Ms. Pac-Man

The Good
The original Pac-Man was an arcade milestone. Reaching a level of popularity in its day that only Super Mario Brothers can rival. Toys, a cartoon and a cereal were all spun off this game and soon it got its sequel. Mrs. Pac-Man did what every good sequel should do and improve on the great game play of its predecessor.

The real strength of the original Pac-Man was the intuitive game play. Anyone can walk up to the game and know how to play. What makes this game better than the original was the design of the mazes. There are more mazes here and their design is improved over the first game.

The graphics are also improved over the regular Pac-Man. As silly an idea as it is, but the lipstick and bow make for a better game graphic to watch than the plain chomping disk of the original Pac-Man. The cut scenes (if you can really call them that) are cute. Divided up into stuff like "Act 1 They Meet" they also are an improvement over the original.

The Bad
The real weakness of this game is the repetition. Like all early 80s arcade games the levels repeat after a while only to have the enemies be faster the second time around. This makes the game only of interest for short periods of play. This not a game you will sit and play for hours like the folks did in 1983.

The Bottom Line
This game is a great short distraction which suits the portability of the Game Boy well. Since there is no real way to "beat" the game all you can do is try to top your high score. While this might not make the game interesting to play for a long gaming session, its perfect when you want to just play a quick game or two while waiting for the bus or for next class. Unless you happen to catch a 21st century strain of Pac-Man Fever.