Pac-Man World
Encyclopedia
was released on the 20th anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...

 of the creation of Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...

. It is a 3D based free roaming platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 for the PlayStation released on September 30, 1999. It was released for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...

 on November 17, 2004.

Gameplay

Pac-Man arrives home on his 20th birthday (the game was released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the original Pac-Man in arcades) only to discover that his friends and family—Ms. Pac-Man, Baby Pac, Pac Jr., Professor Pac, Chomp Chomp the dog, and Pooka have been kidnapped by the evil Toc-Man, who is a giant robot Pac-Man impersonator that was created by Orson
Pac-Man World 3
is a video game that was released on November 15, 2005 in North America for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and PC. It is the third game in the Pac-Man World series. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the Pac-Man arcade game. This game features more...

, who is bent on stealing Pac-Man's identity. Pac-Man sets off to the Ghost Realm and works to free them, each of whom is held captive in one of the different worlds.(Pirate world, Ruins world, Space World, Circus world, Factory world, Toc-Man's Mansion World.
Bosses: HMS Windbag, Anubis Rex, King Galaxian, Clown Prix, Krome Keeper, Toc-Man.
The game was a standard 3D platformer that played heavily into the history of the character; every non-boss level featured a maze that played by the rules of the original game (though the pac symbol was still present, letting the player survive being touched by ghosts up to four times). Every level was littered with pac-dots, fruits and ghosts, much of the music was modified from early entries into the series (one of the common themes in all the levels is the intermission music from Pac-Man modified according to the theme of the level) and the original Pac-Man arcade game was available for play from the menu screen.

In addition, Pac-Man had been given a handful of standard platform maneuvers, including a "butt-bounce", reminiscent of Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...

's ground pound and the Rev-Roll, reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog's
Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...

 spin dash. Also, he'd gained the ability to use the dots offensively, throwing them at non-ghost enemies. Like in the original game, Pac-Man can collect Power Pellets allowing him to eat ghosts for a short amount of time.

The level format was fairly straightforward; each world consisted of three or four levels. The first level in a world would introduce a new technique or enemy type. The second and third would require use of that technique to complete, and couldn't be completed without it. The fourth level of each world was a boss battle requiring unique gameplay or puzzle-solving to defeat.

The second levels also included a key that, while not essential to complete the game, was required to free whichever of Pac-Man's friends was held prisoner in the third level. Every freed character would then appear to aid Pac-Man in the final battle against Toc-Man. However, there are a couple of exceptions to this, most notably the Ruins, Factory, and Space levels.

Sequels

There was a Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...

 version in 2004. Due to hardware limitations, many features were left out of the game, such as Maze Mode, the original Pac-Man and many levels cut out. There was a sequel, Pac-Man World 2
Pac-Man World 2
is a video game by Namco for Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, and PC released in . Like the original Pac-Man World, the player controls the character of Pac-Man in a 3D platform game.-Story:...

, on February 24, 2002. It is available on the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

, Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...

, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

 and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...

.

Pac-Man World 3
Pac-Man World 3
is a video game that was released on November 15, 2005 in North America for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and PC. It is the third game in the Pac-Man World series. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the Pac-Man arcade game. This game features more...

was released in 2005. This game introduced new moves and powers to Pac-Man and gave him a full voice.

The latest game in the series is the spin-off Pac-Man Party
Pac-Man Party
Pac-Man Party is a party game by Namco Bandai Games for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS...


Reception

Gamespot rated this game 7.6/10, "Pac-Man World is a fun little game that goes beyond mere regurgitation."

External links

  • GameSpot
    GameSpot
    GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...

  • MobyGames
    MobyGames
    -Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...


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