Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus
Developer: Bandai Namco
Price: $19.99
Platform: Switch (reviewed)
MonsterVine was supplied with a Switch copy for review
There’s something beautifully meditative about Pac-Man—collecting all the yellow Pac-Dots on screen and eating the ghosts until there’s nothing left but Pac-Man himself. The gameplay is simple enough, and I would go even so far as to say it’s mindless, soothing fun.
But Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus for Switch truly got my heart racing and palms sweaty, which was an exciting surprise given the simple nature of the 1980 arcade classic.
With pulsating, colorful screens accompanied by upbeat electronic music, it’s easy to see upon first glance that the iconic Bandai Namco mascot underwent a fresh, modern makeover. Players can choose to play solo or group up with a friend to tackle the various levels. Housed in these levels are familiar mechanics such as Power Pellets, fruits, and roaming ghosts.
Players can also customize map/character skins to play as their favorite characters, like Taizo Hori from Dig Dug!
The Plus 2P mode is exclusive to the Switch, and it was a blast to play with my boyfriend. We ended up binge-playing the entire Pair Play mode in just under two hours, screams and swears abound.
In order to clear the mazes in Plus 2P, we divided up the maps and ate the Pac-Dots on our chosen side. Scattered across the map are little green ghosts that, once you pass them, are added on as tails to the bigger ghosts (kind of like Snake). Once the level was empty, two fruits would appear and we’d have to bump both fruits into each other to advance to the next stage. When one of us would get trapped by a ghost, we’d rush over immediately by using a bomb and bumped into the ghost until it let us go. The blue or yellow Pac-Man would scream “Help me! Help me!” and say “Thank you!” after being rescued, which I thought was the cutest thing on the planet. After we did this a couple of times, we’d power up and all of the ghosts would turn blue, signaling our next meal. This proved difficult for me, since I have terrible eyesight and couldn’t keep track of the thin white lines the ghosts were riding on, but luckily I had a great Player Two to help me.
Sad boi getting pummeled to death
Then came the Boss Maze, arguably my favorite part of Plus 2P. Both ghosts are attacked to block walls, which might sound restricting, but we were blessed with the ability to jump and attach ourselves to different parts of the maze. Like the other mazes, a fruit would appear when we ate all the Pac-Dots. After powering up, we took to the skies in a colorful, semi-violent fashion to destroy the big blue ghost. I can’t tell you how satisfying it was to hear the beast groan in agony with a feast of Pac-Dots waiting for us afterwards. Since when did Pac-Man become so…graphic? Yet, I’m not complaining.
If you ever forget how to play (or just want a little help), the opening menus provide a host of tutorial videos and tips for a quick refresher. Thank you, Bandai.
In addition to an entertaining Plus 2P, there’s the classic Solo Play—with a twist.
Solo Play is actually really, really fun and really, really stressful in a completely different way. With no other Pac-Man to rely on, it’s up to you to successfully make the mark every time with little room for error. This might sound a bit dramatic if I was talking about Score Attack, but I’m actually referring Adventure mode: a mode where players are challenged to complete various missions within a time limit.
In Adventure mode, there are three different areas to master, each containing ten courses and a Boss course for a total of 33 mazes. The three difficulties players can choose from each offer a different number of stars per completion: Normal for one star, Hard for two, and Pro for three. Players also have to collect a certain number of stars in order to unlock the Boss course and successfully advance to the next area.
With each stage, challenges got harder and more complex
The challenges don’t seem too difficult at first, but ultimately prove deserving of the title “Adventure.” Each challenge starts off by listing the objective—ranging from eating six apples to a mere two—and the option to either dip your toes into the water with practice or go for an immediate, full-on cannonball straight into the action on your difficulty of choice. The speed in Adventure increases with each course, making Pac-Man fly across the screen, cutting corners away from ghosts who also seem to have been practicing their sprints.
A big countdown clock starts shouting the number of seconds left in the middle of the screen once the time ticks down to below ten seconds, which, you know, obviously helps the panic factor. What makes me really think the creators had fun with this game mode, however, was how the fruit you have to eat in order to clear the map start MOVING across the screen away from you??? (Seriously, who came up with this moving fruit phenomenon? I just want to talk)
Clearly, I’ve had a lot of fun with this Pac-Man game—more than I’ve ever had fun with Pac-Man in the past. Despite the random shouting my neighbors probably hate me for, I’m really glad I picked up this game. It’ll definitely be fun for get-togethers with friends and family.
The Final Word
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is a fresh revamp of the iconic Namco series. Its exciting and colorful graphics, electronic soundtrack, and Plus 2P mode exclusive for the Switch proved entertaining with just the right amount of stress. The Adventure mode in Solo Play amplified the stakes with heart-racing time challenges and new game mechanics. Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is a great, modern take on the arcade classic.
– MonsterVine Review Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
