| Pac-Man World | |
| Developer: | Namco, FULLFat (GBA version) |
| Publisher: | Namco, DSI Games (GBA version) |
| Series: | Pac-Man series |
| Genres: | Platform, Adventure, |
| Release date(s): | Sept 30, 1999 |
| Rating | E for Everyone |
| Number of players | One player |
| Input methods | Playstation controller, GBA control pad ad buttons |
| Platforms | PlayStation, and Game Boy Advance |
Pac-Man World is a video game that was released on Sept 30, 1999 on the PlayStation as the 20th anniversary of Pac-Man since he starred in the arcade game. The game was developed and published by Namco. Pac-Man World is a platform game starring Pac-Man roaming in a 3-d world.
Story[]
At Pac-Man, all of Pac-Man's family members are carrying presents while waiting for Pac-Man arriving at home to celebrate his 20th anniversary. But, suddenly, his friends have been kidnapped; Chomp-Chomp is captured by the Mummy, both Pac-Baby and Pooka are towed away by an anchor, Professor Pac is abducted by an UFO, Pac-Jr. gets captured and squeezed inside a small robot and Ms. Pac-Man is assaulted by the ghosts. Unfortunately, when Pac-Man returns back home while noticing presents shattering on the ground, he enters his home that his house has been destroyed and starts screaming in panic.
While walking sadly outside of his destroyed house, Pac-Man grabs one of the leaflets flying around his home and finds out that a party is taking place on Ghost Island with "Pac-Man" being present live and in-person, promoting Pac-Man to travel to Ghost Island, so he can be able to save his family and friends. A sentry ghost spots Pac-Man arriving at Ghost Island, and warns his boss Toc-Man, a robotic impersonating Pac-Man who ordered the ghosts to capture Pac-Man. But instead, the ghosts mistakenly captured Pac-Man's family. Toc-Man angrily reorders the ghosts to find and destroy Pac-Man.
Around the journey, Pac-Man saves his family and friends, scattered througho the Ghost Island. Eventually, Pac-Man reaches Toc-Man's Lair, where the party is being held. Toc-Man attempts to greet the guests at the party as Pac-Man, until the real Pac-Man enters the room, but he gets very furious and challenges Pac-Man to a final battle saying that he has interfered in his plans for the last time. Ultimately, Toc-Man is defeated and disturbingly revealed to be piloted by a ghost named Orson, who comes out crying. Finally, Pac-Man grabs a Power Pellet and eats Orson who turned blue, and shrugs.
At the end, Pac-Man returns back home to re-celebrate his birthday with his family and friends who were saved by him.
Gameplay[]
The game was a standard 3D platformer that played heavily into the history of the character; every non-boss level featured a maze that played by the rules of the original game (though the pac symbol was still present, letting the player survive being touched by ghosts up to four times). Every level was littered with pac-dots, fruits and ghosts, much of the music was modified from early entries into the series (one of the common themes in all the levels is the intermission music from Pac-Man modified according to the theme of the level) and the original Pac-Man arcade game was available for play from the menu screen.
In addition, Pac-Man had been given a handful of standard platform maneuvres, including a "butt-bounce", reminiscent of Mario and the Rev-Roll, reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog. Also, he'd gained the ability to use the dots offensively, throwing them at non-ghost enemies.
The level format was fairly straightforward; each world consisted of three or four levels. The first level in a world would introduce a new technique or enemy type. The second and third would require use of that technique to complete, and couldn't be completed without it. The fourth level of each world was a boss battle requiring unique gameplay or puzzle-solving to defeat.
The second levels also included a key that, while not essential to complete the game, was required to free whichever of Pac-Man's friends was held prisoner in the third level. Every freed character would then appear to aid Pac-Man in the final battle against Toc-Man.
Sequels[]
First came the spin-off Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness. Instead of having Pac-Man, it has Ms. Pac-Man, but Pac-Man is playable in the multiplayer mode.
There was a Game Boy Advance version in 2004. Due to hardware limitations, many features were left out of the game, such as Maze Mode, the original Pac-Man and many levels cut out. There was a sequel, Pac-Man World 2, on February 24, 2002. It is available on the PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Game Boy Advance.
Pac-Man World 3 was released in 2005. This game introduced new moves and powers to Pac-Man and gave him a full voice.
The latest game in the series is the spin-off Pac-Man World Rally.