Pac-Man 256's glitch chic divides the crowd

Each week, we ask members of our App Army for their feedback on the latest and greatest releases on mobile.

One recent top pick was Hipster Whale and Bandai-Namco's Pac-Man x Crossy Road hybrid, Pac-Man 256.

Let's see what our App Army had to say...

The game feels exactly like Crossy Road in terms of its presentation and interface.

It's fun for five minutes, but soon becomes mindless and repetitive. The mechanics still make me want to play it again though.

I love the opening music; the modern remix of the original theme. Back in the day you knew you were near an arcade once you heard that sound.

My phone's getting pretty hot running this...

I'm liking it, it's just a shame I have to wait for credits to regenerate before I can play again.

I've decided not to use the continue option. Games like this were based on pure skill back in the day. When you achieve a high score it was a sense of pride because you achieved it with just one coin.

In those days you had to pay to continue, so I think it's pretty fair in the sense. In fact they should put a marker next to your high score to show whether a continue was used.

I agree, ideally there should be no option to continue as it spoils it a bit for people chasing high scores.

I don't feel that good about an endless Pac-Man style runner. It doesn't feel as difficult as it should. The option to continue makes it even more so.

It has that Crossy Road schtick going for it, with the difference that it gets dull much faster. They were trying to make it better with power-ups, but they don't impress me. The controls don't feel right either.

The new 3D aesthetic looks good, especially as it's a new take on the original Pac-Man graphics. The little tunes are something 256 gets right too.

For me it's just an easy, 3D version of Pac-Man that's not really worth the time investment.

I love Pac-Man as a character, and 256 is now tied with Pac-Man Championship Edition DX as my favourite Pac-Man game.

Hipster Whale were a good choice for making this game. The presentation builds on what they created in Crossy Road, and the game really invokes that "one more go" feeling.

The audio and game soundtrack are good, offering familiar Pac-Man bleeps and bloops, reinforcing the core sounds of the Pac-Man brand.

Being able to select your power-up loadout for each run adds more complexity to the game, allowing players to bypass certain areas they may not have otherwise been able to.

The AI of the ghosts is more obvious here than in other Pac-Man games. Each ghost has its own distinct personality. Inky will follow a set path, while Pinky while relentlessly chase you down.

An Endless Pac-Man game makes perfect sense for mobile, and I'm it's taken so long to arrive. I feel that Pac-Man 256 is good fun, and the free to play mechanics seem fair enough.

As a Pac-Man fan, I am happy with this and will keep it pride of place on my device.

I've had the itch to play Pac-Man recently, and 256 scratches that itch and then some.

It follows the usual formula of eating everything in sight, but adds a bunch of variety by way of the unlockable weapons.

I've had a bunch of fun with the new laser weapon, and I can't wait to unlock the rest.

A Pac-Man-themed endless runner? It won't win any prizes for originality, but it could be a lot worse.

The free to play mechanics are a little annoying, and it could really use a virtual D-pad as the swipe to move controls are not very accurate.

Anyone else noticing that the game keeps stuttering during play?

I haven't noticed any stuttering, but 256 does seem to drain the battery quite quickly. The controls are exactly the same as Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, so if you already have experience with that, you're set.

I have finally managed to get the 256 Pac Pellet combo! I'm really enjoying this - it's heaps of fun!

Have you noticed your device heating up while playing this Danny?

For sure Quincy. I'm nice 'n' toasty.

I think everyone has a ball playing Pac-Man, and this game is no less exciting than the classic we know and love. Hipster Whale and Bandai-Namco have really upped their game with this one.

With Pac-Man 256 taking its title from the infamous kill screen level from the original, it doesn't take long before the eponymous protagonist finds a wave of glitchiness catching up with him.

Not only do we have to watch out for glitches, but also each ghost's behaviour. Some will corner you while others loom in corners, waiting to strike.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this, and I've already lost a whole bunch of time to it.

Okay, Pac-Man 256 is fun enough, but only really when you have time to kill.

Endless Pac-Man is not a real Pac-Man to me. It's just a re-skin of Crossy Road with some bonus features.

Sadly, Pac-Man 256 does not imbue me with fond memories of yesteryear when I used to play my beloved Pac-Man.

Maybe I've just become jaded with today's games, but I was genuinely excited to play this when it was first announced.

The fact that the Crossy Road devs were involved was even better news. However, while Crossy Road delivered on giving the player a true Frogger experience in a modern day shell, this fails to get the job done.

Yes, it looks great, and I love how both portrait and landscape modes work, but the game is like dry toast. Good, not great. I have no real desire to keep coming back to get a better score.

All the new bells and whistles do nothing for me, and the wacky credit system is a joke. Newer players might get a kick out of this, but the seasoned old school players may find this a case of lipstick on a pig.

This is another game that's a fun time-waster. You don't need to pour real money into it, just pick it up and have a blast every now and then.

Pac-Man is such a recognised brand that I don't really think the developer could have done anything too different with it without letting go of the original game's staples.

Maybe it's time to start coming up with a new IP...

I played the original Pac-Man in the arcade a lot and, while it's not the same experience, I'm still enjoying it a whole bunch.

Wow. They've taken Pac-Man, a great game, and made it boring.

Interesting how so divisive opinion has been on this - I've been loving it. I can honestly say I've stuck with this far longer than I ever did with the original Pac-Man.

There are a few issues and the odd crash here and there, but it's all worth it. The devs really need to move the settings and objectives to the main menu though. It's a pain forcing myself to die just to remind myself what my goal is.

What I find really clever (or perhaps evil) from a moneymaking point of view is how they've included an IAP that rids the game of its credit system, yet you can still watch ads to earn coins. Ingenious.

I'm finding Blocky Raider a much better game and all-around time waster.

I don't mind it as such, I'm just not in love with it.

This game is a great new twist on an old-school classic. Pac-Man 256 takes me back to the old arcade days of playing Pac-Man with a joystick.

The graphics remind me of old-school Pac-Man, but the power ups add a whole new twist to the formula. The ability to freeze and zap your enemies brings some new ideas to a tired franchise.

The wall of glitch slowly eats away at the level behind you at every moment, meaning you have to race ahead to stay alive. It's a very clever way of integrating new ideas using a lesser-known element from the original game/

Pac-Man 256 gets older faster than Crossy Road. Besides collecting power-ups and achieving higher scores, I can't see that much replay value in this.

I've played it for a total of two hours, and I'm tired of it. That's enough for me.

Pac-Man 256 brings a whole new dimension Pac-Man. It has the core elements of the original Pac-Man, but adds a whole host of new, exciting ideas.

I love the endless gameplay. It's addictive and keeps you trying to improve upon your last score. The ghosts clearly have different characteristics now, so once you learn their patterns you can take advantage of them.

Sadly the game doesn't offer much to keep you playing. Upgrading power-ups isn't really exciting and doesn't feel rewarding.

There are no characters to unlock, or different worlds to explore, so I don't feel as driven as I did with Crossy Road. I hope they add extra content as time goes on.