Pac-Man is one of those games that has stood the test of time because it is simplistic and incredibly fun. The Championship Edition port for the Nintendo Switch takes the fast-paced arcade style of the 2016 original and brings that fun to a new platform!
Title: Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Release Date: February 22, 2018
Price: $19.99
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus comes with three game modes: Tutorial, Score Attack, and Adventure. Tutorial is pretty self-explanatory as it walks you through the game systems to get you familiar with the game as a whole, but if you’re a fan of the 1980 original, you can simply bypass that and jump straight into the action like I did as the learning curve for the game is not steep in any way, shape or form.
First off is Score Attack Mode. Here, it’s like classic Pac-Man with some different twists. For example, it’s classic in the sense that you run around and collect dots, but now you do so until your fruit gauge fills up and then you collect the fruit and move onto the next board. Ghosts behave much differently as coming into contact with them is not an instant death. Instead, you simply suffer some pushback. A ghost can become empowered and if you touch a ghost while it is empowered, you will die. It is a bit different from classic Pac-Man, but the change is rather welcome. The speed of the game is increased over the classic game significantly, making things more interesting.
Most of the game is on a timer. Gone are the days where you dodge ghosts until you eat every pellet on the board and advance. You have to clear as much as you can within the time limit to score the most points.
The other mode is Adventure mode and it’s the same Pac-Man action from the Score Attack Mode, but you now have objections. You are ranked based on how well you complete the objectives, how fast you complete them and how many deaths you incur. For the first few that I played, it was to collect six fruits, so you have to collect enough pellets to get the fruit to spawn and then collect it. A narrow time limit and the ghosts make it challenging, but if you use your speed boosts and bomb jumps, you can subvert some of those obstacles in sticky situations.
That’s about the depth of the game. It is simple and straightforward and it proves that you don’t need a lot of depth to have fun. The game also offers a lot of customization options to where you can change the textures/colors of the board, the pellets, even the characters. Some of them are HD and some of them remind you of 3D block pixels similar to 3D Dot Game Heroes for the PlayStation 3. The fact that you can mix and match different color schemes, backgrounds, and even the stage music gives you a great visual experience each and every time you fire up the game.
There is a brand-new mode added to the Nintendo Switch version which is a 2-Player Co-Op Mode. A Co-Op Mode is perfect for the Nintendo Switch. The versatility of the console makes Pac Mac a perfect game to travel with and play with a friend.
Nostalgia is fun and I’m happy that Bandai Namco brought Pac-Man back to the masses. I’m also happy that they tried something new with the franchise. While some may argue that the original is better, the original is just that… the original. This isn’t 1980 anymore and Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus shows that you can re-invent the wheel and still call it a wheel. The game is insanely fun and highly addicting. If you’re looking for a great party game, a game on the go or a game just to play solo and have a lot of fun with, you can’t go wrong with this installment in the storied franchise that is Pac-Man.
If you don’t own a Nintendo Switch, you can pick up the 2016 release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows.
Review Disclosure Statement: Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus was provided to us by Bandai Namco for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please go review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.
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Pac Man Championship Edition 2 Plus
Summary
Lightning fast-paced action makes a storied franchise feel fresh again. The game is simple, fun and addicting and the addition of a two-player mode is welcome. The cons lie in the two-player mode as you do have to rely on a bit of micromanagement (like bursting the fruit requires you to “kiss” each other). The game does make up for it with plenty of customization options and challenges that will keep you playing for hours.
