GENRE
	Arcade
	DEVELOPER
	Namco
	PUBLISHER
	Nintendo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

The yellow wedge is back for the 78th time in a port of the version that initially landed on Nintendo’s crowning eight-bit achievement. Suffice to say, not much has changed. In fact, nothing has changed; this being for the better. Therefore, is Pac-Man really worth your hard-earned dollar?

visuals

As always was and always will be, Pac-Man in any two-dimensional display appears as an incomplete pie as bright and shining a blonde as the sun itself. Each level is closed off and bracketed to create a square maze, consisting of the most basic of colors. The greatest amount of color variation takes place in the form of the pesky ghost folk that inhabit each level and threaten your constant goal of devouring every dot in this digital world. As far as the translation from the NES to the GBA goes, there are no complaints one could rightfully level against Nintendo, who handled the port.

audio

What? Sorry, I didn’t hear you. You’re asking me how Pac-Man sounds on the Game Boy Advance? Sorry, I didn’t hear anything.

Really, as with every classic Pac-Man release, the only sound that’ll ever sift through your ears are the arcade denotations of swallows, ghost-paralyzation, and level progression.

gameplay

Guide the guy (sorry, “Man”) through a virtual labyrinth filled with scrumptious dots and the occasional fruit, such as cherries, bananas, and oranges. Anything and everything you consume, especially temporarily weakened ghosts, will net you a certain amount of points. Though all dots must be swallowed to progress to the next level (which is that much more difficult than the last), it is not necessary to digest the other edible objects. However, since the point of Pac-Man has only ever been to tally as high a score as possible, I’d recommend it.

Aside from these fruits, the only other variation in the pace of the game is in fact from the larger and distinctly bulging white dots that, when eaten, morph the ghosts into a mutated blue. In this state, Pac-Man can turn the tables and take a bite out of his foes for a considerable amount of points. Though they do regenerate, acting out the aforementioned doubles in effect by buying you a bit of time to collect any remaining hard-to-get dots.

multiplayer

N/A

overall

Dearest reader, what else can I say? For those of you who just skipped down to this part of the review, and you few devoted alike, I’ll recap in a couple sentences. Pac-Man shall always be an entertaining experience for all eternity, on any console, regardless of the technological evolution. Being that so many versions are available however, at even cheaper prices, there’s not much reason to invest in this port. Obviously, in creating the Classic NES line, Nintendo was merely entertaining the novelty value of the golden days. And that’s all that Pac-Man for the Game Boy Advance is –- a novelty.

6.9/10