Pac-Man World 2 Review

Finding decent platformers on the Xbox, let alone good ones, is a mighty task. Fortunately, the people at Namco decided to port the PS2 version of the game over to the Xbox. Truthfully, Pac Man World 2 does have flaws, which affect how well you can perform in the game and yet it is still the best platform title that I have seen on Xbox. Almost a quarter of a century since his incarnation, Pac Man is back in a new 3D world. With the best aspects from Mario, Sonic, Crash, and well, Pac Man, Pac Man World 2 combines the best of platformers in one medium-sized package.

Graphically speaking, Pac Man World 2 is a bit of a mix. Pac Man World 2’s graphics are light-hearted and energetic. While character designs are simple, they still work, since we are after all talking about Pac-man, not Doom III. Bright colors illuminate each level in their, um, cartoon glory. The most appealing thing about the graphics are Pac-man’s facial expressions. When tiptoeing, Pac-man looks cautious, not wanting to make a noise. While running or walking, his mouth is open and smiling, making you feel like you are the most depressed person on the face of this planet.

I am glad to see that Namco didn’t sell out in the field of music, like Sega did with the Sonic Adventure series. Instead, Pac Man World 2’s music feels proper and in place. Sound effects are the most impressive aspect in this game’s sound department. Pac-man chomping pellets is like James Bond drinking vodka, shaken, not stirred.

The game’s controls are very simple. You control Pac-man with the left-thumb stick and the camera with the right-thumb stick. A is used to do things such as jump and butt-bounce, using A + X will perform a flip kick, and holding X will perform a rev roll. Simply put, someone as young as 8 years old could handle the controls easily.

If the story mode’s six different worlds (not including Pac-Village) aren’t good enough for you, hopefully the arcade is. By collecting tokens throughout the story mode, you can unlock various ports of old Pac-man games, such as Pac-Man, Pac-Attack, and Ms. Pac-Man. These games add significant replay value to the game’s already impressive story mode. Another part of the game that adds much more reply value is maze mode, which was brought over from Pac Man World (PS One). This is basically a 3D version of the original Pac-Man arcade game with various scenery, based on the level that you are currently on.