Developed by Monkey Bar Games
Published by Namco Bandai Games
Released for Xbox 360 (10/29/2013)
Also on 3DS/PC/PS3/Wii U
I've always liked the concept of Pac-Man expanding his adventures outside of the maze, which has been attempted many times over the decades of Pac's existence with success of varying degrees, but for the most part these titles are not the most fondly remembered entries of the franchise. So here we have Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, which is based off of the children's cartoon show. I've never seen this show so I will be unable to tell you how faithful this remains to the source material, however I have been playing Pac-Man games for quite a long time so I know enough about the most important character at least.
The game plays pretty much like your standard 3D-platformer; you have a hub world where you can talk to your pals and select your stage. The levels themselves are laid out in differently themed worlds each ending with a boss battle, and they all pretty much match up to the standard cliche worlds in these type of games (ice world included!). There are a few stages that play differently, such as a side-scroller shmup type stage and one where you drive down a tunnel kind of like the bonus stages in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. These play competently enough to add a little variety to the affair.
There are a couple hidden fruits within each stage for you to find if you're into searching for collectables. The platforming aspect is above average though I feel the combat could've used some polish. It can be hard to gauge when Pac is close enough to eat the ghosts; sometimes he'll fly across the screen to eat an enemy and other times he can't get to the guy a few feet in front of him, ruining the combo streak he had going. The game has a point system and there are high scores to try to beat for every stage which could potentially add some replay value if you enjoy the gameplay enough. There are also power-ups scattered about that will change Pac's form and these are required to get past certain parts of the stage. There's ice, fire, chameleon, metal and granite ball variants of Pac-Man. The ice and fire versions can throw projectiles, while chameleon uses his tongue to swing to platforms and metal pac and stick to magnetic platforms for some upside-down action. Granite ball Pac has you rolling about and controls a bit like a poor-man's version of Katamari Damacy. All-in-all these definitely help to keep things from getting too repetitive but some of the platforming segments can be a bit annoying, particularly when metal Pac won't stick to a surface or the chameleon won't lick a platform.
That's pretty much a summary of Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. As a fan of the Pac-Man character and the old-school arcade games, I'm not exactly crazy about some of the design choices in this one. I found Pac's voice a bit on the irritating side as he sounds like an overexcited child! There's no Ms. Pac-Man to be seen anywhere, which is a bit of a bummer considering she starred in one of the best titles of the franchise. While the game isn't bad and is an above average platformer, I didn't find anything about this game particularly memorable with exception to the multiplayer mode which has a 3D maze with one player controlling Pac-Man and up to three others playing the ghosts trying to catch him (complete with the overhead maze in the center!). I would say this game is not a bad choice for children 10 and under, though it will likely cause them some frustration and I'm not sure they'd see it through to the end without some help. The multiplayer mode can be a good time for kids and adults all the same however (Namco really should expand on this idea!). If you're itching for some old-school Pac-Man action, check out the XBLA store as there are several releases to scratch that itch.
The developer, Monkey Bar Games, was a division of the now defunct Vicious Cycle Software. They developed quite a few family-friendly games based on licensed properties for several different platforms, with Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures being considered one of their best efforts. The sequel, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 would be the final release from Monkey Bar Games. Vicious Cycle would continue to develop games up until 2015 and they would end up closing their doors in 2016.
Final Verdict: If you're looking for a decent platformer game for the kid, you could do worse than Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. For adults, even Pac-Man diehard fans, you won't find much to hold your interest past a single playthrough. The multiplayer mode is a surprising good time as a bonus.
Purchase Links:
Buy Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (Digital) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (Disc) - eBay
Related Links:
Monkey Bar Games - Wikipedia
Namco Bandai - Official Site
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures - Metacritic
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures - GameFAQs
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures -True Achievements
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