Gaming Target - GameCube: Pac-Man vs.

Written by Kyle Williams on January 07, 2004

Full Review: A noble attempt at greatness by a partially eaten pizza.

Pac-Man. The partially eaten pizza inspired hero sure has enjoyed a life of luxury as he's been seated atop the pinnacle of arcade greatness. Let's face it, Pac-Man was the game that, along with the likes of Space Invaders, defined what an early 1980's youth wanted quarters for. He and his family have spawned a slew of video games and pinball machines that have harbored a fascination for all things Pac related. Do you remember the old Pac-Man cartoon? I sure do and at the time, I loved it.

So, having lived his life at the top, it was neigh inevitable that Namco would bring back the little yellow pellet-muncher to help kick-off the idea that connectivity with a portable system is the next big thing in home video games. That concept is where Pac-Man Vs. comes into play. By requiring you to own a Game Boy Advance (or GBA SP) and a Game Boy/GameCube Link Cable to play the game, Pac-Man Vs. was supposed to be the title that made everyone run out and buy that link cable. However, what was once the buzz at E3 has been demoted to being a free add-on disc that is included with the recently repackaged Player's Choice edition of Pac-Man World 2 and with the auto racing title R: Racing Evolution. Free is good, but definitely makes you wonder about the quality of the game...

At its heart, Pac-Man Vs. is simply a multiplayer version of the classic Pac-Man. The biggest catch here is that while one player plays a game of Pac-Man on the GBA screen, up to three other players take control of the ghosts on your television screen. The hand is tipped in Pac-Man's favor by limiting the field of view for each of the ghost-controlling players. The title goes beyond being a simple game of tag by alternating who gets to play as Pac-Man and, in-turn, earns points. With the ultimate goal being to acquire a certain number of points first, each player must use their time as Pac-Man wisely, gobbling up as many pellets, ghosts and as much fruit as they can before being "tagged" and losing control of the Pac-meister.

In general, the concept of multiplayer tag works out decently in Pac-Man Vs. but there is just something missing from the formula. The one thing that I have actually been able to put my finger on is the lack of intensity that the game holds. This is largely due to the fact that the speed of the game is severely slowed down from any other version I've played (save the old Atari 2600 monster). For the player controlling Pac-Man, it never feels as if you really need to be running from the ghosts. For the players controlling the ghosts, it never feels like there is any skill involved in catching the little yellow guy. It's really unfortunate but the formula just feels unbalanced and is largely forgettable.