Sunday, May 27, 2012

Pac-Mania: How dare ya!

Welcome again to the PookSpot. Its time for an arcade machine, home version arcade, phone arcade, whatever you'd call it, and maybe the most insane arcade game ever. Welcome to, Pac-Mania, friends.


I'll eat your boring Earth as well.

The game has more features than original Pacman. Lets say you're cornered by two ghosts. Press a button and you escape by jumping over them. Congrats, you saved yourself a 1-Up for later. The game gives you up to 5 pellets (the 5th being special and its effect lasts shortly, and not always appear) and gives you a speed pellet that will last till a collected power pellet's effect last. Namco now gives you a more beatable version of Pac-Man, so say thanks to them.. or so you think!

Unless you don't know that the three available Pac-Man World titles are made for people to beat it and unlock everything in it, this arcade machine is frustration. The levels are different in each version of the game, shall you get the home version and arcade version at once. Block Town is 2 levels at the home version instead of one level at the arcade version, so home version should be longer. Keep in mind that the home version has unlimited free credits, all by pressing the "Start" button after you're "Game Over"'d.

But in either versions, Pac-Man still drives like a mad man, and sometimes the ghosts are uber intelligent. Sometimes if you jump over them to another way, they'd follow the way you're taking, thus making you die if you didn't turn directions at the last moment. This is true for all Pac-Mans that has jumping in mazes enabled though, but its more insane when you talk about an arcade machine.

Look, look! Wait, run, run! Sue will sue you!

Enjoy the nasty trip to the final place, Jungly Steps. Among the way, hundreds of doom levels are awaiting. Enjoy as you see the cutscene of jumping ghosts. And oh boy when you go to Jungly Steps, as the very insane ghosts catch up with you. So when you think that the game is easy cause you can jump, you lied to yourself actually.

Ok, ok, I have beaten the game instead after spending many quarters. What do I get? Another round of frustration through the same worlds, more frustrating than last time. Or the game could be made endless it seems. Ok, I'll buy a Pac-Mania machine and set it to be free, or I could get it on MAME and get endless virtual quarters. Or hey, I can buy Pac-Man World 2 and get a whole arcade machine set in an arcade house in Pac-Man's village, assuming you get 180 Namco coins for the ultimate machine, umm, Ms. Pac's, with everything available.


Give up playing Pac-Mania and go play the original Pac-Man.

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