Pac-Land

~ PAC-LAND ~

Namco / NEC

HuCard

1989

Well, this...

...isn't exactly what most people had in mind when they'd first heard about 16-BIT POWER. So Pac-Land was made fun of when it was released and is still made fun of today for its simplistic Flintstones-era graphics, but I don't mind them. They're, uh, "different," at least, and actually, they're probably the least of the game's problems. Terrible sound effects do more to turn me off from the effort than do the cave-wall-drawing visuals, and then there's the gameplay... oh, the horrid gameplay. Regardless of which of the two control schemes you go with, you'll have a hell of a hard time managing slip-sliding Pac-Man and his uncurbable momentum; and in the face of many challenges that require carefully timed leaps, the rotund yellow bum is a horribly unreliable jumper. And this is no short stretch of pain: you get to endure the sound effects and fight with the controls through thirty-two incredibly repetitive stages. Enjoy.

More variety in level concepts might've helped. The game is pretty much all about making annoying leaps and evading goofy ghosts, and the palette-swapped scenery doesn't help alleviate feelings of redundancy. Some parts have you "hovering" over lakes or scrambling for keys in simple "mazes"... and you get to do that stuff over and over again, too.

At least the fairy queen appreciates your efforts. She also sends you back home so you can embark on more repetitious "trips."

These post-round "cinemas" don't amount to much as far as rewards go, but I suppose we should be thankful for what little we do get with this disaster. More of 'em would've been nice.

As awful as I'm sure it looks here, Round 27 actually uses parallax effects to make for a rather attractive starry-night scene. Round 29 is another one to "look forward to," as you must make use of your flying foes in order to travel across a lake. So there you have it: the "good stuff."

Say farewell to this lot now. Don't buy the game.