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PS2 | Adventure | Pac-Man World 3

Boxart for Pac-Man World 3
Pac-Man World 3 24 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.0
  • SOUND: 4.0
  • CONTROL: 4.5
  • FUN FACTOR 4.0
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.5

Review: Pac-Man World 3

Review by Sir Bones | 12/07/2005 | 16:20:09 PM PST

Wakka Wakka Wakka! The one and only Pac-Man turns 25!

In honor of 25 years of ghost-dodging and pellet-chomping fun, Namco presents us with the little yellow muncher's newest 3D adventure, Pac-Man World 3. With solid platforming action and a healthy dose of nostalgic extras and special features, Pac-Man World 3 is a worthy celebration of this legendary arcade star.

Hungry, Hungry Pac-Man
The ridiculous and trivial story thrusts Pac-Man into the dangerous Spectral Realm to defeat an evil genius and (surprise!) save the world. The bright, cartoony characters and environments should go over well with younger gamers, while the high-quality gameplay will appeal to all types of platforming fans. The standard 3D platform/exploration style action is far from Earth-shattering, but Pac-Man World 3 does offer enough cool moves, special powerups, unlockables and secrets to keep the gameplay interesting throughout. Sure, it may not be terribly innovative, but the combination of clever moves and attractive environments is a time honored formula for success, and Pac-Man World 3 gets it right.

Pac-Man Fever
Pac-Man has come a long way from the top-down, 2D mazes of 20 years ago, but old school-minded gamers can still explore the franchise's roots in the virtual museum. There you'll find a bevy of extras including a chronology, interviews with the original creator and, of course, a fully playable version of the original 1980 Pac-Man game (with other maze type mini-games spread throughout). The high presentation quality also extends to the surprisingly crisp and appealing graphics as well as the fondly familiar sound effects and excellent voice acting. While the control is tight and responsive, the typically reliable camera can be sluggish in a few places, but this can be easily compensated for manually. And at the bargain-bin price of just $29.99 Pac-Man World 3 is a great choice for jumping-game junkies and casual platform fans alike.