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'''Pac-Man Championship Edition''' (alternatively '''Pac-Man CE''') is the latest version of '']'', developed by original ''Pac-Man'' creator ], for the ] through ], and considered the first true sequel to ''Pac-Man'' since '']''.<ref></ref> The game was released on ], ] for 800 ] ($10 ]).<ref></ref><ref></ref> ''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.<ref></ref> '''Pac-Man Championship Edition''' (alternatively '''Pac-Man CE''') is the latest version of '']'', developed by original ''Pac-Man'' creator ], for the ] through ], and considered the first true sequel to ''Pac-Man'' since '']''.<ref></ref> The game was released on ], ] for 800 ] ($10 ]).<ref></ref><ref></ref> ''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.<ref></ref>


==Changes to Pac-Man== ==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 many profound ways: 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.
*Most of the sound effects remain the same, but the "siren" from the original is augmented by a ] music pulse. The music score itself changes after every minute of play, and the final minute is bouyed by a final crescendo.
*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 maze walls and general color initially retain the same general look as the original, but eating a power pellet or advancing to a new level causes the walls to change color.
*The overall speed of the game is faster, and changes according to the actions of the player. The game speeds up with point score, but now slows down when a player loses a life. *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 power pellets' effectiveness weakens far slower than the original, and never completely lose effectiveness.
*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.
*Holding the D-pad or analog stick in the direction of a corner before reaching it causes sparks to emanate from Pac-Man, increasing his speed when turning the corner.
*Bonus lives are awarded every 20,000 points.
*Pac-Man's now ] at the point of death, rather than a pre-set starting location.
*When the player loses a life, Pac-Man ] at the location where he died.
*Pinky now knows the exact location of Pac-Man at all times; the other ghosts' behavior remain similar to the original's.
*"Time tunnels" (tunnels that wrap around the screen) do not slow down ghosts as in the original ''Pac-Man''.
*An extra life is awarded every 20,000 points, instead of just a single life at 10,000.
*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.
*There are now multiple tunnels, rather than just one.
*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 maze never clears of dots. The maze is invisibly divided into two halves. When Pac-Man eats all of the dots from one half of the board, that side darkens and a bonus fruit appears on the other half.
*The game displays a detailed statistics screen after every game, showing a ] 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.
*When the player eats a bonus fruit, it changes the shape of the opposite half of the maze and replenishes the power pellet(s) (if any) and dots there. The most common configuration features one horizontally-aligned tunnel and two vertically-aligned tunnels.
*Each side of the maze is independent of the other. Therefore, levels advance and achieve bonus fruit at independent rates, and a player could theoretically focus on one side of the maze without ever completing the other.
*The scoring is changed, especially with blue ghost eating, which features a 400 x X scoring (400, 800, 1,200... through to a maximum of 3,200.) The player can maintain the level of blue ghost scoring if he eats another power pellet before the effects of the previous one wears out.
*Eating dots now reveals their score as well. The value of dots increases in 10 point increments as Pac-Man eats more dots without dying, up to a maximum value of 50. If Pac-Man dies, the point value per dot resets to 10.
*The game ends in one of two ways: loss of all the players' lives, or when the timer expires.
*After every game, the game features a stat screen showing the distribution of points among three categories (dots, blue ghosts, bonus fruit), and a bar graph showing the distribution of points over time.
*After the stat screen, the game shows a replay of the previous game.


==Game modes== ==Game modes==

Revision as of 18:59, 25 June 2007

2007 video game
Pac-Man Championship Edition
File:Pacmance logo.jpg
Developer(s)Namco Bandai
Publisher(s)Namco Bandai
Designer(s)Toru Iwatani
Platform(s)Xbox 360 (XBLA)
ReleaseJune 6, 2007
Genre(s)Maze
Mode(s)Single player


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

Typical gameplay screenshot.

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

Fruit/Object Points
Cherry 1000
Strawberry 1200
Peach 1400
Apple 1600
Pear 1800
Banana 2000
Rose 2200
"Galboss" 2400
Bell 2600
Key 4000
Coffee 4200
Cake 4400
Boss Galaga 4600
Galaxian Drone 4800
Soup 5000
Fried Egg 5200
Candy 5400
Four-Leaf Clover 5600
Blue Diamond 5800
Red Heart 6000
Galaga Drone 6200
Crown 7650

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

Reviews Score
1Up 9 of 10
CVG 7 of 10
Eurogamer 7 of 10
GameDaily 8 of 10
GameSpot 7.9 of 10
GameStooge 5 of 5
Gaming Target 9 of 10
IGN 8.4 of 10
Planet Xbox 360 8.2 of 10
Talk Xbox 80%
TeamXbox 8.6 of 10

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

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