Pac-Man Pinball Review for Mobile

Pac-Man Pinball Review

Pac-Man Pinball fails to provide the one thing a virtual pinball game must: accurate ball physics.

The Good

It's a Pac-Man pinball game!
Decent sound.

The Bad

The physics are irrevocably messed up
Game performance is especially inconsistent across handsets.

Pac-Man Pinball is, as you might imagine, a game of pinball with a Pac-Man theme. To improve your score on the game's single table, you'll collect pellets, or pieces of fruit. Unfortunately, the game's physics are really messed up, and its speed is hugely inconsistent across handsets. On high-end phones, the game might have benefited from a frame limiter, as it runs much too fast.

You have to see these physics in action to understand just how crazy they are. Actually, just take our word for it.

Physics are paramount in a pinball game, as you're pretty much just playing with angles and the kinetic transference of energy. Pac-Man Pinball's physics are noticeably problematic from the get-go. The ball seems to momentarily adhere to every surface it meets and then propel itself awkwardly from that surface, as if filled halfway with sloshing water.

Pac-Man Pinball's table is split into two sections, and the game's camera alternates between these as necessary. The visuals are in the style of old Pac-Man cabinet marquee art, which is nice. The game features a good collection of sound effects, but no music outside the title screen.

In the end, however, Pac-Man Pinball fails to provide the one thing a virtual pinball game must: accurate ball physics. Furthermore, the game moves too fast to be really playable on certain handsets. Given these shortcomings, Pac-Man Pinball isn't recommendable.

By Avery Score, GameSpotPosted Jun 2, 2005 2:29 pm PT

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