The Game: As a round yellow creature consisting of a mouth and nothing else, one player maneuvers around a relatively simple maze, gobbling small dots and evading four colorful monsters, up to three of which are controlled by his fellow players, who can eat Pac-Man on contact. In four corners of the screen, large flashing dots enable Pac-Man to turn the tables and eat the monsters for a brief period of time. Periodically, assorted items appear near the center of the maze, and Pac-Man can consume these for additional points as well. The monsters, once eaten, return to their home base in ghost form and return to the chase. If cleared of dots, the maze refills and the game starts again, but just a little bit faster. The game continues until a preset target score is reached, or until Pac-Man is caught by one of the monsters; the player controlling that monster is then handed the Game Boy Advance to take over Pac-Man’s role. (Namco, 2003 – for Nintendo Gamecube)
Memories: Let me just come right out and say that I have a bit of bias toward this game. Pac-Man is an all-time favorite of mine, the very reason I’m still as into video games now as I was 20+ years ago. You just can’t go wrong with Pac-Man – well, then again, maybe you can. In recent years, the character has gotten to star in a series of platform quest games, boldly going where Mario and Luigi have already gone before plenty of times themselves. As much fun as the original Pac-Man World could be, that game’s killer app was still, undoubtedly, that it could play the original arcade Pac-Man, or a slightly 3-D remake of it in “maze mode.” There hasn’t been a really good use of the Pac franchise in years – until now.
And it’s interesting to note whose baby this is. Pac-Man Vs. was designed by none other than Nintendo grand master Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer of Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., The Legend Of Zelda, and so on. Miyamoto is still Nintendo’s greatest asset, but he’s also gone on record as saying that his favorite video game outside of his own work is Toru Iwitani’s Pac-Man. So Namco and Nintendo got together for this new and exciting take on the original game, and Miyamoto got a chance to add a new dimension to one of his personal favorites. And here’s the kicker: Pac-Man Vs. simultaneously changes more about the game’s basic premise and yet brings the concept closer to home than it’s been in years. This would be a smash-hit game but for its “limited edition” status (it’s never been sold on its own, instead relegated to “bonus pack-in” status with a reprint of Pac-Man World 2 and Ikaruga) and the need for a particular configuration of hardware that not everyone’s going to have.
Unless, of course, you’re a Pac-nut like me who will actually slowly gather the necessary components just to play this game. The graphical treatment is dandy – the one-to-three players controlling the movements of the ghosts see a limited radius around their characters in an isometric 3-D view, while the player controlling Pac-Man sees a scrolling overhead view on the Game Boy Advance screen, very much like playing classic Pac-Man in Pac-Man Collection. The ghosts’ view, however, is a cool tip of the hat to another retro video game icon: the maze is decorated in a colorful neon look that instantly triggers the word “Tron” in my brain. A selection of other mazes is also available, in addition to the classic Pac-Man arcade maze.
The voice of Mario narrates the proceedings, offering the ghost players clues to events that have happened outside of their view: “Oh, fruit appear!”, “Pac-Man ate the fruit!” and “Pac-Man ate a power pellet!” being just a few examples. (If the ghosts have Pac-Man cornered, Mario utters a remarkably Jar Jar-like “Dis is looking not so good!”) The narration roots for everyone, and it’s a fun little addition.
This is possibly the best recycling of Pac-Man that I’ve seen since, well, Pac-Mania, and it’s ironic that the game found that rebirth in the hands of the creator of 
Donkey Kong, Pac-Man‘s earliest serious arcade competition. Almost a year passed between my first picking up this game and finally being able to play it, and I’m going to say it was well worth it. With the right crowd, Pac-Man Vs. ranks right up there as some of the most fun you can have with pants on.
