Pac-Man is one of the most legendary video games ever produced. Maneuvering the maze and collecting all the pellets while avoiding the ghosts never grows old. Not every Pac-Man game is like this, though. Pac-Man World, originally released in 1999, is a 3D platformer. Despite using one of gaming's most legendary mascots, the game just came and went and didn't become as memorable as other platformers of the time, like Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot.
Even though it does not have the same clout as the aforementioned games, it still received a re-release in 2022 in the form of Pac-Man World Re-Pac. This remake largely keeps the original title intact with graphical upgrades and gameplay improvements. Does the title hold up? Some complain the art style is bland and take issue with how the introductory cutscene was changed, but here are some ways it does hold up and things it does even better than the original release.
7 It Is A Breezey Experience
The original release of Pac-Man World is quite difficult. It was hard to tell if this was because of the levels or because of the gameplay. With this new release, it becomes clear that the game is quite a breezy experience when it plays by modern standards.
Anybody experienced with 3D platformers will find a low-stakes game one can relaxingly play after a hard day. On the one hand, it is a plus for anyone looking for something that doesn't give too much resistance. On the other hand, many who want a brutally difficult platformer might find it lacking in terms of difficulty.
6 Secrets Are Not Obtuse
The levels are designed in such a way as to make finding secrets simple and easy. Some people like finding obtuse secrets, but they can often feel like they were randomly put somewhere without giving any hints. Pac-Man World's collectibles are often easy to spot and make the player feel like a genius for finding them.
There are not a lot of puzzles, and those that are there are simple button and switch puzzles. It is nothing harder than pressing a button to open a door. Sometimes Pac-Man also has to collect fruit as a key and then backtrack to open a door.
5 The Music
The music of Pac-Man World is not as iconic as other video games from the 90s, but it still has a couple of bops. In addition to original tunes, there are also some rearrangements or classic music and cues from the original arcade game.
There is not a lot of music in the original Pac-Man, but it does have some memorable earworms, particularly the start-up music before the gameplay starts.
4 Pac-Man's Fluid Movement
Half the battle of any platformer is simply making movement feel good. Good level design and an appealing art style mean nothing if the actual gameplay feels broken.
Fortunately, the titular character moves with grace and he simply feels good to control. This goes hand and hand with how comfortable it is to play. If players are already familiar with older platformers and how they work, it is almost joyful to thoughtlessly skate through each level because of how little players have to think about the way it controls.
3 The Game Starts Quickly
A big hurdle a lot of players face when starting a game is the marathon of menus, options, and tutorials they have to go through before actually starting the game. If one only has an hour or so to play in a day, they do not want to spend this time on boring introductory sequences. Being a game from a different era, Pac-Man World does not suffer from this in the slightest.
There is a small cutscene that sets up the plot - for some reason, it is different and less humorous than the original PS1 cinematic - and then players are thrown into the first level. Tutorials are nothing more than signs in the middle of the level with an exclamation point, and they only take a few seconds to read in order to understand some of the mechanics. Pac-Man World is a platformer at the end of the day, and players don't need a lot of narrative motivation to go through these levels.
2 The Galaxian Stage
Pac-Man World also pays tribute to its older piers from the arcade. There is a level that plays exactly like the arcade classic Galaxian. Players jump on a special little spaceship and start shooting up enemies as they descend from the top of the screen.
At the end of the stage, a boss appears. Like any good boss in classic gaming, the eyes are the obvious weakness. The preceding world is science-themed, and the level name is a direct reference to Galaxian. The level also plays surprisingly well, considering it is a small minigame that lasts about ten to 15 minutes.
1 2.5D Game Design
Games like Pac-Man World are often referred to as 2.5D. They have 3D graphics, but the levels are not as open as games like Super Mario 64 or Spyro the Dragon. Even though this might seem like a primitive way to make a game, it lends itself to unique level designs.
Newer games that play like this include Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Super Mario 3D Land, while other games of the time that use this are Crash Bandicoot. It is a surprisingly rare type of design in platformers, so it is refreshing to see Pac-Man World remade for this reason alone.
Pac-Man World: Re-PAC Is Available on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S