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This thread has been linked to the game 'Pacman Championship Edition DX'.
Balance is an important aspect in videogame design. You can't give the player too much of a good thing in case it removes the challenge. Conversely, you can't deny them the opportunity to go postal on enemies just because you want them to earn every millimetre of progress. Games need to walk a fine tightrope, and one of the greatest examples of this is Pacman.
Pacman has to eat every dot in the maze. This on its own would be too easy, so they put 4 ghosts in the maze that can kill Pacman. Naturally, a method to turn the tables was required, and so the power pellet was also introduced. Eating the power pellet allows Pacman to also eat the ghosts. There are 4 per maze, which means that the player theoretically will divide the maze into quarters, and utilise 1 pellet per area. Thus, equilibrium is achieved; the game is neither too easy and therefore boring, nor too hard and therefore stressful.
Pacman Championship Edition DX follows the same concept, but in an entirely new way. There can be several power pellets laying around the screen at any given time. This is ok, though, because there can also be a hundred ghosts!
The old standard formula of Pacman took over the world, becoming one of the most beloved of games in the entire history of this hobby. Even your Mum knows who Pacman is. 30 years ago, you could not escape him, he was everywhere. The game, if truth be told, has not aged all that well. It certainly would not be relevant today, which is probably why Namco have re-invented it so explosively.
The fuse was lit 3 years ago, with the original Championship Edition. In that title, things were tightened up considerably from the original. The infinite nature of "Here's another maze with faster ghosts" was abandoned in favour of a more streamlined time-based challenge, with the focus being on getting as many points as possible within 5 minutes. Every game took place inside the sole, albeit morphing, maze. Eating all the pills on one side of the maze caused a fruit to appear on the other side, and eating this fruit refilled the first side, generally deforming the maze in the process. The basic visuals of the original also received a neon-tinged overhaul, as has become standard practise, and the 8-bit chiptune soundtrack was replaced with a more thumping techno vibe. Everything was dragged bang up-to-date, and the result was one of the best Live Arcade exclusives to date.
As the score got higher and the game sped up whilst time was running down, the tension ramped up to near heart attack-inducing levels. There was always a higher score to get, and a friend or two to knock further down the leaderboard. Eating 4 ghosts in succession was no longer any kind of special feat, and a competent player was soon stringing 12 or more into a combo.
How do you follow such an incredible feat? Many who played and loved the 2007 game would have thought it impossible. And yet, Namco have managed it in quite breathtaking style.
First and foremost is the addition of sleeping ghosts. They wake up when you pass them, but they have none of the AI of the original 4. Instead, they are on you like the hounds of hell, not letting you out of their sight as they chase you relentlessly. Before you know it there can be easily be 50 or more in a train, weaving around the maze in exactly the same pattern as you except one second later. 50 ghosts is scary, but 50 ghosts once you have eaten a power pellet ... That's an opportunity!
This leads to one of the most scintillating moments in recent gaming memory. Eating the power pellet and then turning to face a long line of ghosts is fun enough. The fact that each successful chomp increases the pace of the game along with the pitch of the sound for your score turns it into the kind of happening that is normally reserved for one's dreams. It is so good that you find yourself not wanting to eat less than 30 ghosts, because this is nowhere near as satisfying. Instead of just keeping yourself alive, you start to play with the aim of getting more ghosts following you, so you can turn around and eat them all in one stunning move.
The game, in short, gets you playing for a higher score without you even realising that you have been groomed so. This carries right through the entirety of the title. You not only know your score for any map, you also know your ranking, and even what percentile you have hit. There is even a combination score, made up of aspects of all the multiple maps and modes. Maps? Modes? In a Pacman game?
Yes, maps and modes. There are plenty of each. There is a succession of cleverly designed mazes to work through, each one unlocking the next even more well thought out variant. In terms of game modes, too, this is no longer a case of "Eat all the dots and move on." You get timed games, time trials, and a whole new 'Ghost combo' mode which is exactly as the name implies; eat a whole bunch of ghosts in a tiny amount of time.
The theme of variety continues in the graphics, allowing you to choose not only the scheme for the maze visuals, but also for Mr. Pac and the ghosts. You like 8-bit pixellated? Go for it, but if you prefer cartoony Pacmania style graphics you can have them instead. You even get to pick what colour scheme you use, along with the BGM. Namco are basically celebrating their icon with this title, and who can blame them?
Fears that this is just the same game rehashed are understandable, but entirely unjustified. What we have here is a complete overhaul of the original game, retooled for contemporary audiences. Where we were once challenged merely to survive, we are now coaxed into achieving ever higher scores. Death, once the biggest disaster of all, has been reduced to a mere inconvenience. Pacman has bombs, and the screen also slows down and zooms in slightly when you are about to collide with a ghost. Should you collide, then you will pick up from where you were, but the important fact is that the game speed has reduced by several levels, and this will in turn affect how much you can score. Bombs come with the same penalty, so relying on the safety nets won't see you troubling the top end of any leaderboards. Thus, you are pushed in the direction of walking the tightrope between risk and reward; get a whole load of ghosts after you at the highest speed you can handle in order to score more than your friends. You can lose hours of your life to your attempts to squeeze just a few thousand more points out of those final few seconds.
A train of 62 ghosts chasing you at a speed that your eyes can barely keep up with, with a score that edges ever closer to that "I KNOW I CAN BEAT IT!" time, with mere seconds left to close the deal? That, my friends, is pure adrenaline. That is where Pacman Championship Edition DX sets out its stall and invites you to sample its wares. That is the hook that it tempts you with. Unblinking, unthinking, unwavering; twitch gaming in 'the zone', for nothing more than bragging rights. Success may be measured in points, but this time those points have some serious weight behind them.
Namco may be accused of living on past glories. They may be relying on famous names. But, they may have also given us the game of the year.
10/10
Pacman has to eat every dot in the maze. This on its own would be too easy, so they put 4 ghosts in the maze that can kill Pacman. Naturally, a method to turn the tables was required, and so the power pellet was also introduced. Eating the power pellet allows Pacman to also eat the ghosts. There are 4 per maze, which means that the player theoretically will divide the maze into quarters, and utilise 1 pellet per area. Thus, equilibrium is achieved; the game is neither too easy and therefore boring, nor too hard and therefore stressful.
Pacman Championship Edition DX follows the same concept, but in an entirely new way. There can be several power pellets laying around the screen at any given time. This is ok, though, because there can also be a hundred ghosts!
The old standard formula of Pacman took over the world, becoming one of the most beloved of games in the entire history of this hobby. Even your Mum knows who Pacman is. 30 years ago, you could not escape him, he was everywhere. The game, if truth be told, has not aged all that well. It certainly would not be relevant today, which is probably why Namco have re-invented it so explosively.
The fuse was lit 3 years ago, with the original Championship Edition. In that title, things were tightened up considerably from the original. The infinite nature of "Here's another maze with faster ghosts" was abandoned in favour of a more streamlined time-based challenge, with the focus being on getting as many points as possible within 5 minutes. Every game took place inside the sole, albeit morphing, maze. Eating all the pills on one side of the maze caused a fruit to appear on the other side, and eating this fruit refilled the first side, generally deforming the maze in the process. The basic visuals of the original also received a neon-tinged overhaul, as has become standard practise, and the 8-bit chiptune soundtrack was replaced with a more thumping techno vibe. Everything was dragged bang up-to-date, and the result was one of the best Live Arcade exclusives to date.
As the score got higher and the game sped up whilst time was running down, the tension ramped up to near heart attack-inducing levels. There was always a higher score to get, and a friend or two to knock further down the leaderboard. Eating 4 ghosts in succession was no longer any kind of special feat, and a competent player was soon stringing 12 or more into a combo.
How do you follow such an incredible feat? Many who played and loved the 2007 game would have thought it impossible. And yet, Namco have managed it in quite breathtaking style.
First and foremost is the addition of sleeping ghosts. They wake up when you pass them, but they have none of the AI of the original 4. Instead, they are on you like the hounds of hell, not letting you out of their sight as they chase you relentlessly. Before you know it there can be easily be 50 or more in a train, weaving around the maze in exactly the same pattern as you except one second later. 50 ghosts is scary, but 50 ghosts once you have eaten a power pellet ... That's an opportunity!
This leads to one of the most scintillating moments in recent gaming memory. Eating the power pellet and then turning to face a long line of ghosts is fun enough. The fact that each successful chomp increases the pace of the game along with the pitch of the sound for your score turns it into the kind of happening that is normally reserved for one's dreams. It is so good that you find yourself not wanting to eat less than 30 ghosts, because this is nowhere near as satisfying. Instead of just keeping yourself alive, you start to play with the aim of getting more ghosts following you, so you can turn around and eat them all in one stunning move.
The game, in short, gets you playing for a higher score without you even realising that you have been groomed so. This carries right through the entirety of the title. You not only know your score for any map, you also know your ranking, and even what percentile you have hit. There is even a combination score, made up of aspects of all the multiple maps and modes. Maps? Modes? In a Pacman game?
Yes, maps and modes. There are plenty of each. There is a succession of cleverly designed mazes to work through, each one unlocking the next even more well thought out variant. In terms of game modes, too, this is no longer a case of "Eat all the dots and move on." You get timed games, time trials, and a whole new 'Ghost combo' mode which is exactly as the name implies; eat a whole bunch of ghosts in a tiny amount of time.
The theme of variety continues in the graphics, allowing you to choose not only the scheme for the maze visuals, but also for Mr. Pac and the ghosts. You like 8-bit pixellated? Go for it, but if you prefer cartoony Pacmania style graphics you can have them instead. You even get to pick what colour scheme you use, along with the BGM. Namco are basically celebrating their icon with this title, and who can blame them?
Fears that this is just the same game rehashed are understandable, but entirely unjustified. What we have here is a complete overhaul of the original game, retooled for contemporary audiences. Where we were once challenged merely to survive, we are now coaxed into achieving ever higher scores. Death, once the biggest disaster of all, has been reduced to a mere inconvenience. Pacman has bombs, and the screen also slows down and zooms in slightly when you are about to collide with a ghost. Should you collide, then you will pick up from where you were, but the important fact is that the game speed has reduced by several levels, and this will in turn affect how much you can score. Bombs come with the same penalty, so relying on the safety nets won't see you troubling the top end of any leaderboards. Thus, you are pushed in the direction of walking the tightrope between risk and reward; get a whole load of ghosts after you at the highest speed you can handle in order to score more than your friends. You can lose hours of your life to your attempts to squeeze just a few thousand more points out of those final few seconds.
A train of 62 ghosts chasing you at a speed that your eyes can barely keep up with, with a score that edges ever closer to that "I KNOW I CAN BEAT IT!" time, with mere seconds left to close the deal? That, my friends, is pure adrenaline. That is where Pacman Championship Edition DX sets out its stall and invites you to sample its wares. That is the hook that it tempts you with. Unblinking, unthinking, unwavering; twitch gaming in 'the zone', for nothing more than bragging rights. Success may be measured in points, but this time those points have some serious weight behind them.
Namco may be accused of living on past glories. They may be relying on famous names. But, they may have also given us the game of the year.
10/10
I just knew you were going to give this a 10/10 :)
I'm not so in love with the game, but it's entertaining enough for me to warrant a purchase. Expect to see me racing* up the high score tables soon.
*by racing I mean in the same way a snail races across a garden.
I'm not so in love with the game, but it's entertaining enough for me to warrant a purchase. Expect to see me racing* up the high score tables soon.
*by racing I mean in the same way a snail races across a garden.
Excellent review Lee, as always. I cannot argue one bit with the score and your final comment, this really is a GOTY candidate for me. Trying to beat (or get closer to) your scores will certainly keep me occupied for a while.
Balance is an important aspect in videogame design. You can't give the player too much of a good thing in case it removes the challenge. Conversely, you can't deny them the opportunity to go postal on enemies just because you want them to earn every millimetre of progress. Games need to walk a fine tightrope, and one of the greatest examples of this is Pacman.
Pacman has to eat every dot in the maze. This on its own would be too easy, so they put 4 ghosts in the maze that can kill Pacman. Naturally, a method to turn the tables was required, and so the power pellet was also introduced. Eating the power pellet allows Pacman to also eat the ghosts. There are 4 per maze, which means that the player theoretically will divide the maze into quarters, and utilise 1 pellet per area. Thus, equilibrium is achieved; the game is neither too easy and therefore boring, nor too hard and therefore stressful.
Pacman Championship Edition DX follows the same concept, but in an entirely new way. There can be several power pellets laying around the screen at any given time. This is ok, though, because there can also be a hundred ghosts!
The old standard formula of Pacman took over the world, becoming one of the most beloved of games in the entire history of this hobby. Even your Mum knows who Pacman is. 30 years ago, you could not escape him, he was everywhere. The game, if truth be told, has not aged all that well. It certainly would not be relevant today, which is probably why Namco have re-invented it so explosively.
The fuse was lit 3 years ago, with the original Championship Edition. In that title, things were tightened up considerably from the original. The infinite nature of "Here's another maze with faster ghosts" was abandoned in favour of a more streamlined time-based challenge, with the focus being on getting as many points as possible within 5 minutes. Every game took place inside the sole, albeit morphing, maze. Eating all the pills on one side of the maze caused a fruit to appear on the other side, and eating this fruit refilled the first side, generally deforming the maze in the process. The basic visuals of the original also received a neon-tinged overhaul, as has become standard practise, and the 8-bit chiptune soundtrack was replaced with a more thumping techno vibe. Everything was dragged bang up-to-date, and the result was one of the best Live Arcade exclusives to date.
As the score got higher and the game sped up whilst time was running down, the tension ramped up to near heart attack-inducing levels. There was always a higher score to get, and a friend or two to knock further down the leaderboard. Eating 4 ghosts in succession was no longer any kind of special feat, and a competent player was soon stringing 12 or more into a combo.
How do you follow such an incredible feat? Many who played and loved the 2007 game would have thought it impossible. And yet, Namco have managed it in quite breathtaking style.
First and foremost is the addition of sleeping ghosts. They wake up when you pass them, but they have none of the AI of the original 4. Instead, they are on you like the hounds of hell, not letting you out of their sight as they chase you relentlessly. Before you know it there can be easily be 50 or more in a train, weaving around the maze in exactly the same pattern as you except one second later. 50 ghosts is scary, but 50 ghosts once you have eaten a power pellet ... That's an opportunity!
This leads to one of the most scintillating moments in recent gaming memory. Eating the power pellet and then turning to face a long line of ghosts is fun enough. The fact that each successful chomp increases the pace of the game along with the pitch of the sound for your score turns it into the kind of happening that is normally reserved for one's dreams. It is so good that you find yourself not wanting to eat less than 30 ghosts, because this is nowhere near as satisfying. Instead of just keeping yourself alive, you start to play with the aim of getting more ghosts following you, so you can turn around and eat them all in one stunning move.
The game, in short, gets you playing for a higher score without you even realising that you have been groomed so. This carries right through the entirety of the title. You not only know your score for any map, you also know your ranking, and even what percentile you have hit. There is even a combination score, made up of aspects of all the multiple maps and modes. Maps? Modes? In a Pacman game?
Yes, maps and modes. There are plenty of each. There is a succession of cleverly designed mazes to work through, each one unlocking the next even more well thought out variant. In terms of game modes, too, this is no longer a case of "Eat all the dots and move on." You get timed games, time trials, and a whole new 'Ghost combo' mode which is exactly as the name implies; eat a whole bunch of ghosts in a tiny amount of time.
The theme of variety continues in the graphics, allowing you to choose not only the scheme for the maze visuals, but also for Mr. Pac and the ghosts. You like 8-bit pixellated? Go for it, but if you prefer cartoony Pacmania style graphics you can have them instead. You even get to pick what colour scheme you use, along with the BGM. Namco are basically celebrating their icon with this title, and who can blame them?
Fears that this is just the same game rehashed are understandable, but entirely unjustified. What we have here is a complete overhaul of the original game, retooled for contemporary audiences. Where we were once challenged merely to survive, we are now coaxed into achieving ever higher scores. Death, once the biggest disaster of all, has been reduced to a mere inconvenience. Pacman has bombs, and the screen also slows down and zooms in slightly when you are about to collide with a ghost. Should you collide, then you will pick up from where you were, but the important fact is that the game speed has reduced by several levels, and this will in turn affect how much you can score. Bombs come with the same penalty, so relying on the safety nets won't see you troubling the top end of any leaderboards. Thus, you are pushed in the direction of walking the tightrope between risk and reward; get a whole load of ghosts after you at the highest speed you can handle in order to score more than your friends. You can lose hours of your life to your attempts to squeeze just a few thousand more points out of those final few seconds.
A train of 62 ghosts chasing you at a speed that your eyes can barely keep up with, with a score that edges ever closer to that "I KNOW I CAN BEAT IT!" time, with mere seconds left to close the deal? That, my friends, is pure adrenaline. That is where Pacman Championship Edition DX sets out its stall and invites you to sample its wares. That is the hook that it tempts you with. Unblinking, unthinking, unwavering; twitch gaming in 'the zone', for nothing more than bragging rights. Success may be measured in points, but this time those points have some serious weight behind them.
Namco may be accused of living on past glories. They may be relying on famous names. But, they may have also given us the game of the year.
10/10
Pacman has to eat every dot in the maze. This on its own would be too easy, so they put 4 ghosts in the maze that can kill Pacman. Naturally, a method to turn the tables was required, and so the power pellet was also introduced. Eating the power pellet allows Pacman to also eat the ghosts. There are 4 per maze, which means that the player theoretically will divide the maze into quarters, and utilise 1 pellet per area. Thus, equilibrium is achieved; the game is neither too easy and therefore boring, nor too hard and therefore stressful.
Pacman Championship Edition DX follows the same concept, but in an entirely new way. There can be several power pellets laying around the screen at any given time. This is ok, though, because there can also be a hundred ghosts!
The old standard formula of Pacman took over the world, becoming one of the most beloved of games in the entire history of this hobby. Even your Mum knows who Pacman is. 30 years ago, you could not escape him, he was everywhere. The game, if truth be told, has not aged all that well. It certainly would not be relevant today, which is probably why Namco have re-invented it so explosively.
The fuse was lit 3 years ago, with the original Championship Edition. In that title, things were tightened up considerably from the original. The infinite nature of "Here's another maze with faster ghosts" was abandoned in favour of a more streamlined time-based challenge, with the focus being on getting as many points as possible within 5 minutes. Every game took place inside the sole, albeit morphing, maze. Eating all the pills on one side of the maze caused a fruit to appear on the other side, and eating this fruit refilled the first side, generally deforming the maze in the process. The basic visuals of the original also received a neon-tinged overhaul, as has become standard practise, and the 8-bit chiptune soundtrack was replaced with a more thumping techno vibe. Everything was dragged bang up-to-date, and the result was one of the best Live Arcade exclusives to date.
As the score got higher and the game sped up whilst time was running down, the tension ramped up to near heart attack-inducing levels. There was always a higher score to get, and a friend or two to knock further down the leaderboard. Eating 4 ghosts in succession was no longer any kind of special feat, and a competent player was soon stringing 12 or more into a combo.
How do you follow such an incredible feat? Many who played and loved the 2007 game would have thought it impossible. And yet, Namco have managed it in quite breathtaking style.
First and foremost is the addition of sleeping ghosts. They wake up when you pass them, but they have none of the AI of the original 4. Instead, they are on you like the hounds of hell, not letting you out of their sight as they chase you relentlessly. Before you know it there can be easily be 50 or more in a train, weaving around the maze in exactly the same pattern as you except one second later. 50 ghosts is scary, but 50 ghosts once you have eaten a power pellet ... That's an opportunity!
This leads to one of the most scintillating moments in recent gaming memory. Eating the power pellet and then turning to face a long line of ghosts is fun enough. The fact that each successful chomp increases the pace of the game along with the pitch of the sound for your score turns it into the kind of happening that is normally reserved for one's dreams. It is so good that you find yourself not wanting to eat less than 30 ghosts, because this is nowhere near as satisfying. Instead of just keeping yourself alive, you start to play with the aim of getting more ghosts following you, so you can turn around and eat them all in one stunning move.
The game, in short, gets you playing for a higher score without you even realising that you have been groomed so. This carries right through the entirety of the title. You not only know your score for any map, you also know your ranking, and even what percentile you have hit. There is even a combination score, made up of aspects of all the multiple maps and modes. Maps? Modes? In a Pacman game?
Yes, maps and modes. There are plenty of each. There is a succession of cleverly designed mazes to work through, each one unlocking the next even more well thought out variant. In terms of game modes, too, this is no longer a case of "Eat all the dots and move on." You get timed games, time trials, and a whole new 'Ghost combo' mode which is exactly as the name implies; eat a whole bunch of ghosts in a tiny amount of time.
The theme of variety continues in the graphics, allowing you to choose not only the scheme for the maze visuals, but also for Mr. Pac and the ghosts. You like 8-bit pixellated? Go for it, but if you prefer cartoony Pacmania style graphics you can have them instead. You even get to pick what colour scheme you use, along with the BGM. Namco are basically celebrating their icon with this title, and who can blame them?
Fears that this is just the same game rehashed are understandable, but entirely unjustified. What we have here is a complete overhaul of the original game, retooled for contemporary audiences. Where we were once challenged merely to survive, we are now coaxed into achieving ever higher scores. Death, once the biggest disaster of all, has been reduced to a mere inconvenience. Pacman has bombs, and the screen also slows down and zooms in slightly when you are about to collide with a ghost. Should you collide, then you will pick up from where you were, but the important fact is that the game speed has reduced by several levels, and this will in turn affect how much you can score. Bombs come with the same penalty, so relying on the safety nets won't see you troubling the top end of any leaderboards. Thus, you are pushed in the direction of walking the tightrope between risk and reward; get a whole load of ghosts after you at the highest speed you can handle in order to score more than your friends. You can lose hours of your life to your attempts to squeeze just a few thousand more points out of those final few seconds.
A train of 62 ghosts chasing you at a speed that your eyes can barely keep up with, with a score that edges ever closer to that "I KNOW I CAN BEAT IT!" time, with mere seconds left to close the deal? That, my friends, is pure adrenaline. That is where Pacman Championship Edition DX sets out its stall and invites you to sample its wares. That is the hook that it tempts you with. Unblinking, unthinking, unwavering; twitch gaming in 'the zone', for nothing more than bragging rights. Success may be measured in points, but this time those points have some serious weight behind them.
Namco may be accused of living on past glories. They may be relying on famous names. But, they may have also given us the game of the year.
10/10