Namco's newest Pac-Man game has been present at the past three E3 shows and has yet to be released. It debuted in 1997 as Pac-Man Ghost Zone, reappeared in 1998 as Pac-Man 3-D, and most recently appeared this year as Pac-Man World 20th Anniversary. This game has had one of the strangest development histories of any game; if not, it has certainly had one of the longest. If you were in control of one of the most important icons in the video game world, you'd probably take your time getting it right too. A test run with Pac-Man World 20th Anniversary at E3 1999 in Los Angeles indicates that all of the revisions that this game went through will pay off for Namco.
 Pac-Man World places Pac-Man in a 3-D world where he must perform a variety of tasks typical of most traditional platform titles. Although the game is made up of polygons, most of the action takes place on a relatively 2-D plane while the camera remains in a fixed position viewing the action from the side. Pac-Man can move in all 3 dimensions, but the levels don't venture enough on the z-axis to require radical camera movements. Think of the game as a side scroller with added depth.
Pac-Man World looks and feels like a Pac-Man title should and most closely resembles Pac-Land. The graphics are clean and bright as are the environments. Pac-Man enthusiasts will immediately recognize the perfect Pac-Man sound effects which are nicely blended with some updated sound and music. And what Pac-Man game would be complete without ghosts? The familiar sheet covered monsters are after Pac-Man once again, but Packy can retaliate and turn the tables if he consumes the appropriate power pellet. With its bright colors and cheerful mood, Pac-Man World delivers an appropriate happy Pac-Man experience.
 With the new and improved worlds for Pac-Man come some new moves for him to master. Pac-Man can run, jump, smash items, and perform various other moves. What is nice about his new selection of moves is that they never become tedious to perform. Namco has succeeded in giving Pac-Man some interesting new abilities while keeping them simple and intuitive. The idea is to add variety to the game without players having to struggle to perform the new moves. This shallow learning curve enables just about anyone to pick up the game and get going quickly.
The main game in Pac-Man World is fun on its own merits, but this title is also packed with bonuses. Of course the original Pac-Man is present as a perfect port of the coin-op that will have you singing Pac-Man Fever in no time. There is also an updated version of the original Pac-Man that uses
3-D mazes with the polygon models of Pac-Man and the ghosts. It most closely resembles an updated version of Pac-Mania. Just think, many companies would try to release this game alone as their retro title and charge full price. In this package, it's just one of three games that you get.
 In this time of retro gaming popularity, Pac-Man is just one in a handful of titles attempting to capitalize on a successful franchise. Almost all of these retro games fall into two categories. First we have the ones that offer little more than the original game with souped-up graphics, but no real game play additions. Others tend to drift so far away from their roots that they are not even recognizable as the same franchise. Pac-Man World is one of the great exceptions that moves into enough new territory to provide more interesting and varied game play than its predecessors while retaining enough elements of its past to retain its retro charm. Look for it in stores this fall.
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 Expected Release Date:
Fall '99
Developer / Publisher:
Namco
Players:
One
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