Pac-Man World 3

Moby ID: 20515
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Pac-Man is teleported by Orson through 15 different levels to fight Erwin, his army of robots, monsters and Spectral Entities to save the world, Pac-Land and the Spectral Realm. Erwin plans to siphon spectral energy from the Spectral Realm to power his army of robots in order to rule the world. Pac-Man uses punching, Rev Rolls, Butt-Bouncing and various new Power Pellets to defeat Erwin and his minions. Pac-Man also pilots Toc-Man in a battle against Erwin’s robot army.

Joined by Pac-Man’s old enemies, Orson, Clyde and Pinky, and new friends along the way, Pac-Man adventures through different levels from a boneyard of old bots to a burning tower, up mountains, through deserts and the Spectral Realm to destroy all of Erwin’s Spectral Syphons. In this title, Pac-Man has also been given full speech, voiced by Martin T. Sherman.

Spellings

  • 吃豆人世界3 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Screenshots

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

36 People (30 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

President and CEO
Director of External Development
Executive Producer
Senior Producer
Assistant Producer
Director of Product Services
Senior Public Relations Manager
Public Relations Manager
Public Relations Coordinator
Public Relations Specialist
Senior Marketing Manager
Marketing Coordinator
Senior Facilities and Operations Manager
QA Supervisor
Quality Assurance Project Lead
Quality Assurance Assistant Lead
Quality Assurance Tester
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 63% (based on 32 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 24 ratings with 1 reviews)

Use the help of the ghosts to put an end to Nefarious Scheme 57

The Good
While Pac-Man is celebrating his 25th birthday, he is teleported to an unknown world. There, a friendly ghost named Orson tells him that he needs to put an end to Nefarious Scheme 57, a plan where Erwin siphons spectral energy from the Spectral Realm to power his army of robots in an attempt to take control of the world, causing the destruction of the world, Pac-Land, and the Spectral Realm.

Pac-Man World 3 takes place within fifteen levels that take Pac through junkyards, mountains, desert, and the ghosts' homeworld, among other locations. During Pac's adventure, Orson talks to him in the background, and the conversations between Pac and Orson add depth to the game. One of these conversations is about the spectral entities that appear from time to time, throwing about ten spectral monsters at him. I don't know how Orson is able to communicate with him, maybe there's a transmitter Pac is wearing that we don't get to see.

Pac-Man can use new powers to help defeat the creatures that he comes across. The Ribbon Loop, which is one of these powers, is more effective than others since you can circle around your enemies, and when formed, the circle will destroy them by closing in. You have a limited amount of time to use these powers to your advantage, so you really can't afford not to make mistakes. There are more powers, but I found them not to be effective as the Ribbon Loop.

The normal power up pellet is still in the game, but these are mainly used for eating the spectral monsters that I mentioned above. I enjoyed going around in circles, getting the numerous pellets, and eating the monsters. Also, if you walk up close to the entities, you can hear voices coming from it. This makes the game quite scary.

Also, the way Pac-Man has the ability to use Clyde and Pinky, two of his enemy ghosts, is also a good thing. Now with Clyde getting in his way, Pac can take a break from the spectral monsters. Furthermore, Clyde may die from running out of energy at the hands of the monsters, but at least he has unlimited lives. I enjoy listening to Clyde calling Pac-Man “Munchy”. It's as if he doesn't remember Pac's name at all. As for Pinky, she can see platforms Pac can't, and she can solidify any invisible ones for him.

The graphics in some of the levels are amazing, especially the levels that take place in the deserts and mountains. While I was trying to find my way toward the exit, I felt like moving up as high as I can and just stare at the horizon for five or ten minutes. The enemies that Pac encounters, the ones who have different attacks, look good. The spectral siphons you need to destroy in some levels look massive in the sky, even when you view them at long distances, and they are animated well.

The puzzles are challenging, especially in the last levels. They can take time to get used to. For example, in the level entitled “Spectral Zenith”, you have to wall-jump a series of platforms that appear on their sides, while navigating other platforms that disappear when you stand on them for too long. I believe that this puzzle is the toughest in PMW3, and it took me a few tries to master it. I had about forty lives by the time I reached the puzzle, so losing a few wasn't a problem for me.

The Bad
The mini-games, found when Pac-Man collects a Galaxian icon somewhere in each level, are not as spectacular as the ones in Pac-Man World 2, where the mazes look gorgeous and the screen has to scroll for Pac to travel from one side to the other. Here, the mazes are basically laid out the same, and each maze uses the same color. Furthermore, the game can sometimes be unresponsive when it comes to making Pac-Man turn a corner.

By collecting certain items within each level, players can unlock little bits of information regarding the history of Pac-Man. I felt that more levels could have been added instead of this, and these levels would probably introduce Pac to more dangers and even tougher puzzles.

The Bottom Line
Pac-Man World 3 was released just in time for Namco to celebrate 25 years of a well-known character. In the game's fifteen levels, Pac-Man has to learn new abilities in order to defeat any creatures that get in his way. Different powers can also be used against them, with the Ribbon Loop being more effective. While Pac proceeds through the level, Orson talks to him about his quest, and the conversations between the two characters add depth to the game. Pac's former enemy ghosts can help him get through the level, as long as they are charged up at their power stations.

The graphics are breathtaking, and the music is well composed. The puzzles are challenge, and they were enough for me to give the Pac-Man series a break for a while.

Bottom line: An excellent game.

Windows · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2008

Trivia

Bonus features

The game includes the following extra features: * An emulated version of the original Pac-Man game * A timeline of all released Pac-Man games up until the release of this game * A trailer for Pac-Man World Rally (absent from the Nintendo GameCube version of the game) * An exclusive interview with the creator of Pac-Man, Toru Iwatani

Pac-Man references

The game features references to the original Pac-Man game: * Each level in the game features a "maze game", which is a version of the original game played using the 3D models and assets from this game. This is in addition to the emulated version of the original game that is also included * The sound effects used for Pac-Man jumping, punching and eating pellets are actually taken from the original game

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Raymond Chung.

Windows added by cartlionel.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Sciere, Alaka, DreinIX, Deleted.

Game added December 31, 2005. Last modified January 29, 2024.