Critical Clash: Pac-Man Remix

Like many precocious youngsters, Pac-Man's best work came early in his career.

Tales - surely apocryphal - about creator Toru Iwatani getting his eureka moment looking down at a pizza with a slice removed, not to mention a national shortage of 100 Yen coins due to the popularity of the arcade machines, continue to fed his cultural meme.

Equally, the reversal of the chased to chaser, thanks to power-up pills, not to mention the anthropomorphism provided by Ms Pac-Man, and naming the ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, widened his appeal.

But like a rockstar confused by the introduction of the Roland TR-808 drum machine, the era of 3D games hasn't been kind to the little fella.

Even new games on portable devices, which better preserve his 2D pick-up-and-play appeal, feel more like a greatest hits repackage, than a Madonna-esque dancefloor reinvention.

To be fair, before the release of Pac-Man Remix, Namco had only released one standard version of the game, (plus Ms Pac-Man). Pac-Man Remix, was supposed to herald the reinvention of the brand.

Of course, as a well-known game, Pac-Man Remix - which was released in early August 2009 - has gained plenty of reviewers' attention.

What was immediately striking was the implicit failure of their opening sentences.

IGN Wireless' Levi Buchanan set the scene straight up with: "Few characters are more synonymous with videogames than Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog - save for one: Pac-Man".

Nigel Wood, from iPhone Game Network started his review with a loaded question: "Everyone loves Pac-Man right?"

Macworld's Chris Holt was more direct, "You have to feel bad for Pac-Man".

For Jeremy Horwitz at iLounge, it was more like I still haven't found what I'm looking for. He said, "As much as we've been disappointed by Namco's past efforts to release Pac-Man games for the iPod and iPhone, we've hungered for an improved version."

At least Pocket Gamer's Jon Mundy took a different route: "The musical remix is a tricky thing," he pondered.

The crux of most reviews revolved around two things: new features and the controls. Neatly this matched the much used reviewing format - The Good? and The Bad?

Starting positively, everyone loved the new boss levels which see Pac-Man battling it out with giant versions of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.

"By far my favorite additions to Pac-Man Remix are the bosses. These giant ghosts dominate the maze. To defeat them, Pac must gobble a power pellet. The boss then explodes into a dozen or so normal-sized ghosts which can be eaten. When the power pellet's effects wear off, the boss is reconstituted," reckoned IGN's Buchanan.

"The final showdown features all four of these spectral meanies and will certainly test your skills," noted Nigel Wood.

There was less agreement over the decision to slow the game down to improve controllability.

Buchanan reckoned "The game is smartly slowed down a hair, which makes the controls much more manageable".

Pocket Gamer's Jon Mundy said, "And a slowing of the pace is the last thing it needs. Compared to the original, Pac-Man Remix appears to be walking (hovering?) through mud".

Nick Wood was equally forthright when it came to the controls.

"The main sore point with the game though are the controls. And with a game like Pac-Man it's ALL about the controls! You are given two choices, control pad or swipe. Personally, the control pad is the most useless excuse for a virtual d-pad I have ever seen. It's pretty much un-usable in this environment, where quick timing is crucial."

Over on MacWorld, Chris Holt agreed. "The controls are also disappointing. The player has two ways to control Pac-Man: by flicking a finger across the touchscreen surface or by creating a joystick configuration on the touchscreen. Neither is particularly intuitive."

Unsurprisingly, most reviews concluded along cup half empty, cup half full lines.

"There's an inescapable feeling that Remix is a poor man's attempt at updating the excellent [Pac-Man] Arrangement, which for its less sophisticated graphics and music was actually a lot more fun," said iLounge [B]

"A fun re-imagining of Pac-Man that fumbles the general flow of gameplay with ill-advised gimmicks and unsatisfactory controls," said Pocket Gamer [6/10].

"Breezed through it in less than two hours. Once it's over, there is little to entice you back," suggested iPhone Game Network. [3/5]

For AppVee's unnamed reviewer, it boiled down to the cost of yet another Pac-Man game. "But Namco has earned a reputation for overpricing their apps and they definitely have with this game as well." [no score given]

Steve Palley at Slide To Play agreed. "All in all, we'd feel a heck of a lot better about Pac-Man Remix if it were $2.99 or so instead of $5.99. Skilled players can run through all 30 levels in under two hours--even on the hardest difficulty level--and with no online or social competitive element, there's really not much to do after that." [2/4]

There were some more positive thoughts however.

MacWorld concluded, "The controls really hold back this title from being as much fun as it should be, but if you enjoy the quick-reflexes strategy of exploring mazes, Pac-Man Remix is worth your $6". [7/10]

"Pac-Man Remix is a huge step up from the original arcade port of Pac on the iPhone. Why? Because it takes some of the constraints (and strengths) of the platform in mind," was IGN Wireless' view, giving the game the highest score it got [7.5/10].

And you know what, we'll be back to do it all again in a couple of weeks when Pac-Man Championship Edition is released for iPhone .