Thread: PMCEDX: Uhh... Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

That acronym didn't work did it? No...
Anyway! In 2007, Namco Bandai resurrected Pac-Man once again to hit our (now) big screens for some intense pellet nomming. But, I think a lot of us were starting to find the visuals of Pac-Man a tad boring. Same grid, same colours, same noises, for 255 levels. Pac Man Championship Edition changed all that!
They plugged in some awesome music to put your speaker's bass to the test, they made the visuals all psychedelic and entrancing to make you play more and the gameplay was... well, Pac-Man! But we all love how it plays!
They also expanded on the original game by adding new modes to the game and altering the field of play. The game modes mainly consisted of 5min and 10min games where you have to survive the entire time and get as many points as possible. Once beaten, each one dished an achievement which was definitely deserved as some were ridiculously hard to beat!
The way they changed the field of play was whenever you cleared a side of the board of it's pellets, an item (usually fruit) appeared on the other side. Once eaten, a fresh batch of pellets would be thrown over and in a different pattern. This ultimately makes it a fast-paced game and makes it hard for you to lose your flow as there are no silly cut scenes of PAC-ZILLA chasing a ghost.
The game, whilst great, could easily be beaten in one sitting so there was a lack of replay value unless you're a wakking Pac-Maniac.

November 2010 arrives and with it, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. I had personally not seen anything of this game at all on websites. It hid itself from me very well. Once I did miraculously spot it though, the trial had to be downloaded... and to be honest, I wish I had just bought the game straight away because this just BLOWS the previous iteration away big time!
The soundtrack got four tracks better and will put your speakers to the test even more! The graphics are even more captivating and with the addition of visuals from previous Pac-Man titles and being able to customize how you want the game to look whilst playing is a godsend for people who are fans of specific Pac-Man designs.
The gameplay... well, it’s Pac-Man again, but with a twist! Instead of the sides of the board being entirely filled with pellets, there are set routes to follow which makes it easier for you to plan your journey. Oh, and you know Inky, Blinky, Pinky & Clyde? Well, they’re in the game. It’s just that they’ve brought ALL their friends with them! When passing their (lazy) friends on the board, they will wake up and join the chase. You can have about 50 of them chasing after you which is so much fun when the game is going really fast and you keep almost making mistakes! Picking up a powerpill though and eating all those buggers is one of the most satisfying moments in gaming!
Speaking of almost making mistakes, you’re also equipped with bombs which when dropped, sends all the ghosts back to the pen and slow the game down a tad just so you can get yourself back to normal. A great addition for those who cannot cope with the speed of the game.
The game has a lot more modes than the previous with a selection of maps to play on as well. Modes can vary from 5 and 10 minute runs of trying not to run out of lives, Time Trials to set a challenge for your friends and a mode where you try to eat the most ghosts in one go on each map. All this with eight levels to juggle plus being able to to just freely play or play in the dark with Pac-Man as your light, the gaming time just keeps piling up!
Sadly, the only thing that might reduce the amount of play time is the achievements. With a bit more determination and skill than the previous game, you can get all the achievements in one sitting again. Annoying, but, at least it’s an easy 200G.



Overall, at 800MS points, this is a really good deal. A fantastic iteration of Pac-Man and possibly the best ever. 9/10