Pac-Man Review
Is Pac-Man a classic? Definitely. But this version seems more like a marketing tool than a viable game.
Hey, great! Pac-Man! Everybody loves Pac-Man, right? Right? The original game is 20 years old, and you're still yearning to play it, right? Why, I'm sure you just got out of line down at Blip's Arcade just to read this review! Well, here's the pertinent info, right up front: The Neo Geo Pocket Color version of Pac-Man really isn't very good.
Sure, it's Pac-Man. But the sound isn't accurate, and the default mode is this silly zoomed-in scrolling perspective that prevents you from seeing the entire maze at once. You can play in a better mode, where you can see the entire maze, but the graphics start to look a little blocky at that point.
Is Pac-Man a classic? Definitely. But this version seems more like a marketing tool than a viable game. Now, SNK can tout two things. First, they can say that they have Namco games on its system, and secondly, they can say that they've got one of the most popular games of all time available. But in all actuality, this is the type of game that you buy, play for about five minutes, and put on a shelf, thinking "hey, this game is classic, dude!" And sometimes the sheer nostalgia is enough. But if you're after a maze game that you'll actually play at length, look to Crush Roller.
The authenticity of the port is laudable, but against its competition it can't be considered anything more than average.
