Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures – Nintendo Wii U
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- Animated series based story line: The epic battle follows an original story line inspired from the highly anticipated animated series launching this summer
- Characters and environments: A huge all-new cast of characters, good and evil, all developed from the animated series; As well as brand new settings shown in the series as well
- Unique Pac-Man power-ups: Pac will need to utilize a host of new and unique power-ups to stop the ghosts and defeat the evil bosses
- All new multi player and maze modes: Re-imagined maze mode features that will allow you and up to 3 friends to play cooperatively or competitively
- Playable vehicles: After collecting enough bonus pick-ups, the player unlocks arcade-style mini-games in which he gets to drive and fly vehicles like the Cherry Copter and Pineapple tank that appear in the cartoon
Product Description
Product Details
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- ASIN: B00CSLIYXY
- Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 1.6 ounces
- Media: Video Game
- Release Date: October 29, 2013
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
- #53 in Video Games > Wii U > Games
So it’s fitting then, that these two struggles collide headfirst in “Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures”, an attempt to reboot the character inside of a 3D platformer. The result is a refreshingly uncynical romp that hearkens back to the early 2000’s, when a game didn’t have to do anything more than be a game. Surprisingly, in today’s cutthroat world of people criticizing games for not having enough “emotion”, this carefree formula delivers in spades.
There’s not much here in the way of narrative, but for formality’s sake, here’s the basic set-up. Pac-Man is a student in a futuristic city, which is suddenly set upon by ghosts led by the evil Betrayus. After surviving the initial onslaught of them, however, he discovers that his two best friends have been kidnapped, and that the villain has also taken a volatile device known as the Fridgidigitator. That’s pretty much it, but honestly, you’re not left wanting for much more than that. The dialogue is cute and even charmingly clever at times, like some of the better Saturday morning cartoons jcp black friday 2015 out there. But then again, nobody’s necessarily playing a Pac-Man game for the plot.
Namco-Bandai went the extra mile, though, and added in an element that could have either made the game or broken it, and it’s pleasing to say that the former occurred. The power-ups in “Ghostly Adventures” are a sheer delight, and elevate the game to a level that’s head and shoulders above the competition. None of them feel gimmicky or tacky in the slightest, each of them contributing something to the wide variety of worlds. Obstructed by a lava geyser? Freeze it as Ice-Pac, then use it to hop to the next area. Want to bounce between a maze of vertical walls? Turn into Rubber-Pac and bounce away. The other power-ups are just as fun, and allow to do everything from shoot elemental blasts, magnetize yourself to metal surfaces, or turn into the Pac-Man equivalent of a Katamari ball, except with more destruction and less collecting stuff. These are all very charming little abilities, and add an extra layer of depth to the game overall, making it one with more variety than others out there.
Altogether, the game really plays like a dream. Levels are not too long or too short, for the most part, and considering you’ll occasionally need to replay one or two to progress, which is one of my only gripes, that’s a godsend. The boss fights are all very creative and fun to battle, and never feel like something to dread. And to top it all off, there are things to break up the platforming, like lava-surfing and sliding down icy passages. To be quite honest, this game comes at a funny time, because almost every single complaint I had about the recent “Sonic Lost World” is completely inverted in “Ghostly Adventures.” Things I hated in that game are things I love about this one, due to the fact that they are done right here, and it never feels like the game is trying to be something it’s not, which is an unlikely occurrence into today’s marketplace.
Now, it seems that the developer did not necessarily have a huge vote of confidence in this game, which is probably why the graphics are a bit on the lower budgeted side. It’s certainly not an ugly game, but some textures are kind of jagged and flat, and don’t really pop out like other games today. Some levels certainly look better than others, though, and so it’s kind of a mixed bag in the end. What’s not mixed, though, is the creativity present in each level, which makes up for the lack of graphical prowess. Environments are widely varied, even within worlds that have specific designations like fire or ice. Even the more dark, murky levels are alive with colors and clever visuals which lend a fun, snappy vibe to the entire experience. So while these are certainly not the best graphics you’re going to see in a game this year, they may very well be some of the more colorful, which definitely works for what kind of the developers were trying to make.
The music and voice acting in this game might be pretty divisive for some. True, the tracks are somewhat endearing, and certainly fit the mood of each level. However, they’re not necessarily the most memorable pieces, and it’s a real pity that most of the incredibly fun boss and mini-boss encounters don’t have tracks of their own. As far as the voice acting goes, I personally find it to be rather adorable and endearing, with each character having a defined attitude and snap. Pac-Man himself is a fun little guy, constantly making puns which are so terrible that you may wince, but are ultimately going to make you laugh out loud. Some may be put off by it sounding exactly like a kids’ cartoon, right down to how simplistic the story-telling and cutscenes are, but it didn’t damage my experience at all. In fact, it lent a little something to the overall tone that struck a chord.
That tone is one found in many platformers of yesteryear, from “Crash Bandicoot” to “Tak and the Power of Juju” to, more obviously, “Pac-Man World 2.” This game shows a remarkable amount of restraint, like those games, and never tries to be something it’s not. There are no gimmicks or marketing ploys here, only gameplay and funny, pithy little story that simply serves the home depot black friday 2015 purpose of pulling you from one level to the next. Furthermore, there are no attempts here to reinvent platformers, or some pretentious drivel like that. Instead of buying a new car, Namco-Bandai refurbished the parts and gave it a new paint job. That is to say, they took an established, classic formula, and managed to do in a way that feels truly sincere.
“Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures” is precisely what the doctor ordered for the troubled 3D platformer genre, having solid gameplay enhanced by fun power-ups, varied levels, and an environment of innocent fun that feels alien in today’s cutthroat world of competing military shooters, sandbox games and the like. Sometimes, it doesn’t hurt for a game to try nothing more than being a game, and that is precisely what Namco Bandai has done here.
Thought it’d just be a goofy game like the T.V. show.
Found out I like it a lot more than the new cartoon. The play style is just like the ORIGINAL PS1 Spyro Games (the Insomniac Trilogy, you know, before Universal took it away from Insomniac and the franchise went to crap).
I just love it. If you know what the original Spyro games are like, you know what this game is like.
One major difference graphically – the colors don’t give me a splitting migraine (it’s true, Spyro gives me a terrible headache after I play on it for a while). The colors are nicely diffused but still bright and enjoyable.
Grab this game, young or old, if you are a fan of this type of gameplay.
Edit: Thought I’d give an update – I just beat this game. The ending may be considered lacking by some, but it had me laughing my butt off. If you know the cartoon, you’d enjoy the humor. The bosses are also very easy, that’s alright for me, I enjoyed the game. The game is definitely geared towards kids. My only complaint is the controls for the balloon form are lacking. Thankfully the devs put a ton of save spots all over the place to compensate.
The graphics are great and the soundtrack fits nicely throughout the levels again though it plays almost exactly like a Mario game so if you have played those games you’ll feel a sense of deja vu though don’t let that turn you away from this game overall it’s still a fun one. So for fans of the Pac-Man and looking for a new game here’s one to take a look at.