bandwidth.

    As for Pac Man:
    If it would include multiplayer like some already mentioned I guess the 400 points would be worth it. Other than that I think it is a total disgrace to the entire xbox live arcade. A collection of some good retro classics would be way better. I know that there are a lot of people (I have to refrain from using the "dumb people";) out there buying this stuff which means quite some money for some other people so I understand Microsoft plus everyone else involved with this. I just do not understand why someone would seriously buy this. There are more ways of playing Pac Man for free (even on the 360) than there are clones/hacks of this game - and those are a lot.

  • Eighthours #36 6 years ago

    Better than SFII then? Come on lads. "Monsieur, wiz zese review scores you're really foolin' uz."

  • some1 #37 6 years ago

    what silly comments, though i do see them too in a twisted way

    scores are just as much a score in the CONTEXT of gaming, genre, medium, reviewers thinking and circumstance as they are just 'relative to other scores on the same website'

    I would rather people complained for some reason other than just relating it to the score of another game on the same site, that has never, ever been suitable or relevant

  • Der_tolle_Emil #38 6 years ago

    I would rather people complained for some reason other than just relating it to the score of another game on the same site, that has never, ever been suitable or relevant

    I normally would agree. But in this very case of galaga/pacman it is really ok to compare the scores.

  • repairmanjack #39 6 years ago

    Please tell me no one is going to spend money on this? Christ, people, if you'll buy this you'll buy anything.

    Can you imagine the kind of detritus that's going to show up on Marketplace if this sells?

  • bauhaus #40 6 years ago

    more turgid dead games

    nostalgia is ok until you`ve shelled out for it and sampled it again

    how about some proper next gen stuff?

  • sdvksbhv #41 6 years ago

    This is why i simply cannot take eurogamer review scores seriously. It's completely ridiculous. So the same as Halo, and MUCH better than Kameo. My arse! I think they should just keep to the writing and forget the scores. Or at least average a few peoples opinions!!

  • Stormflood #42 6 years ago

    Even with the knowledge that I would be within the top 20 in the world on original pac-man, I still won't give MS one more penny to feed my nostalgia. The sickly cynical ploy of easy-to-spend 'credits', tempted by the lure of a gamerscore carrot, is getting very old, very quickly.

    I'd also love someone to tell me why, if they weren't playing one of the million available pac-man versions yesterday, they would gladly pay MS to play one tomorrow?

    And 8/10? Crap right off.

  • symmetry #43 6 years ago

    God I hate Pac-Man.

  • Cyhwuhx #44 6 years ago

    .::: Curiously, I was going to buy this. But after playing the demo I reminded myself that while Pac-Man is good, it does get too repetitive for me personally. So actually, the trial suits me perfectly as it's just two stages and that's that.

    I can understand the 8 though. Pac-Man is like Tetris and will sell in just about any guise to just about everyone. We don't criticise Tetris for looking old. (On the contrary, I've heard only compalints about Tetris DS being 'too new', something I concur btw.) Maybe I'll buy it eventually, but at the moment the trial suits me fine. A bit of a shame there's no alias version of the game, as the anti-aliased graphics don't come across nearly as sharp as the GBA version which is candy to my eyes in that respect.

  • TripSkyway #45 6 years ago

    I bought it, it's good fun. But I just read that you can unlock the full game in Ridge 6 which I already have :(

  • JayScott #46 6 years ago

    Yes Trip, but no worldwide leaderboards, and as vain as it sounds, it's kinda cool to see where you rank etc. (I'm totally shit btw, so for me it's kinda cool but ultimately depressing).

  • driptray #47 6 years ago


    I like pac-man.

    This is pac-man.

    £4 for a game that I'll play regularly is plenty fine with me, thank-you very much.

    It's all part of gaming's rich tapestry.

  • NthSimulachum #48 6 years ago

    Certainly the discrepancy between this and galaga is a bit weird, considering the reviews in textual form are essentially identical.

    Plus, galaga's miles better:)

  • Azazel #49 6 years ago

    Hmmm, people sure get a bit militant about the scores on here don't they?

  • krudster #50 6 years ago

    Read the text, clearly everyone's missed the bit that actually says it's a 3/10 for value and impossible to score. You'll perhaps understand a bit more once you realise how much this game means to me personally, which is all a review can ever tell you.

  • bloodflowers #51 6 years ago

    This makes me sad. Why? The 360 pad is absolute rubbish for anything requiring accurate 4/8 way control. Saw it in SF2, see it here. It's ok in Galaga because you only have to worry about left and right. I wish someone would release a decent pad for the system, or an adapter. I can't even believe it got through product testing this way - actually WORSE than the old one, which wasn't great to begin with. Using the analogue is no better.

  • Arwin #52 6 years ago

    1. Download Steem (the great Atari ST Emulator) or CaSTaway (PSP version available)
    2. Download Hacman II
    3. Play the best and most original version of Pacman ever! Ghosts with character and special abilities, Invisible walls, Daleks instead of ghosts and basically no level is the same, for more some 69 levels!

  • pjmaybe #53 6 years ago

    So let me get this straight, you guys are now scoring games on their "historical influence over videogaming and gamers?"

    Fuck off.


    Peej

  • w00t #54 6 years ago

    Question 1: Has anyone here never played Pac-Man before?

    Question 2: If you have, does the score actually mean anything, as you know the game already?

    Question 3: Why have I not been sacked for spending to much time on EG yet?

  • Stickman #55 6 years ago

    I remember when I first passed my driving test. I'd been saving my money all year, and when I passed I was able to buy a 10 year old Suzuki jeep. Man, I loved the new feeling of driving, the freedom, every corner being a new experience and one that I could go through together with my friends who were learning and passing at the same time.

    Now, it's over a decade later, and I look back at pictures of my trusty old chariot, and I think "What a heap of shit rust bucket that thing was! God, if someone asked me to buy that and drive about in it now, I'd tell them they were mental and would they mind pissing off."

  • Gori #56 6 years ago

    Exactly what Peej said.

    Seriously?

  • Stoatboy #57 6 years ago

    I remember being taken to the cinema as a child to see Star Wars: A New Hope. Man, that film was amazing - like nothing else I'd ever seen before. Me and my mates acted it out in the school playground for months afterwards. It captured my imagination as nothing before (or since, probably).

    Now it's almost 3 decades later and whilst I watch the original Star Wars and think that yep - it doesn't look anywhere near as good as today's films, and perhaps a lot of the magic has worn off, and actually it's by no means the best film ever anymore - it's still a bloody good film, and one I didn't mind paying for on DVD despite already having bought it previously on VHS.

  • Stickman #58 6 years ago

    That's true Stoatboy. Although they had completely digitally remastered it, added new scenes and completely overhauled the sound.

  • Stoatboy #59 6 years ago

    Fair point ;)

    But they made Greedo shoot first too o_O

    And a lot of the other added stuff actually didn't add anything to the film. You'd still be happy to watch the original though, I'm guessing.

    TBH - I don't plan to buy Pacman because I never liked it that much as a game. The fact that it's such a lazy re-hash makes it even less enticing.

    But I like the idea of having these games on XBLA - it's just a shame that Namco seem intent on doing the absolute bare minimum they can get away with to their titles before releasing them. Christ - even some half-decent achievements would be a start, but they can't even stretch to that it seems :(

  • oldfruit #60 6 years ago

    Quite frankly I find it unplayable with the x360 controller. I get stuck just long enough at every corner to p**s me off. And thank God for free playable demos - it's just enough time to remind you, that however good it may have been at the time, progress has rendered it be utter s***t now. Roll on Dead Rising.

  • Pachinko #61 6 years ago

    The 360's joypad has got to be one of the *worst* controllers for precision 2D movements. It's totally, hopelessly, utterly horrible to control Pac-Man or perform moves in SF2.

  • Carrybagma #62 6 years ago

    Bummed