Three years ago Namco Bandai did the unthinkable; they took Pac-Man and made him relevant again with the release of the Xbox Live exclusive"Pac-Man Championship Edition"(some people were so excited theycelebrated by dressing up). The radical update to the beloved franchise kept the original's core, ghost-munching mechanics and updated the gameplay to create a wild new experience. Building on the success of that release, Namco Bandai has kicked off the release of their Namco Generations series with"Pac-Man Championship Edition DX,"fueled with the hope that gamers will never get tired of munching pellets.
The Basics
Like the original"Championship Edition,""DX"resurrects the classic gameplay of"Pac-Man,"but with an entirely new, extremely fast spin. Overall, the game plays out in a very similar manner, except there is now even more of an emphasis on eating ghosts to drive up your score. Instead of Pac-Man being chased by the standard four ghosts (traditionally the iconic Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) there are now hundreds that are integrated into each board building on"C.E."'s idea that you need to follow a set path to accumulate the highest possible score.
In"DX"the ghosts are scatted throughout the corridors of each map, napping, just waiting for Pac to pass by them, and wake them up; at that point they hop in line behind him and begin their hunt. The more ghosts that you can amass; the higher your potential score will be grab a Power Pellet."DX"takes this new queuing mechanic and extends it out over a variety of uniquely designed levels and modes, offering a more robust experience than the original"Championship Edition."
The Highs
So Much More For Pac To Chomp
Namco basically took the original"Championship Edition,"combined it with the iPhone version, and then threw a whole bunch more stuff on top to produce"DX."This updated version has so much more to offer than the original: there are ten different boards, each with their own series of Time Trail challenges, visualization options, a selection of background music, and the ever important leaderboards for each different piece of the game. Don't worry; the original five-minute mode is still an integral part of the game.
More Than Just A New Coat Of Paint
Longtime fans of Pac-Man and his many, many different spin-off games will appreciate the variety of visuals that"DX"offers. One of the few complaints that people had with the original game was that the visuals made the game feel like you were playing a"Pac-Man"/"Geometry Wars"mash-up, at a rave. This game fixes that aesthetic by offering eight different visual style, many of which are inspired by classic"Pac-Man"games. On top of that, you can also choose what you want Pac and the ghosts to look like, most of which were also pulled from classic games as well. It's an unnecessary bit of fan service, but it's also a pretty awesome inclusion at the same time.
Less Walls
If there was one problem that plagued"Pac-Man Championship Edition"it was that no matter how good you were at it, you were bound to hit a wall when it came to how many points you could score. There just came a point in the game where you couldn't make it any further, and it most likely led to a lot of people giving up. However, That wall isn't as apparent in"DX,"mostly because the gameplay has been tweaked, but also because once you hit that wall, you can move on to one of the other maps or Time Trials, and work on your high score there.
The Lows
It's Pretty Much The Same Thing Over And Over
The problem with making a game like"Pac-Man C.E."so much bigger is that the developers are basically taking one concept and stretching it a very long way. It's a problem that plagues almost every"arcade"style game. On the plus side, the selection of levels do keep things fresh, but it's still basically"Pac-Man"on crack (and possibly LSD).
Visual Trickery
The game does offer a host of different visual modes, but that doesn't mean all of them are amazing; a couple of them actually hinder the gameplay, making it harder to navigate the corridors and coordinate your plan of attack. Unfortunately, it seems unintentional since no part of the game seems to center around this concept as a core tenant of the game's difficulty like some others do (I'm looking at you"Lumines").
Does This Seem Easier To You?
One of the things that players absolutely had to do in"Pac-Man C.E."was conserve their lives, or, at least, make a strong attempt not to die. However,"DX"offers a more"accessible"solution to this problem;"Pac-Man"bullet-time. If you're about to collide with any ghost (sleeping, trailing, or chasing) the game slows down and zooms in, giving you an extra split second to adjust your decision. This was obviously added in because the original was so hard, especially at the higher speeds, but that was one of the things that made it so great. On top of all that, you can now use bombs as a last ditch effort to clear out any upcoming accidents, making it even less likely that your Pac-Man will bite the big one.
The Verdict
Novelty helped sell the original"Pac-Man Championship Edition,"but there was a solid gameplay experience behind it that helped make it as revered as it is."DX"takes that formula and ups the ante significantly, layering a more robust experience with tweaked gameplay that makes it well worth the $10 sticker price. Maybe, just maybe, fans out there can hope that the follow up to this will be"Ms. Pac-Man Championship Edition,"it's a long shot, but we can still all hope and dream.
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