Pac-Man Championship Edition DX review

Wow. I don’t believe I’ve ever started off a review with that word, but that simple three-letter word describes Pac-Man Championship Edition DX quite well. Continuing on the success of the original Pac-Man Championship Edition – only released on the 360 – this latest version of the classic franchise can be found on both the 360’s Xbox Live Arcade and PS3’s Playstation Network Store. And what an incredible $10 game it is.

Taking the classic Pac-Man game play and bringing it into the current generation, making it relevant in today’s market, not only seems implausible but actually pretty impossible when you consider the amount of times a developer has attempted the same sort of idea. Pitfall, Pong, Frogger, Defender, and even Centipede – these are all games that attempted a modern-day revival and failed. Yet somehow Namco Bandai has accomplished it, an impressive feat.

For those unfamiliar with the classic Pac-Man game play, essentially it boils down to you  viewing a maze-like board from a bird’s eye view where you control the direction of Pac-Man (up/left/right/down) as you move through the stage eating pelts and avoiding ghosts. What appears to be a simple game of path memorization, looking for the quickest route through a stage in order to eat all the pelts and avoiding ghosts, ends up being a myriad of different modes and options in Championship DX.

Yep, it’s pretty

In the majority of games there is the “meat” or heart of a game, and then everything else. With Pac-Man there is just everything. Essentially there are 9 different modes (10 if you include ‘Free Play’, a practice mode), neither more or less important than the last. Each mode has it’s own Score Attack, Ghost Combo, and Time Trial styles of play. Score Attack has you pining for the highest score within a set limit of time (5 or 10 minutes), Ghost Combo has you trying to eat the most ghosts in a row, and Time Trial boils down to a bunch of smaller time trials that has you going for the fastest time through each stage as it then adds all your times together and slaps it up on the leaderboard.

It’s hard to describe just how large this game is. To give you an idea, the first game mode on the menu screen is ‘Championship II’, and within that mode of play there are 14 different options of play – two types of score attack, ghost combo, and the rest time trials. It took me at least a good 3 hours before I tried everything, and once I did all I wanted to do was go back and see if I could improve my scores and times.

The simple tweaks and updates to the game play – having a train of ghosts trail you and then be able to turn around and chomp them all up as your score multiplies; the slow-mo that occurs when you’re about to run into a deadly ghost, allowing you change direction before you collide; being able to up or down the speed depending on your mood – all come together under one incredible visual masterpiece.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is such a beautiful looking game that I would not oppose having its stages hug up around my apartment like pieces of art. Along with the plethora of game modes and options there is also 8 different visual styles in which to play the game, ranging from pixel-inspired art, lego-esque block pieces, neon colours, deep blues, and more. Visually, the game is perfect.

Being as the concept of Pac-Man is really quite simple, it’s tough to put into words what exactly it is about this revamp that makes it so modern. It’s fast, frantic, flashy, works on your instincts, and puts you into a zen like state once you really get going. It’s what Pac-Man should have always been. Which brings me to what I find so impressing about what Namco Bandai has done here. They haven’t tried to make Pac-Man something it’s not, they have taken the heart of what it is and have made it into something no one ever deemed possible. This is Pac-Man for today.

Apart from the masterpiece that is Super Mario Galaxy 2, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is the best Japanese game I have played all year and one of the best downloadable games of this generation. My only issue with the entire package is that I think leaderboards could have been integrated a little smoother than what was done. Even with that said, they’re functional, and it only stands out as everything else in the game is essentially perfect. I don’t usually think a game can be perfect, but when it comes to an experience based around simple mechanics like Pac-Man, it’s a lot easier to accept that perfection in this medium is possible.

Pac-Man header image from Mike Saechang

ED Note:  This originally appeared on David’s Great Canadian Gamer site.  Besides cross-posting, David has signed on to do some writing for RGB Filter.  Welcome aboard!