PAC MAN COLLECTION
(Namco/Mass Media, June 2001)
Although Pac Man has been done before on the Gameboy and Gameboy Color, this game lets you pick from 4 different Pac Man games throughout time (the original Pac Man, PacMania, Pac Attack, and Pac Man Arrangement) which sounds like a nice package for every Pac Man fan out there but the game collection isn't without its problems.
The original Pac Man
The 1980's legend that took the world by storm! The objective is simple: Pac Man must complete the level be eating up at the dots on the screen while avoiding the 4 pesky ghosts that are trying to hunt him down. You have the option of picking either the Scroll Screen or the Full Screen but in my opinion the only way to play Pac Man is in Full Screen mode because you can't see everything at once in Scroll mode. The game however does look a little tiny on the new Gameboy screen and even some of the trademark sound effects are off a little so the game isn't perfect.
Pac Mania
In this game you still have to eat all the dots on the board but now the game has a 3/4 view, power ups, background music, and brand new 3D like graphics. Pac Man can even jump in the game to avoid most of the ghosts this time but some ghosts can jump too. Despite all the new features this game may be the worse in the collection because of the awkward view and all the radical changes involved to the simple gameplay of the original. You can also find this game on the NES, PlayStation (Namco Musuem Vol 5), and Sega Genesis.
Pac Attack
This game plays nothing like the other three because this is more of a Puzzle type of game like Tetris or Puyo Puyo. You can play either Normal or Puzzle mode in PacAttack. In the Normal game you have to make a complete line of blocks to make them disappear and you also have to worry about getting rid of the ghost that fall as well. When a Pac Man drops from the top he can eat the ghosts and the more he eats the more points he'll earn. In Puzzle mode it is Pac Man's job to get rid of all the preset ghosts of the screen in only so many moves. If you complete a level than you can earn a password for later. The game looks very dark and sometimes it hard to see what is going but the music was good. The most addictive game on the collection but it's no Tetris DX. Also available on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis.
Pac Man Arrangement
This Game Boy Advance exclusive game plays just the original Pac Man but with improved new graphics and more interactive stages. A fun game for people who still prefer the classic Pac Man to the newer games but I wish there was a full srceen option like the original had. This game wears thin after a few plays.
I thought this new game cart would be awesome but I was wrong. Although you get 4 Pac Man games in one package the cart doesn't even save your high scores because their is no battery back up support like most Gameboy Advance games have these days and if there was ever one game I ever wanted to save my scores in, it is Pac Man. Talk about a disappointment!