Arcade Archives Pac-Man

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1-2 Alternating (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

(Note: Versions of this game are available in multiple other releases on Nintendo Switch. This game is included in Namco Museum, along with Dig Dug, Galaga, Galaga ’88, Pac-Man Vs., Rolling Thunder, Rolling Thunder 2, Sky Kid, Splatterhouse, Tank Force, and The Tower of Druaga. It is also included in Namco Museum Arcade Pac, with all of the above games plus Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus. This game is also included in Pac-Man Museum+, along with Pac & Pal, Pac in Time, Pac-Attack, Pac-Man 256, Pac-Man Arrangement, Pac-Man: Battle Royale, Pac-Man: Championship Edition, Pac-Mania, Pac-Moto, Pac-Land, Pac’n Roll Remix, and Super Pac-Man. Also, the Nintendo Entertainment System version of this game is included in Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1, along with the Nintendo Entertainment System versions of Dig Dug, Dragon Buster, Dragon Spirit: The New Legend, Galaxian, Mappy, Pac-Man Championship Edition (8-Bit Demake), Sky Kid, Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, The Tower of Druaga, and Xevious. Check out this page for a breakdown of which games can be found in multiple releases on Nintendo Switch.)

As videogame franchises go, there are few as long-lived and recognizable as Pac-Man. When the original Pac-Man arcade game released in 1980, it not only started a new craze in Arcade-style “maze games”, it was the first videogame to feature power-ups, the first game to feature any sort of cutscene, arguably the first game designed with both men and women in mind as its target audience, and the first game to star recognizable mascot characters. To say that Pac-Man is one of the most influential videogames of all-time is almost an understatement.

Naturally, this game has been ported to virtually every platform imaginable, and as you can see above, including this release it is on the Nintendo Switch no less than five times. To be clear, that’s not games starring Pac-Man, not games in the Pac-Man series, that’s separate releases of this game.

As far as the presentation goes… come on, this is Pac-Man. This game’s 2D pixel art visuals are about as iconic as they come, with black backgrounds, the blue mazelike level, the colorful ghosts, and the level dotted with pellets the player needs to eat. About a million products have been sold with this game’s aesthetic on it, so yeah… it looks great, even today. Combine this with a catchy chiptune theme, and absolutely legendary sound effects, and you have one of the best presentations of any game in videogame history (at least on an artistic level, obviously it would be laughable to suggest that this is pushing any envelopes on a technical level).

As for the gameplay, the core gameplay here is sublime, so much so that it spawned countless sequels and a multitude of wannabe clone games all using the same formula. Clear the level, avoid the ghosts, make smart use of the “power pellets” to keep safe or munch the ghosts for extra points. Classic!

I will note one major flaw, though. A flaw that casual players of these games may not realize. A flaw that makes the classic original pale in comparison to many of it’s later sequels – Pac-Man only has one level, and it repeats endlessly until you die. It wasn’t until the sequel, Ms. Pac-Man, when we would actually see different levels as you progress.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to get as far as they can in one run. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

As classic as this game is, the Arcade Archives release of the game has one fatal flaw, even beyond the issue with repetitive levels – at $8, this release is absurdly overpriced, especially when I already noted that there are many, many other ways to get this game on Nintendo Switch. For $20 or $30, you could get one of multiple game collections that include Pac-Man along with a dozen or so other games, and this makes it hard to see any reason to get this specific release of the game.

As such, as legendary and impactful as Pac-Man is, I simply cannot recommend the Arcade Archives version of it. The $8 price tag is simply far too high, and players have a multitude of other, better ways to get this game on Nintendo Switch. Please, if you’re going to get this game, get one of the many bundles it’s included in. You’ll be spending a bit more, but you’ll be getting a much better deal, trust me.

tl;dr – Pac-Man is an Arcade classic, a legend that’s one of the most influential games in videogame history, and even if the original game is too repetitive compared to many of its sequels, it’s still a delight to play. But don’t get the Arcade Archives version of the game – it’s far too overpriced, and there are numerous collections on Nintendo Switch that include the game. Get one of those instead.

Grade: D+

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