"An interactive cartoon"
The original box for PAC-MAN 2: The New Adventures has "An interactive cartoon" written on it, and it's pretty close to the truth.
First, when this game came out, there wasn't any sort of PAC-MAN like we know today, such as PAC-MAN World or other offshoot adventure games. As a child, my parents bought this game for me because of how much I loved the PAC-MAN arcade machine, and I think we were all taken by surprise when the game turned out to look more like Super Mario Bros than the maze based PAC-MAN we expected.
Very unlike most games at the time, the player is not directly in control of PAC-MAN, instead, you simply suggest a direction for him to go in, and he'll try to comply. In this way, we find that the player is actually another character in the game, just watching and helping PAC-MAN, rather than assuming the role of PAC-MAN himself - it's cute and creative. The player character, whom we never see, is armed with a slingshot, which can be used to draw PAC-MAN's attention to specific objects, fend off dangers, and solve puzzles.
With the player and PAC-MAN's roles thoroughly established, the real gameplay is essentially a puzzle game, and sometimes a reaction game. The player is tasked with identifying their surroundings, creatively solving issues, and keeping PAC-MAN out of trouble. PAC-MAN himself has a variety of fears, likes, and dislikes, and even has a mood - he'll always avoid things he fears, will pass up things he dislikes unless encouraged to investigate them, and will sometimes be very distracted by things he likes. Keeping PAC-MAN's mood in check is a huge part of the gameplay - if he gets too angry, he'll tend to not listen to the player, and do rude and reckless things that will without fail get him into trouble. If he gets into too bad of a mood, he'll fall into depression, and be extremely hard to persuade, but without the hilarious repercussions being a jerk brings along with it. You honestly start to feel sorry for him after some time.
So, clearly this is a narrative focused game, and the narrative is simple enough. The game takes place over four story arcs, or episodes if we want to continue considering it an interactive cartoon. Each episode will unlock a new area, except for the fourth episode which tells you very little and relies on your ability to explore and uncover the secrets of the world. Essentially, every episode, PAC-MAN has his mind set on a task, from getting milk for Baby-Pac, to finding PAC-MAN Jr.'s lost guitar, and the player has to help him accomplish these daunting tasks.
While the gameplay is linear and the character isn't directly in the player's control, there are actually still tons of secrets in the game that you just have to play to find - areas completely unrelated to the story, challenges that you could have avoided, things like that. Among these secrets are game cards that allow the player to play the arcade versions of PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN at the in-game arcade, which is located in the town down the street from PAC-MAN's house, just past the hotdog vendor.
Overall, this game is cute and charming, but manages to be extremely frustrating and confusing to new players. The animations are crisp and PAC-MAN's expressions and reactions are hilarious, making it fun to fail in hundreds of different ways.
Because I've read reviews in which people are unable to find these cards, I'll let everyone in on the secret:
The easiest card to get is under the little girl's couch. Make PAC-MAN visit her (house with the dog out front, red door) while he's in a neutral or higher mood. She will be trying to push her couch out of the way, and after fooling around long enough (don't shoot the girl please), PAC-MAN will realize that he can help her push it. This will award you with the first game card.
The second is in the mountain area, and as such, is only obtainable during or after the second episode. After riding the mine-cart minigame, you will find the second game card in a crate in the cave. PAC-MAN's mood must be neutral or higher, simply shoot the crate and he'll rummage through it. The only reason this card is harder to get than the one under the couch is because the mine-cart minigame is a real struggle.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
