PacMan Special Colour Edition - Game Boy Color

Pac-Man is back for the Gameboy Color. In case you didn’t know, Pac-Man is one of the founding fathers of the video game industry. Pure simplicity is its beauty as anyone can pick it up and play. The objective in Pac-man is to eat all the food pellets in the maze while avoiding the ghosts. There are four power pellets on every level that when eaten turn the tables and it becomes time to chomp some ghosts. Beware though, as this power up only lasts a short amount of time but can be very useful for escaping sticky situations and scoring points. Staying alive is crucial in this game and the ghosts demonstrate decent intelligence. They try to block you off and even team up against you. In Pac-Man there is an option to zoom into the action and see everything close up while the maze scrolls around or you can see the whole maze at once, it’s your call.

Not only do you get to play the classic game Pac-Man but also included on the cartridge is Pac Mania. Pac Mania is similar to Tetris but it adds a nice twist. Different shaped pieces fall from the top of the screen and you have to fit them together like a jigsaw. When a line is completed across the screen, it disappears giving you points. Some of the pieces have ghosts attached to them and when you release Pac-Man into the level he eats any ghosts that he comes into contact with. This has a knock-on effect and if you manage to line it up correctly, high scoring combinations can occur. Pac Mania has a puzzle mode where you only have so many Pacs to rid the level of ghosts. This mode has over 100 levels and requires lateral thinking and practice.

It’s fair to say that this game is far too addictive for it’s own good. There should be a warning on the cover. Pac-Man is a classic and is a fine example of pure gameplay.
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