Pac-Man World 2 Review

In 1980, Namco released a revolutionary new character: Pac-Man. He appealed to many non-gamers with his simple yet addictive gameplay. Pac-Man decided to go on adventure on the Super NES, with disaturous results. He tried again on the Playstation in 1999 with Pac-Man World, but that wasn't so good. So in 2002, he finally starred in an adventure worthy of the Pac-Man name.

Pac-Man World 2 starts out with the ghost taking the Golden Fruit from the center tree in Pac-Village, thus releacing a menacing ghost named Spooky. Pac-Man must jouney across 6 world of platforming action, using his classic skills along with new ones in order to get the fruit.

The game's controls are simple: Control Stick to move, A to Jump, A in the air to do a butt-bounce, B on the ground to do a rev roll, and B in the air to do a flip kick. All these moves are thoughtfully interrgrated into levels, such as trampolines you have to bounce back and forth on, and boxes floating in the air that can be broken with a flip kick. Pac-Man's not always jumping around, though. Some levels give Pac a pair of skates, others allow him to swim around underwater (the funnest levels). The challenge is evenly paced: the first levels are easy and act like tutorials while some of the later levels can be very hard. Adding replay value is the inclusion of fruit around each level. If you're a collector-maniac, you'll love tracking down every single one of these pieces of produce. There are also tolkens to collect that buy you arcade games like the original Pac-Man, Pac-Attack, and a Jukebox to listen to the game's amazingly well-done soundtrack. At the end of each world is a boss, which tests Pac-Man's athletic skills to the limit.

This game isn't without its problems, though. The camera can be fine at one moment and frustratingly bad the next. You'll often die because the camera doesn't turn where you want it to. Another complaint is the game's length. It's far too short, with only about 25 levels or so. Also, some of the arcade cabniets have outrageously high tolken prices: Mrs. Pac-Man costs over 150 tolkens! But, if you're a Pac-Maniac, you'll probably think it's worth the high price.

VERDICT:

Gameplay: Solid and fun. The camera can be wonky, but the overral tightness in the controls make up for it. 8.25

Graphics: Looks good for a standard Gamecube game. Not horrible, but not great. 7.0

Audio: Astounding. All of it's orchestrated and it sounds lovely. 9.5

Overall: If you like platformers, you'll probably like this game. Even if you aren't, it's still a solid purchase for the Gamecube

8.25 out of 10