If Bandai Namco keeps treating their classic titles like this, then they’re going to have to bring more out.
While not on the same level as Capcom remaking Resident Evil PICK ONE, Bandai Namco Entertainment and developer Now Production Co. have taken the 2002 PAC-MAN World 2 3D platformer and made it more modern and fun. Smoothing out visuals, adding better controls, and bringing the title from 2002 to 2025 while still maintaining the awe of 3D that made this game wonderful is exactly what BNE delivered.
Of course, even though there are positives about the title, it still hiccups in some areas and shows its age with feisty camera control and long levels that can be downright difficult at times. The game wasn’t perfect when it was first released back in the day, as it caught the 3D platforming wave with other older brands at the time (looking at you, Street Fighter), so it’s no surprise that some of its quirks didn’t get worked out. But it has far more positives than negatives.
On that note, get yourselves prepared to eat a lot of fruit and take on some interesting Ghost-bots, and let’s get this review started.
Simple story
The story of PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC is straightforward and concise. Ghosts invaded PAC-Village and swiped all the Golden Fruit from the PAC-people. They snagged the fruit, with the intention of using it to release a king Ghost named Spooky, which would help them to rule the PAC-Roost. To throw PAC-Man off, the Ghosts separated with their Golden Fruit into multiple lands, which bring their own dangers for our hero.
This story is incredibly simple, as it goes along with any basic 3D platformer from yesteryear or present (probably future, as well). Something terrible has happened, and a worse consequence could come from it, which motivates PAC-Man and the player to search far and wide for solutions before it’s too late. If you took the skeletal structure of this story and compared it with Mario or any other 3D platformer, you would find similarities.
In short, the story is simple, and it’s not going to be the reason why gamers want to play this game. It’s just good enough to give players a push.
The push
Once pushed, players will find that PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC contains a well-thought-through game design plan with some easy-to-work-with gameplay elements. As mentioned above, the game is divided into different lands for PAC-Man to explore. Each land comes with its own set of obstacles, personality, and enough gameplay variety to make it feel different from place to place. The latter of which is vital when it comes to keeping a player’s attention. For example, players will traverse a snow-driven landscape that takes a cue from Crash Bandicoot, where PAC-Man is chased by a gigantic snowball downhill with the camera facing toward him (so players can’t see the obstacles ahead of them). This type of level, and it’s brutal at times, isn’t found on other levels, which makes it unique to that environment. Having that unique flavor with each level PAC-Man visits helps make this game feel so much bigger than it is. That’s a huge plus because you want variety and want to know that the devs were trying to bring you a wide range of gameplay experiences. Very classic 3D platforming.
On common level ground, each level that PAC-Man takes on has about 2-3 sub-levels within it before a gigantic boss fight. Each level takes about 20 minutes to get through and features a variety of obstacles that players must strategize their way through. For example, there is a tree level where PAC-Man must hop up and down on branches, trust mid-air trampolines to jump on, and get running ramps right to land perfectly on large trees. This level takes a lot of camera work to navigate and constantly adjust as players get through it, which is a lot of work. But! It’s fun and fresh, if not challenging at times.
Now, just because each level has its own personality doesn’t mean that they also don’t share some similarities. Players will find a few consistent patterns with each level that include a section where PAC-Man gets a power pellet and can chomp ghosts, and a constant need to find fruit to unlock treasure chests with goodies. These two constants are embedded into every type of level that PAC-Man encounters (sans the boss), and are short stints of fun. The former is especially fun because it will ignite that old PAC-Man arcade nostalgia that some of us carry around from the 80s. I love hearing the old PAC-Man sounds in this game, and the moment when PAC-Man must eat ghosts is just a nice throwback. Beyond those constants, each level does its best to be unique, which only bodes well for the gameplay experience. The entire game won’t feel like you’re playing the same level repeatedly.
On the enemy’s side of the tracks, the common enemies in the game are common as hell, as players need only punch or bounce on them to get rid of them. They’re not as inspiring as the levels or the natural obstacles that come with those levels; rather, they exist only to disrupt. Nothing special or too difficult. In a way, their blandness feels like they were just thrown into the mix because PAC-Man needed something else besides levels to get in his way. Players will find them unchallenging to get through, and will probably find them more annoying than fun. Of course, some of those common enemies are fun to see, as some are callbacks to other Bandai Namco characters, such as the little ground goggle goblins from Dig Dug. They were neat to see included in this PAC-World game. I just wish they were a bit more challenging.
What is challenging in this game are the bosses. I was surprised by the creativity and variety of gameplay elements that the boss levels threw my way during fights. I saw exactly what the devs put more effort into making stylish and brutal in comparison to other enemies and elements of the game. For example, there is one level that features a giant gold frog that requires players to avoid its tongue, avoid common enemies, and wait for the right moment when it gets its tongue stuck so that a player can jump on it and smack the robot in the mouth. It has two stages to its attack and ramps up the difficulty considerably in the second stage. Each boss is unique, like this frog, and each comes with its own pattern of attack that presents its own challenges during a fight. These boss fights are not similar to each other and provide a hefty amount of variety to the gameplay experience. They’re certainly the reason why a player would want to traverse long levels of common enemies, and the payoff is worth that traveling. The devs did a great job of making the ending of each level worthwhile, and the bosses are creatively designed.
So, how would PAC-Man take these enemies and bosses down? Through interesting gameplay elements and attributes. The game borrows some gameplay attributes and ideas from other 3D platformers of its time, especially from the Mario side of the tracks. Throughout the experience, players will have the ability to gain skins, use special attack attributes, and have the chance to use those methods to explore the somewhat linear levels of the game. For example, during the first level of the game, you’ll run into a steel ball that PAC-Man can cover himself with, which makes him weighty and not easy to take down. In water, this form will make him sink like a weight, which bodes well for the exploration aspect of the game. In lava, he can use it to walk on the orange, heated goo, and take down enemies while also exploring the melty terrain for goodies. These little special elements don’t last long, as they’re timed, but they provide a bag of tricks that directly translate to getting through levels, enemies, and finding goodies that are hidden. These are neat attribute additions to what should be a simple game, and they help open the PAC-World up for the player, which makes the experience feel bigger.
In addition to the steel ball, PAC-Man can also perform a power spin, throw power pellets at enemies, punch baddies, and do a bottom slam on top of enemies. These are more consistent than the steel ball, but they’re also fun and easy to pull off, which makes it feel like PAC is packed with a variety of weapons at the player’s disposal.
Overall, the levels are large and unique, the common enemies are so-so, the bosses are amazing, and the attack elements and different ways to approach the gameplay are wide and worth experiencing. The game is fun to play because of all these elements.
Hiccups
The biggest hiccup, outside of common enemies being boring, is that darn camera. The good devs at Now Production Co. did their best to translate that camera thumbstick movement to modern times. For the most part, the camera is fine, but it does have sticking issues when the camera meets a level’s environment. For example, during the tree level, I found my camera trying to move itself as I leaped up tree limbs. I was constantly having to re-adjust the camera because it kept bumping into the massive trees, and it wanted to change the angle. I’m not sure what engine this game was built on, but it seemed like the camera had some sort of collision turned on that kept reacting to the environment. Again, for the most part, it was fine, but it did get fussy from level to level, which added some trickiness to the traversing.
Overall, this was the biggest hiccup for me. I felt like this was a minor issue compared to the rest of the game, but it certainly was an annoying one. If this is the biggest complaint I have, then this game is in good shape. Spoiler alert: it’s in good shape.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap up this review.
Conclusion
PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC from developer Now Production Co. and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment is a nice revision of an old 3D platformer. It maintains the essence of early 3D platforming that made it stand out back in the day, while adding and improving modern amenities that make it feel more present than ever. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s fun to play.
