Pac-Man World Re-Pac

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Pac-Man World is a family-friendly 3D Platformer originally released in 1999 on PlayStation, with this remake of the game releasing in 2022 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

As 3D Platformers go, Pac-Man World is linear and restrictive, with players stuck largely in one corridor-shaped area, with the camera fixed in place. Despite this restrictive design, you can clearly see where this game has taken inspiration from the Mario franchise, and Super Mario 64 specifically, with a butt stomp, and one of the power-ups even turns Pac-Man metal for a short period of time, allowing him to sink in water. Subtle, guys.

The thing is, it’s not a very good copycat of Mario, even if we ignore the lack of exploration present here. Movement feels slow, jumping is unsatisfying, and the butt stomp requires a press on a downward-falling motion that makes it sometimes unresponsive and once again unsatisfying even when it works properly.

Being a Pac-Man game, Pac-Man World also does try to work in elements of the Pac-Man license, but it does so clumsily. Hidden bonuses in stages unlock a bunch of dots as well as a power pellet that lets you charge right through them as a giant Pac-Man in a way that requires zero effort, strategy, or thought. Bonus stages are glorified Pac-Man maze-style levels. And each level is filled with locked doors that are unlocked by collecting a corresponding fruit, something that not only doesn’t make logical sense, but that feels like the game adding a layer of tedium just so Pac-Man’s iconic fruit have an excuse to be present here.

At the very least, the remake part of things is good here, with a decent presentation with cartoony 3D visuals that run smoothly (with both performance and graphics modes to choose from in options menus). It’s nothing impressive, but this clearly wasn’t just a lazy remake of an outdated game.

No, this is a remake that had some clear effort put into it… but it’s still a remake of an outdated game. Players who have nostalgia for the original release might find this a nice stroll through memory lane, but with the wealth of great 3D Platformers on Nintendo Switch, only the most dedicated Pac-fans will find value in this.

tl;dr – Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a remake of the family-friendly 1999 PlayStation 3D Platformer that’s a genuinely good remake of a game that has aged very poorly. It’s not satisfying to move around, the gameplay is clunky, restrictive, and unoriginal, and the Pac-Man elements feel shoehorned in here. Unless you’re a majoy Pac-Man fan or someone with strong nostalgia for the original game, this is not worth your time and money.

Grade: C-

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