Pac-Man: Championship Edition

No doubt there are some who just won’t “get it.” It is just Pac-Man after all, right? Wrong. Pac-Man CE is the first legitimate sequel to Pac-Man in over 25 years. It takes everything that made the original game so compelling and makes it feel fresh and relevant all over again. It’s simple. It’s elegant. It is Pac-Man reborn.

I like the changes they've made to the original gameplay, and it's great they've thrown in all the extras. Pac-Man fans can't go wrong, 9/10 from me.

So is this 800 MS point version of Pac-Man worth the purchase? Don’t let the Championship Edition name fool you; this is very much the first true sequel to the series and features fresh and exciting gameplay to reset your retro Pac-Man fatigue. Is this the killer app for XBLA? Well, no, but it’s one of the best exclusive game downloads you’ll find on the Arcade, Virtual Console and the PS Store. If you have not even checked out the demo, do yourself a favor and give this game a spin to see how an older classic should evolve in modern gaming.

It is difficult to find much wrong with Pac-Man Championship Edition as a whole; one point worth mentioning is that the game lacks any sort of multiplayer options, only allowing you to compete with others through posted scores on leader boards. Unless you value multiplayer competition, Pac-Man’s latest effort is one that is worthy of attempting, and may just allow you to become infected with ‘Pac-Man Fever’ once more.

I have to concede that, along with Geometry Wars and Calling All Cars, Pac-Man Championship Edition is one of the best "exclusive" pieces of downloadable/casual entertainment available. It's more than a repackaged oldie, and is about as accessible as it gets. Put this game on in a room full of people, and everyone is drawn to it, especially the people who don't think of themselves as "gamers." That makes it legitimately something for everyone.

For the price tag of 800 MS Points, Pac-Man Championship Edition is priced right. The action is fun and simple to enjoy while keeping a traditional approach with a few presentation and gameplay upgrades. Sure, Pac-Man Championship Edition could have added some multi-player or more pizzazz to try and make Pac-Man a little more modern, but I like it simple nostalgia feeling Namco Bandai has accomplished. If you like the classics, or want to see what the new Pac is all about, check out this Pac-Man Championship Edition exclusively for the Xbox Live Arcade.

Pac-Man Championship Edition is het ultieme voorbeeld van waar Xbox Live Arcade om draait. Een klassieker met nieuwe gameplay elementen die briljant werken, en dat ook nog eens in een high-def sausje met een nieuw grafisch jasje. WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA!

It’s nice to see a classic remade instead of simply repackaged, especially when a great deal of respect has been paid to the original game in the reconstruction. And it surely helped to have Iwatani on the case. Pac-Man Championship Edition feels old-school, while, at the same time, being comfortable around the “indy” XBLA games that may become classics one day as well.

Yeah I mean it's so simple, they followed the rule, if it ain't broke, make it better! You know what you're getting, and you get a lot of it. 8.5/10 glutton chickens.

After feeling the burn of paying a combined $10 for the original Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, you may be wary of a third Live Arcade Pac-Man game. Don't be. Unlike the other two, Championship Edition feels fresh and exciting. The classic feel of Pac-Man is still there, but the new features are well designed and fit in perfectly with the overall purpose of the Live Arcade. It's fast, exhilarating and fun. You can't go back to the original Pac-Man after playing this. $10 dollars seems a little bit pricy for a game that could use a couple more features, but if a few extra bucks won't break the bank then you'll find a nice little surprise in Pac-Man: Championship Edition.

PAC-MAN Championship edition is the first original game on XBOX LIVE we've seen that gets the absolute stamp of approval for purchase. It's a lot of fun to play, is fairly inexpensive, and you'll get a ton of hours of great gameplay out of it, not just for you but for the entire family.

O incrível de "Pac-Man Championship Edition" é ver como pequenas mudanças que não ferem a essência podem dar vida nova a um clássico de 26 anos de idade. Não espere mais do mesmo. Essa edição é muito divertida e altamente recomendada. Faltou uma opção para disputa simultânea, que cairia bem com a proposta competitiva, e jogar somente contra o relógio não agradará a todos.

Championship Edition retains everything that made the original a classic while adding enough new content to make it feel as fresh as it did in 1980.

Pac-Man CE is a solid arcade title. It doesn’t revolutionize the game but it does add some new elements to keep it fresh. 800 points is a tad pricey for a game with slight variations on game modes, but at least you know what you’re getting into with Pac-Man. If you’re a big fan or just surfing the arcade for a time killer, then Pac-Man CE might sate your appetite.

Undoubtedly this is the definitive version of Pac-Man available on Xbox 360 Arcade. Purists can opt for both this and the original, but like us, they’ll still probably turn back to the C.E when they have taken off their rose tinted glasses. It’s a shame both were not included in the same pack together, but for now at least, Pac-Man lovers have a brand new challenge ahead of them.

While there are a lot of different mazes and things to see in Pac-Man CE, its 800-point ($10) price tag feels a little steep. It would have been nice to see some kind of endless mode that was focused more on score than on time, and there are no multiplayer options at all. Some kind of tag-team Pac-Man or a mode like Pac-Man Vs. that let players take control of the ghosts might have rounded out the package a little more, though the game's tight focus on scoreboards and competition still leave enough modes to make it worthwhile. Purists might hate it by default, but it's an interesting blend of old and new that makes for hot, hectic action.

This is the best Pac-Man game on XBLA. The flashy, neon graphics and increased speed make it unlike any Pac experience yet. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first Pac-Man game released on XBLA, meaning a lot of people just won't be willing to pay another 10 bucks to get the same game again. If you aren't a huge Pac-Man fan, the price of the game combined with the lack of any real replay value outside of increasing your leaderboard standing should point you towards not buying this one. If you long for the days of playing Pac-Man while waiting for your pizza to cook, though, it's perfect. Most pizzas can be cooked in 10 minutes or so these days, after all.

This is the Pacman we’ve all been waiting for, videogames evolve the same way as everything else, they take the next step, be it right or wrong, and after too long taking the wrong steps Pacman has finally found the path it should have been following all these years. It’s doing what it does best, we don’t need platforms, we don’t need 3D, just put the big yellow blob in a maze with some ghosts, that’s what Pacman is all about.

As it stands, Pac-Man Championship Edition is a great addition to Live Arcade. What you're buying into is a fantastic celebration of a timeless classic, and one that does something genuinely interesting with the gameplay to make it relevant now. The problem is, basically, is that it's been put in totally the wrong price bracket for what is an impulse buy.