Many retro arcade games have been ushered into the 21st century as remakes with updated graphics and new gameplay elements . Unfortunately, many of these remakes with their all of their bells and whistles fail to bring anything new to the table and end up sucking. But every now and then you get a retro arcade update that makes changes in all the right places and keeps things fresh- in other words, the David Bowie of video games- and Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ IS that sort of game. Pac Man Championship Edition DX+ released on September 24 for Steam (available for PC only) and costs 9.99 USD.
In this iteration of Pac-Man, you get chased by a conga-line of ghosts
The formula for Pac-Man C.E. DX’s success is that it focuses on puritanical fun- it takes the pac-man base game that gamers are all too familiar with and then poses the question ‘how can we make pac man exciting again?’ The question is answered when game developers Mine Loader Software create new maps for pac-man to traverse and, instead of having just 4 ghosts chase pac-man, throw hundreds of ghosts in the maze for some madcap hi-jinks. While ghosts in classic pac-man roamed the board in pursuit of our big-mouthed protagonist, most ghosts in this game are asleep until you pass them and wake them up from their supernatural slumber. When Pac-Man wakes up ghosts, they form a spectral single-file line behind him until he can salvage a ‘power-pellet’ that allows him to eat the ghosts behind him. This aspect of the game is what makes it shine- it feels very satisfying to grab a power pellet and eat a line of 30 ghosts behind me thus ending a long and stressful pursuit (until the next round of ghosts ships in).
“You’re locked in here with me!”
The main goal behind the game is very well grounded in retro objectives: you are eating as many onscreen dots and ghosts to get the highest score. The game is designed to take your score and stack it against your old best-scores, your friend’s best-scores, and the world’s best scores on an online leaderboard. While playing the game is a satisfying experience in itself, it really drives home that retro-feel when you see how well you did score-wise compared to everyone else who played the game. I often care less about online leaderboards because most of them feel like an afterthought and are there because it’s a popular thing to have in video games, but pacman championship edition DX makes the player want a better score- it’s something to strive for and makes the game that much more exciting.
In the Dig-Dug DLC, Dig-Dug tries to emulate Pac-Man.
Another aspect of the game that I liked was the inclusion of bombs and game-speed. Bombs allow for players who are about to be murdered by a slew of ghosts to escape death by sending them back to the middle of the board- after getting a small breather, the ghosts regroup and chase you once again. You are allotted less and less bombs with higher difficulty levels to keep the game’s challenge alive and well. I liked the bomb feature because it allows some forgiveness in otherwise impossible-to-escape situations and makes it more fair for a player who is helplessly being chased around a pac-maze. The speed-up mechanic keeps the game lively, too. as you get better at the game and rack up a higher score, everything on the board (yourself and the ghosts) speed up and give the player less time to react to situations. Speeding up causes a lot of audible screams and cheers as the player escapes the clutches of the ghostly gang that pursues them. Once the repetition of bombs, ghosts, and game-speed leave you unsatisfied, there is DLC that tries to freshen up aspects of the game. While there is some ‘eh’ DLC like new music tracks for the game and the less-than-cool ‘pac-is-back’ skin, there is some really worthwhile DLC maps like ‘Big Eater’ and ‘Mountain Course’ and cool reskins of the game like ‘Dig-Dug’ and ‘Rally X’. My favorite DLC has to be the ‘Dig-Dug’ reskin- while the base game is still present, the map and character reskin make it feel different from the original maps and its use of sounds from the dig-dug arcade game brought back some great nostalgia.
wokka wokka wokka
Pac-Man championship edition is simply good fun- the game knows how to have a good time and doesn’t let a convoluted plot or pointless objectives get in the way of delivering pure excitement to gamers. This game is great for gamers who don’t like investing a lot of time into games and just want to sit down and feel that rush of high energy that retro arcade games offer. For those that can play games for hours on end, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX will work, too- given that you can sit down and play an arcade style game non-stop. For me, I like to fire this game up when I get home from work and need to go to bed in around an hour- it’s a game where I can quickly play a couple of rounds and be satisfied with the experience. It’s a game that I will keep launching every once and awhile when I’m looking for some great arcade fun- and the leaderboards definitely give me a reason to keep coming back and improving my skills. Pac-Man championship edition DX comes highly recommended – and if you’re unsure about it: be sure to download the demo and see what all the fun is about for yourself.
MY STEAM RECOMMENDATION: USE MONEY AND BUY THIS
+The best modern interpretation of a retro arcade game
+Crazy arcade action keeps the game fresh and exciting
+Leaderboards are well done in this game
– some lackluster DLC like the ‘pac is back’ skin
Steam of Consciousness 