Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

Puc-Man FTW!!

Posted 2 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

I never thought that the one downloadable game that would make me play the most in between full retail title releases would be a Pac-Man game. That’s right, Pac-Man. One would say that the 2007 Pac Man Championship Edition was a solid comeback into the gaming stratosphere. But since the yellow man’s popularity was on a gradual downhill slope anyway, not a lot of people actually cared and it was quickly forgotten by all but the fan niche. Three years later, Namco Bandai brings back its Champion Edition, added a few twists and called it Championship Edition DX. The result is quite impressive and worth your attention...if you haven’t done it already.

Thing is, Championship Edition DX isn’t too different from the Championship Edition. You’re still navigating across the maze, eating pellets and avoiding ghosts. However, DX does things a bit different. First, sleeping ghosts have joined the adventure. Running past these awakes them and they then start chasing you. As always, the only way to get rid of them (and the other ghosts) is to eat a Power Pellets, which will give you the ability to consume them and send them back to the center of the maze. If a ghost gets too close, the action slowdowns down, per consequent giving you an extra second to figure out the best way to get out. Think bullet time, Pac-Man style.

In DX, you’re no longer going through levels. Instead, once you eat all the pellets, the fruit will show up and new pellets will appear alongside additional ghosts - both moving and sleepy ones. To make it even more interesting, the remaining ghosts from the previous round will stay. So you understand that the goal is to frantically run around the maze and eating ghosts non-stop but also, to create large trains to maximize your score. If the ghost train becomes too much to handle, you can always set off a bomb, send them all back home and resume the consumable action.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX packs three modes, playable in three different difficulties: Score as many points as possible within a certain time limit in Score Attack; clear a set number of laps around each maze as fast as possible in Time Trials or eat as many ghosts as possible in Ghost Combo. Nine levels, including the classic Championship Edition without the sleeping ghosts, are included. There’s also Leaderboard support but unlike Geometry Wars 2, you will need to back out to the main menu and select the specific mode and maze in order to see your friends’ scores. To compensate for this flagrant - but forgiven - omission, DX allows you to view player replays.

The distinctive neon look from Championship Edition returns but Namco gives you the opportunity to further customize the way your game looks with eight different skins based on our yellow friend’s story. Mazes made of building blocks just like the good old Pac-Mania, a classic 8-bit look, you name it. Also, characters can be changed independently of their background style. Three-dimensional characters in a 8-bit world? You got it. New techno tracks are also available but seeing the return of the heart-pulsing ambient track from Championship Edition, the others don’t stand out as much.

Conclusion

There’s not a whole to say about this DX edition aside from one thing: its simply amazing. Seeing other companies failing to give the proper attention to their timeless classics, what Namco Bandai offers for a mere $10 cannot be overlooked, whether your a newcomer or hardened gamer. Of course, if you already own Pac-Man, Mrs. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Championship Edition, shedding money for another Pac-Man game may not be the best idea, unless you’re a true and die-hard fan of the series. If you haven’t bought any of the Pac-Man games released on XBLA so far, then this is an absolute must. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.