Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
PS3 / X-Box 360

“Computer games don't affect kids, I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.” - Kristian Wilson, Nintendo (1989)

Pac-Man. He’s been around for ages (31 years!). I remember the 1st time I played a Pac-Man game, it was way back when on the Sega Master System II. He’s one of those video game characters that have become iconic. And yet, he’s not really done much for video gaming in the last couple of generations (except for that horrible Pac-Man doodle game on the Nintendo DS and the Google logo bit), although Pac-Man Championship Edition did make an X-Box 360 appearance.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX hopes to fix this and bring Pac-Man back to the masses (this time on PS3 and 360), and it does show with massive amounts of speed and flashy graphics. Imagine the 1980’s arcade cabinets having LCD screens, HD graphics and colours so vibrant that they make your eyes bleed. It sounds so garish, and yet it works.

The game gives players several different modes to try out, Score Attack (5 or 10 minute bursts of game play) and Time Trial (complete objectives in the fastest time) being the main 2. There are also several maps (including the classic Championship map). A nice little feature is the ability to change the graphical styling of both the maps and the characters, so if you liked the classic look of Pac-Man or the “Lego” look over the newer looks, then you can have that look.

The game play of Pac-Man remains the same. Simple, gripping and yet a hidden amount of strategy, especially as the speed starts to increase for 1 to 50. Once the higher speed limits are hit, it becomes a game of furious (fun) button pressing with eyes darting round the screen looking for escape routes and the best paths to get a new high score.

Personally, I feel this is the best Pac-Man game made yet. My fiancée feels the same, although the hyper game speeds and flashy lights did sometimes leave her with a headache (her official quote is, “its an addictive game even for none gamers”). If you want a game to play in quick 5-10 minute bursts, or want to relive the 80’s arcade feeling – then this is one for you!