Earlier this year, Bandai Namco gave kids of the 90s something to celebrate when it released the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series. This was a remake of the two original Klonoa games released for PSOne and PS2.
Well, Bandai Namco is back at it with the publisher now releasing Pac-Man World: Re-Pac. This is another remake that brings the 1999 PSOne original to modern audiences and platforms. For this review, we played the remake on both the PS5 and PS4 consoles.
Most people will be familiar with the arcade game Pac-Man in which the yellow protagonist has to collect pellets and swallow the evil spirits. The levels are easy as you are in a maze and have to avoid getting hit by the colorful ghosts.
Pac-Man World: Re-Pac is very different as this is a 3D platformer similar to the Crash Bandicoot series. Rather than an open-world environment like Spyro the Dragon, all the levels in Pac-Man are quite linear as you have to get from point A to point B while collecting lots of items along the way.
Since this is a platform game, Pac-Man World: Re-Pac actually has a little story to get the game going. In this game, the main villain is a huge metal Pac-Man named Toc-Man. Toc-Man and his men have kidnapped Pac-Man’s entire family for some reason. Therefore, as Pac-Man, you have to set out to rescue his entire family which is hidden in the levels.
What strikes you most about Pac-Man World: Re-Pac is the fact that the visuals are much better now in 2022. I remember playing the original Pac-Man World in 1999, and the graphics looked grainy and outdated on the PSOne. The remake makes the game look much smoother and clearer than ever before.
In terms of appearance, there is not much difference between the PS5 and PS4 versions. Both games load pretty fast and I didn’t experience any glitches or bugs while playing them. If you can’t buy a new generation console at the moment, don’t worry about the performance of the last generation versions.
In terms of gameplay, Pac-Man World: Re-Pac is surprisingly challenging, thanks to the limited move set that Pac-Man has in this game. One of the worst attacks Pac-Man has is throwing pellets at his enemies. This attack is pretty useless because it has no range and it never hits the enemies when you want it to. Not to mention there’s also no targeting system, so you won’t be using this attack very often.
There are only two types of other attacks that are much more useful to Pac-Man. Most people will use the butt bounce attack. Not only can this be used to reach higher platforms, but jumping on top of enemies will kill them. Another attack is a sprint of sorts where Pac-Man can bulldoze through certain enemies at high speed.
However, the enemies in the levels aren’t really something to worry about in this game. The one thing that will kill you the most is the multiple jumping puzzles and obstacles standing in your way!
The levels aren’t too linear as sometimes you have to backtrack to collect fruits or a key. Fruit usually gives you access to closed doors with special buttons. These buttons are important because you may need to press them to advance through the level.
If you want to play the game completely, some levels also require you to find keys. With these keys you can free Pac-Man’s relatives who are locked in a metal prison. You can actually complete the levels without saving your family, although you won’t get the 100% requirement.
Each level also has optional maze segments that pay tribute to the arcade classic. In mazes you avoid or eat ghosts while collecting every pellet in the level. You can also collect the letters of ‘PacMan’ in each level to further extend the life of the game.
In addition to the normal levels, there are also various boss battles. Many of the previous boss fights are easy because they all follow a certain pattern. The toughest boss in the entire game easily fights Toc-Man himself. The main reason his fight is so difficult is that you have to survive three different stages, all with one life!
As much as I enjoyed this game, the biggest disappointment is the fact that this is only a remake of one Pac-Man World game. Bandai Namco could have easily added Pac-Man World 2 and Pac-Man World 3, which originally came out for the PS2 over 20 years ago.
It’s also worth noting that this game is challenging, so it’s not as easy as it seems. While one playthrough will take you about 7 hours, the game will take much longer if you want to play the game 100%. Getting all the trophies and achievements is also hard when you’re up for the challenge!
While it’s a shame the rest of the series isn’t included, I still had a lot of fun playing Pac-Man World: Re-Pac. This game was part of my childhood and it was fun to finally finish it. This game is worth playing if you want to play a fun 3D platform game.
Verdict: 8.0/10
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