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Pac-Man Championship Edition (alternatively Pac-Man CE) is the latest version of Pac-Man, developed by original Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani, for the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade, and considered the first true sequel to Pac-Man since Ms. Pac-Man. The game was released on June 6, 2007 for 800 File:Microsoftpoint.gif ($10 USD). Championship Edition features the first new Pac-Man mazes in more than 26 years. The promise of the game actually spurred more purchases of the Xbox 360 in Japan, and was Iwatani's final game before retirement.

Differences from Pac-Man

While the basic gameplay of Pac-Man CE remains unchanged from the original - that is, dot-eating, ghosts, power pellets, and bonus fruit - it differs from the original in a number of ways:

• Each game is bound by a five or ten minute time limit. The objective is to score as many points as possible within this time limit. The game is over when the time limit is reached or the player loses all of his or her lives.
• The maze is divided into two halves. Eating all the dots in one half causes a bonus fruit to appear on the opposite side. Eating the fruit causes a new maze to appear on the original half, with a different shape and dot arrangement.
• The game's speed adjusts continually based on the player's performance. In most cases, it starts off at about the same speed as the original Pac-Man, but becomes much faster over time. When the player loses a life, the game slows down slightly.
• Power pellets stay active for a set period of time (rather than shutting off when all ghosts have been eaten). Consequently, it is possible (and in fact a central strategy of the game) to "chain" power pellets for higher scores.
• The value of each dot increases over time up to a maximum of 50 points per dot. It resets back to 10 points when the player loses a life. Eating a dot causes its value to be shown briefly.
• Bonus lives are awarded every 20,000 points.
• When the player loses a life, Pac-Man respawns at the location where he died.
• "Time tunnels" (tunnels that wrap around the screen) do not slow down ghosts as in the original Pac-Man.
• The pink ghost is aware of Pac-Man's location at all times and attempts to move toward the player's destination. The other ghosts behave similarly to how they did in the original game.
• The player can cause Pac-Man to "spark" by pressing in a direction perpendicular to his or her current direction while in a tunnel. This causes Pac-Man to move and corner faster.
• The game displays a detailed statistics screen after every game, showing a histogram of the player's points over the course of the game and divided into three categories: Dots and power pellets, ghosts, and fruits. This screen is followed by an optional replay of the game.

Game modes

There are six game modes to choose from:

• Championship Mode: Regular Pac-Man CE gameplay, with a timed limit of 5 minutes.
• Challenge Mode 1 (Patience and Reward Course): The mazes alternate between an abundance of power-pills and no power-pills. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
• Challenge Mode 2 (The Darkness Course): Only the area directly around Pac-Man and the Ghosts is visible and the maze walls are completely hidden. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
• Extra Mode 1 (The Freeway Course): An extremely high-speed mode for advanced players, this mode features warp-speed Pac-Man and Ghosts and plenty of tunnels. Timed limit of 5 minutes.
• Extra Mode 2 (The Manhattan Course): A maze inspired by the streets of Manhattan - the maze evolves in radically different shapes. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
• Extra Mode 3 (The Overall Course): A mix of all other modes. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

Bonus Fruit

The scoring starts with the first fruit (Cherry), which is 1,000 points, and increases in 200 point increments thereafter for each successive fruit until the Key, which is 4,000. The increments resume for 200 points per level til the Crown, which is 7,650 points instead of 6,400. The maze formations reset after the first Crown level to the first Cherry, and recycle from there, but the Crown remains the fruit for the rest of the game. (See table at right.)

Trivia

The Boss Galaga and one of the drone ships from Galaga join the Galaxian flagship (aka Galboss) as bonus fruits, as well as a drone from Galaxian as well.

Achievements

Pac-Man Championship Edition offers 12 Achievements for a total of 200 Gamerscore.

Achievement	Description	Gamerscore
File:Pacceach1.jpg 200,000 Points	Score 200,000 points	10
File:Pacceach2.jpg 400,000 Points	Score 400,000 points	30
File:Pacceach3.jpg Sparkster	Emit sparks for 1 second	5
File:Pacceach4.jpg 8 Ghosts	Eat 8 ghosts in succession	5
File:Pacceach5.jpg Championship Mode	Complete Championship Mode	20
File:Pacceach6.jpg Challenge Mode 1	Complete Challenge Mode 1	20
File:Pacceach7.jpg Challenge Mode 2	Complete Challenge Mode 2	20
File:Pacceach8.jpg Extra Mode 1	Complete Extra Mode 1	20
File:Pacceach9.jpg Extra Mode 2	Complete Extra Mode 2	20
File:Pacceach10.jpg Extra Mode 3	Complete Extra Mode 3	15
File:Pacceach11.jpg Key	Eat the Key	10
File:Pacceach12.jpg Crown	Eat the Crown	20

Reviews

Pac-Man Championship Edition was released to mostly rave critical reviews, with reviewers stating the gameplay was "fresh and exciting", "one of the best 'exclusive' pieces of downloadable/casual entertainment available", and that it was "nice to see a classic remade instead of simply repackaged." The minor criticisms included the $10 price point, a lack of a true multiplayer mode, and an apparent relapse to "patterns" that had been in the original.

As of June 22, 2007, the Metacritic score is 80.

References

1. Joystiq, June 8, 2007
2. GameStooge, June 5, 2007
3. Joystiq, June 5, 2007
4. Joystiq, June 7, 2007
5. IGN, June 6, 2007
6. 1Up, June 11, 2007
7. Team Xbox, June 9, 2007
8. GameStooge, June 13, 2007
9. MetaCritic: Pac-Man CE

External Links

• Official Game Page

• 2007 video games
• Namco games
• Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
• Xbox 360-only games