Puzzle Game Review: Pac-Attack

Pac-Attack, also known as Pac-Panic, is a home port of Namco's 1991 arcade game Cosmo Gang the Puzzle to consoles with a Pac-Man theme. The Pac-Man theming actually worked exceptionally well for this game, arguably bringing it to higher heights than the original.

Pac-Attack is a falling tile puzzle game. There are three-piece puzzle items that drop down that contain a combination of tiles, ghosts, or Pac-Man. The goal is to line all of the ghosts together in a line. Once Pac-Man is placed on top of a ghost, he will make a straight trip down and then across, depending on the tile placement. The tiles themselves can be removed from the board, Tetris style, if they fill the entire playing area horizontally. The game ends if the puzzle pieces reach the top of the playfield.

The Pac-Man themed graphics do a lot to elevate this game beyond Cosmo Game the Puzzle. The style is street graffiti-inspired, with a brick motif. The score, stage number, and preview of the next puzzle piece are presented as signs on the bricks. The playfield itself is inside of a nook behind the bricks, and the background of the playfield features graffiti-style art of Pac-Man himself. The art changes periodically as the stage numbers increase, giving it some needed variety.

The sound aspects of the game are top-notch as well. The background music is fittingly mellow, with a nice sounding groove to it. The stage ending music is fittingly upbeat and congratulatory, which fits great. The Pac-Man eating sounds from the Pac-Man arcade games make an appearance when Pac-Man eats the ghosts, which is a nice touch. 

Pac-Attack is a fun puzzle game that is one of those diamonds in the rough. It is not as well known as its brethren such as Tetris, Puyo Puyo, or Columns, and that is a shame. Cosmo Gang the Puzzle did not capture the interests of the puzzle game fans in Japan, and the Pac-Attack reskin sadly did not do much to improve upon that. It deserves more than what it got though, as it is a really solid game. The art style, music, and sound effects are really pleasing, but more importantly, the puzzle gameplay is really fun. This really a game that puzzle game fans should give a try at least once. It's really a lot of fun.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Arcade Maze Game Review: Pac & Pal

Pac & Pal is the black sheep of the Pac-Man series. It was primarily released in Japan, other than three hundred machines released to Europe as Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp, with Pac-Man's dog from the Hanna Barbara cartoon replacing the titular pal. It took the unpopular elements of Super Pac-Man and ran with them, making a game that is arguably the most polarizing in the entire series.

Pac-Man has to collect all of the items on the screen. Like Super Pac-Man, they are all locked behind doors. Unlike those games however, the doors are unlocked by collecting face-down cards scattered around the maze which will flip to reveal an item on the board. The game's titular pal, or the dog in Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp's case, is not much of a friend as they will attempt to steal the item before Pac-Man can get it and then take them to the ghosts where they will be out of Pac-Man's reach forever.

The weirdest part is that there are no power pellets here. If Pac-Man manages to collect an item, either before Pac-Man's pal Miru can collect it or by stealing it back from her, he will become larger and turn blue. This will enable him to turn the table on the ghosts trying to catch him. Unlike other games in the series, Pac-Man can not just walk into the ghosts. There is now an action button that will cause Pac-Man to emit a ray which will stun the ghosts temporarily.

Like Super Pac-Man before it, Pac & Pal contains stages with three levels each that then goes into a bonus stage. In the bonus stage, Pac-Man collects cards. The cards contain dollar symbols, Pac-Man's pal, or a ghost. If Pac-Man collects his pal, the final score is doubled. If a ghost is turned over before the end, the stage ends immediately. The cards are not randomized as they all have a pattern, so they can be memorized in order to provide the largest score possible.

This game does have one thing that this game, arguably, going for it compared to its predecessors. The game does not just have sound effects during gameplay, but actually has a stage tune that plays during gameplay. It is just one tune, so it can be repetitive, but it is a fun upbeat melody.

Pac & Pal is a weird game. Moreso than even Super Pac-Man, it takes all of the elements that made Pac-Man popular and threw them out the window. It takes the doors of the aforementioned title and makes them even stranger by locking them behind cards rather than keys. It adds a weird chase mechanic that ends up being kind of pointless other than point-wise as the game continues whether Pac-Man catches up to the items or not. If the pal ends up returning the item to the ghosts, it will still count as the item being removed from the board. It also strangely adds an action button for a ray power that Pac-Man had not had prior to this title. It is a strange game to rate, as it is not the best maze game out there, but it is definitely not like any other Pac-Man title. In any case, it is not a must play for fans of maze games or Pac-Man fans.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Pac-Man Plus Review

Jr. Pac-Man Review Coming Soon

Arcade Maze Game Review: Super Pac-Man

The Midway Manufacturing Company licensed a conversion kit named Crazy Otto from General Computer Corporation to create Ms. Pac-Man, the first sequel to Pac-Man, the popular maze game it licensed for distribution from Namco. Six months later, Namco released its own sequel, Super Pac-Man. The latter was heavily overshadowed by the former, and for good reason, yet Super Pac-Man still remains a fascinating game in its own right.

While Ms. Pac-Man enhances the features that made Pac-Man such a fun game, Super Pac-Man deviates from the original by introducing features that weren't as well received by the general public, yet adds a new layer of strategy to the usual gameplay. It takes two non-essential elements from the original game and re-purposes them to make them part of the core gameplay. The first is keys, which were originally used as the most valuable of the items which granted bonuses in the original Pac-Man arcade game. Here, they unlock doors which are needed to collect all of the fruits in order to finish each level. The second is the giant Pac-Man form, which was originally seen as a joke sequence in a cutscene in the original game. This form allows Pac-Man to go through doors to eat the fruits within without needing the keys to unlock the door first.

The rest of the formula of the game is similar, yet noticeably different. Pac-Man needs to eat all of the fruits, rather than pellets, to progress. The fruits add points while the only pellets are now the larger pellets which give Pac-Man his larger super form and also allow him to eat the ghosts that chase him around the stage. When not powered up by the large power pellets, Pac-Man will lose a life upon being touched by a ghost.

There is another major difference. There are still three levels between stages, but the game doesn't have cutscenes between stages. Instead, there are now bonus stages in which Pac-Man has to clear a maze within the time limit while entirely in his large super form.

The sound effects from the original game return, along side new sound effects for the collecting of keys. The opening music also returns, albeit in a slightly faster and higher pitched form. The most memorable music of the original two games in the series came from the cutscenes, however, and without these the music is a bit lacking compared to the other games. The early 1980s Pac-Man games, however, were never were music-heavy due to the restrictions of their time, so this isn't too much of a loss.

Super Pac-Man is a game that takes most things about previous Pac-Man titles and tosses them out the window for something new. The basic eating and chasing mechanic is still there, making it feel familiar, but the addition of keys and the reduction of edible items due to the larger fruit graphics and fewer item placements makes it feel strangely unfamiliar at the same time. This makes it a bit of a less accessible title than its immediate predecessors, but it is still an excellent example of an arcade maze game that is well worth playing at least once.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Ms. Pac-Man Review

Pac-Man Plus Review

Arcade Action Game Review: Mappy

Mappy is a cute action arcade game released in 1983. It is the first game in Namco's series of the same name.

The game follows a mouse police officer named Mappy who has to retrieve stolen items in a hideout full of thieving cats. Because he is a mouse, he stands no chance against cats so he has to avoid them. The thieving cats are known as the Meowky gang, or the Mewky gang in Japan. The gang's leader is a large red cat named Goro. The Japanese release gives him a much better name, Nyamco. This combines the company name Namco with nyan, the Japanese onomatopoeia for the cute little high-pitched variation of a cat's meow.

Points are gained from collecting the stolen items, which can sometimes be accessed by opening doors, and bonus points are awarded if Mappy retrieves the stolen item behind the boss cat. Once all of the items are collected, the game moves to the next stage.

The music in the game is of a cuteness befitting the character art. The sound effects are those that are familiar to games of the early 1980s, but they fit the game perfectly.

The most memorable mechanic of the game is the trampoline, which Mappy uses to reach the various floors in his quest for the hidden stolen goods. Both Mappy and the cats can turn left or right to reach one of the floors of the hideout when jumping up, however they both are stuck in their trajectory when coming back down. The trampolines are not well-built, however, as they will break, changing colors to denote their condition, if Mappy jumps on it four times in a row. Luckily, once off the trampolines, they will revert to their original jumpless state.

Mappy is a fun little arcade game. It's cute character art, charming music, and interesting premise makes it still enjoyable to play today.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Action Platform Game Review: Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

It's Friday the 13th, so what better video game to review than one that is part of a series inspired by the film named today's date. Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is a parody of Namco's 1988 beat 'em up inspired by American slasher horror films, Splatterhouse. It took the bloody concept to an overly cute level and somehow, against all odds, made it work.

Wanpaku Graffiti was developed for the Family Computer as a spoof of the original Splatterhouse. It was developed by Now Production, who would go on to work on the series proper for the remaining two games of the classic trilogy. The game has an anime style vibe to it, with crazy situations and characters that are presented in a cute chibi, or super deformed, style.

The plot is kept simple, as it should be for a game inspired by 1980s slasher films. The game's hero is Rick, an axe-wielding man wearing a hockey mask in the same vein as Jason Voorhies from the Friday the 13th film series. A giant living jack-o-lantern known as the Pumpkin King picks up Rick's girlfriend Jennifer off the ground and floats away with her, which sets the game in motion as Rick follows after her.

While Splatterhouse was a beat 'em up game, Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is an action platform game. Rick jumps across the terrain and slashes at cute enemies like tiny zombies or vampires with his giant axe. He can also pick up shotguns with limited ammunition at various parts of the game. After Rick defeats more enemies, his maximum health will increase, giving him a better chance of getting Jen back. There is a counter at the top of the screen which lets Rick know how many enemies he has to eliminate in order to improve his health.

As a game for the Family Computer, there is quite a bit of chiptune music available. The sound hardware has a timeless sound to it, and some great music has come out of Nintendo's venerable 8-bit machine when given to talented composers. That is certainly the case here, as Anna Puruna and Masakatsu Maekawa have created some fun music that fits the silly vibe of the game very well. The usual hit, slash, and lighting effects produced by Famicom games of that era are also present, and go a long way to make the game an entertaining experience.

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is an example of a game that sounded like a weird idea on paper, but actually turned out to be fantastic in practice. Cute graphics and a slasher horror-inspired game should not mix, but I'm happy to say that they do work extremely well. The music and sound effects also add to the experience, as does the fun level design. As a Famicom game from the 1980s, there is a password system in place rather than a proper save system that would have required battery-backed RAM back in the day. Luckily, the game has been re-released through emulation on the first Namco Museum Archives compilation, so save states are now available. Even better, now is the best time to play the game as the re-release gave the game its first English localization, which let this game make its way out of Japan officially for the first time.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 4

Arcade Maze Game Review: Pac-Mania

Pac-Mania was the tenth video game in the Pac-Man series. It had a combination of factors that made it unique as it never was directly replicated following its release, so it this is a game retains its own place in the Pac-Man pantheon.

It was developed by Namco and distributed to arcades by Namco in Japan and Atari Games in North America in 1987. It followed the General Computer Corporation-developed maze arcade game Jr. Pac-Man from 1984 and the Namco-developed platform arcade game Pac-Land from 1984 that was based on the 1982-1983 Hanna Barbara animated television series

As the game that directly followed both of the aforementioned games, Pac-Mania included aspects from both of them. It included the scrolling mazes that were introduced in Jr. Pac-Man, but this time they scroll both horizontally and vertically. The larger mazes also allow the addition of more ghosts to the mix. The usual four colors return, with three more colors joining them. The traditional ghosts include the red ghost Blinky, the pink ghost Pinky, the cyan ghost Inky, and the orange ghost Clyde. Sue, the ghost introduced in Ms. Pac-Man as the orange ghost, is presented as purple.

As a platform game, Pac-Land was the first game in the series that allowed Pac-Man to jump. Even though Pac-Mania is a return to the maze genre, he has the ability to jump here as well. His jump is difficult to master as it is delayed and floaty by design, since it doesn't need the precision of platform game jumping. Once you get used to jumping, however, it becomes quite convenient to jump over ghosts that aren't activated as the standard edible blue after eating a larger power pellet. To counter Pac-Man's new jump ability, there are now two new ghosts. They are a green ghost named Punky and a grey ghost named Spunky. They are bigger than the regular ghosts, but it is still possible to jump over Punky if Pac-Man times his jump correctly. However, it is impossible to jump over Spunky.

The bonus items once again sit below the ghost gate as in the original Pac-Man. Most of these award the usual bonus points from fruits, but there are two special colored power pellets that give additional affects. If Pac-Man eats a red pellet, the point total for eating the ghosts will be doubled. If Pac-Man eats the green pellet, Pac-Man will temporarily receive a boost in speed.

Beyond the gameplay changes, the presentation also saw a stark change from previous games. The mazes are now laid out isometrically with a 2.5 dimensional presentation. Because the edges of the mazes can now be seen, the graphics make good use of this additional half a dimension. Mazes take on various shapes such as interconnecting Lego-like bricks, mazes that look like neon tubes, pyramid blocks, and cubes. The cutscene breaks also make a return, in a fittingly comical manner.

The sound also matches the upgraded visuals. The eating and dying sound effects are joined by jumping effects, but the standout is the music. Pac-Land had a pleasing loop of the Hanna-Barbara Pac-Man theme song, but this game gives some variety to match each of the levels. It's the pinnacle of sound design for the maze side of the Pac-Man sequels.  

Pac-Mania is a game that takes everything about previous Pac-Man titles and builds upon them. The 2.5D isometric graphics, fun sound effects, and pleasing music really make this game a joy to play. The jumping aspect leaves a bit to be desired, however, as it is not as responsive as those in the Pac-Man platform games. That's the only aspect that brings the score down a bit, but it's not enough to keep it from being one of the best Pac-Man maze games ever produced. 

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Arcade Shoot 'Em Up Review: Galaga

Galaga is an influential shoot 'em up that was developed and released in arcades in Japan in 1981 by Namco and was distributed by Midway Manufacturing in North America. 

Galaga expanded upon its 1979 predecessor, Galaxian, and brought the genre forward to its second era of static screen shooters. The game features detailed alien bug creatures shot by a red and white ship below. It separates itself from its competitors by having multiple forms of enemy formations and attacks. Some travel back and forth along the playfield ala Space Invaders, some dive bomb towards the bottom of the screen, and others beam the player ship away from the fight. If destroyed, the stolen ship returns alongside the current ship.

This double fighter is quite fun while it lasts, as it allows for double gunning enemies. If you manage to keep both ships in tact, it is even possible to have a triple fighter. Once stage three is completed, and then after every four stages, the player gets to attempt a challenging stage. Forty enemies come into the screen in patterns without firing. The player gets a 10,000-point bonus if all are destroyed. A double fighter or triple fighter is often required to shoot every enemy, giving the game a bit of strategy by trying to power-up before the challenging stages start.

As far as sound goes, Galaga went hard by 1981 standards, with unique sound effects for player shots, multiple enemy movement sounds, and sounds for the capturing of the player ships, title screen music, challenging stage music, challenging stage ending music, music for perfecting the challenging stage, music for entering your name into the high score records, and more. This gives it a very pleasant experience, which, if you like chiptune sounds, is still fun to listen to today.

Galaga is a classic for a reason. The enemies are detailed and colorful, the sounds are plentiful, the music is still fun to experience even now, the multiple attack patterns shake things up in a satisfying way, and the double and triple fighter power-ups along with the challenging stages give the game a bit of strategy beyond just memorizing patterns. It's a game that is still worth playing, not just for shoot 'em up fans, but for fans of retro video games in general.

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5

Arcade Maze Game Review: Pac-Man Plus

Pac-Man Plus is a weird game. It is a conversion kit that acts as an upgrade for the classic arcade maze game Pac-Man. 

Two arcade games in the Pac-Man series were developed between the release of this game in 1983, not including the two Pac-Man pinball tables. Both Ms. Pac-Man by General Computer Corporation and Super Pac-Man by Namco were quite different than the original game. Pac-Man Plus, created by Bally/Midway, is simply Pac-Man with faster, more aggressive ghosts and some other tweaks.

The music and sound effects are identical between the original and Plus iterations. The part that makes this an upgrade, is, above all, slightly altered graphics in comparison to the classic game. The maze layouts haven't changed except for the fact that they are now green rather than blue. The ghosts are now shorter with closer set eyes, and strangely, now are apparently fruit since they have stems with leaves on their heads. On the subject of fruit, the items that appear periodically in the center of the maze have now been changed to other items.

The aforementioned items do have a use beyond a point bonus this time around. When they are collected, ghosts will become invisible signifying the ability for Pac-Man to chomp them up. If Pac-Man eats a ghost in this state, its point value is doubled. Pac-Man's other method of eating ghosts, the power pellets, now are a bit wonky. Occasionally, eating one will cause weird effects such as turning the maze walls invisible or only turning a maximum of three ghosts blue rather than four. The latter will lower the possible point chain and will disrupt the usual ghost pattern.

Pac-Man Plus is essentially nothing more than a more difficult game of Pac-Man. The graphics have been tweaked, though the music and sound effects are identical to the original. The biggest changes are the fact that the ghosts are faster and nastier. The ability of the bonus item to make ghosts vulnerable with double the point value is a welcome addition to clear the maze and rank up points. This is especially needed considering the weird power pellets which occasionally reduce the amount of ghosts that were turned blue, which in turn lowers the amount of points that can be collected. Pac-Man Plus isn't really a must-play compared to the first two Pac-Man games. It has been ignored by Namco and its licensees, undoubtably for this reason, until Arcade1Up began adding it to its lineup of games in some of its home cabinets. If you have access to it, give it a try, but there is no need to go out of your way to track this one down.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Super Pac-Man Review

Pac & Pal Review

Arcade Fighting Game Mega Review: SoulCalibur

SoulCalibur is the second Soul fighting game by Namco's Project Soul, after Soul Edge. It is vastly superior to its forebearer, but it is did not catch on until the console port. The original arcade game was revolutionary when it was released, and with the popularity of the console port it inspired many three-dimensional games and ensuring all of the future Soul games used the SoulCalibur name.

The game included an eclectic group of characters. Some returned from Soul Edge, including Hwang,  Mitsurugi, Rock, Seong Mi-na, Siegfried, Sophitia, Taki, and Voldo. The enemy characters Inferno and his ultimate form Nightmare. SoulCalibur also brought in the new characters Astaroth, Ivy, Kilik, Maxi, Xianghua, and Yoshimitsu. 

Most of these characters employ heavy use of weapons, which is even extended into the story. The fighters are seeking the mass murderer Nightmare, who is in possession of the legendary sword from the original game, the Soul Edge. The characters all have different reasons for seeking Nightmare. Some want to kill him to stop his mass murder, some want to cure him, and others want to claim the legendary sword for themselves.

The game had fantastic music, and limited but enjoyable voice acting, however the gameplay is the part that was revolutionary. Before the release of SoulCalibur, characters in 3D fighters had limited movement. This game had an eight-way movement system, which allowed more freedom of movement, making 3D games feel smoother than ever before. Games after this employed more freedom of movement as well, and they never looked back.

SoulCalibur is a revolutionary 3D fighting game that remains fun to play even today. While previous 3D fighting games such as the Virtua Fighter series and Namco's own Tekken series brought fighters into the third dimension for the first time, SoulCalibur is the game that made 3D fighters smooth as silk to play. The arcade game isn't as well known as the later enhanced console ports, it is still worth playing if you ever have the opportunity to play it.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Arcade Maze Game Review: Pac-Man

This review was adapted from the original that was posted at Jupiter Beagle on September 28, 2008.

Pac-Man is a true classic. Pac-Man’s pizza-bodied visage is often used as an icon for gaming itself. Everyone has probably played Pac-Man at some point in their life, or if they haven't they at least know about it.

The premise is simple. You control a round yellow dot with no eyes and a mouth that is constantly opening and closing. You have to navigate a maze and eat all of the round pellets on the board while avoiding the four ghosts who are constantly roaming the board looking for a Pac snack to eat. You can turn the tables on the ghosts by eating one of the four large power pellets. This causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue. Now, the ghosts run away from you and you are able to eat them before the large dot’s effects wear off. 

In the original Pac-Man, many of the enhancements that Ms. Pac-Man brought to the table are not present. The layout of the mazes never changes and the food items that you can eat in each stage after collecting a certain amount of points always remain at the center of the maze. The emulated versions from the Xbox 360 onward are my favorite way to play the game. 

All of the addictiveness of Pac-Man is there as most emulated versions use the true arcade version of Pac-Man. Thus, all of the tricks that can be pulled off in the arcade version can be pulled off in these versions. For anyone who loves Pac-Man but isn’t too good at it, there are tricks in the emulated versions that are not present in the originals. In some emulated versions, you can start from any stage in the game after you complete it once, and in other emulated versions you can rewind a mistake to try it again. 

Arcade purists may not like the fact that these emulated versions often have unlimited continues, but there were versions of Pac-Man in the arcades that had unlimited continues as well. In the Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga Class of 1981 arcade game, Pac-Man can be unlocked by entering up, up ,up, down, down, down, left, right, left, right, left at the game selection screen and then choosing Ms. Pac-Man after hearing a series of dings letting the player know the code was inserted correctly. This version allows unlimited continues as well. The only difference is you have to enter a quarter every time you wish to continue. 

On the subject of achievements in the latest console versions, Pac-Man typically has plenty. In the Xbox 360 version, each fruit or item in the mazes gives you another achievement. If you go for all of them, you will be able to see each of the game’s cutscenes, which were one of the main draws of the game in the arcades when it first came out. The cutscene music is so catchy that it’s sure to stay in your head for quite some time. There are only three cutscenes in the original Pac-Man, and they all show the comeuppance of the ghosts in various humorous ways. 

There are three achievements in the Xbox 360 version, in particular, that are a little more challenging. One requires you to eat all four ghosts in the stage, while the other, harder, achievement requires you to eat all four ghosts all four times in one stage. The latter is quite hard, and all but the most diehard Pac-Man fan should find this one a challenge. 

The other difficult challenge in the Xbox 360 version requires you to get to level 21. After you get to a certain point in the game, the large dots no longer turn the ghosts blue, and the ghosts merely turn around when you eat it. Thankfully the feature offering unlimited continues is there for those of us without super Pac-prowess, so it’s not an impossible task. 

In the end, the decision of whether to play Pac-Man rests on how much you like arcade maze games. Though, if you do, I’d say it’s worth the play even if you are a casual fan of the genre. 

Final Verdict: 

4 out of 5

Ms. Pac-Man Review