Amazon.com Customer Reviews
Not much of a real collection - Review written on June 22, 2005
Rating: 3 out of 5
5 customers found this review helpful.
Well, I have to say, I was really excited when the Pac-Man Collection came out. I thought about how much fun it would be to play every game in the series. What I got was something a little different.
First off there is good ol' regular Pac-Man. You eat dots to advance in the levels. Ghosts try to stop you. Try to avoid them. There are 4 power pellets throughout the maze. Eat them, and the ghosts will turn blue and run away from you. Now you can eat them for some nice bonus points. Also, an occasional fruit will appear under the ghost home. Munch on them for some bonus points. I have two gripes about this game though. They are somewhat related. The first one is that the mazes are exacty the same. No matter how many mazes you clear, it's still the same. The second is that the ghost movements aren't random. Blinky and Pinky just go to the top of the screen. If you wanted, you could just do a routine for the all levels for some very easy points.
Pac-Man Arrangement is a good game. The graphics and music have greatly improved. You basicaly go through 22 levels. This plays the same as Pac-Man, except there is a final boss and all. Again, two gripes: the first is that infinite contiues make the game too easy. At least your score resets; and this game is WAY too fast. Sometimes, you will go so fast that if you are being chased by a ghost, you might make a wrong turn even though you think you didn't tell Pac-Man to go there, thus being eaten by a ghost.
Pac Mania
This game is basicaly Pac Man, only with 12 levels and a scrolling playing field. He can also jump! This could increase the easiness, but as a matter a fact, it doesn't! Like I said, you play on a scrolling playing field. That's what increases the difficulty. The environment is also very 3D. There should have been more than 12 mazes, though. That's the only thing wrong. Fortunately, they are challenging.
Pac Attack
Sot of like Tetris, but with the added ghosts. There are 3 modes to play in: Mulitplayer, Regular, and Puzzle. In Regular you have to stack up blocks to make lines. There are also ghosts to "wreck the lines" as the book explains. You have to get the ghosts in one area, and then Pac Man may come in one of the block clusters. He will eat the all ghosts that he can. This game is enjoyable.
Puzzle mode has you in 100 stages of Pac Attack. This game plays similar to Pac Attack, except for the fact that you have a limited number of Pac Men. To clear a stage, you will have to chomp all of the ghosts on the screen with the number of Pac Men you have. You might even have to make lines in order to get to those pesky things.
So what's really wrong? They didn't include Pac-Man Jr., Baby Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man Pac-Man 2, plus much more. If only they did, this would be good. So they can't call it a collection.
Great collection! - Review written on December 30, 2004
Rating: 5 out of 5
3 customers found this review helpful.
It's a nice collection of Pac-Man, Pac-Man Arrangement, Pac-Mania, and Pac-Attack. I'm STILL trying to beat the original! Pac-Attack, 100 stages, gotten through about 30. I already beat Pac-Man Arrangement and Pac-Mania. The easiest was Pac-Man Arrangement, then Pac-Mania(could've been easiest if it wasn't for that 3rd level!!! Levels 1, 2, and 4 are easy though), then Pac-Man, then Pac-Attack.
If you don't have a GBA or DS, GameCube and Xbox has Namco Museum. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Arrangement are there. Pac-Attack is unlockable by getting 25000 points on Pac-Man. Pac-Mania, 20000 points on Ms. Pac-Man. Remember to save it!
Pac Man Fever - Review written on October 31, 2004
Rating: 5 out of 5
33 customers found this review helpful.
I grew up in the 80s playing Atari and arcade games. So when I purchased my new Gameboy Advance SP, I immediately wanted to buy Pac-Man. I definitely was not disappointed. The cartridge contains 4 different games. The basic Pac-Man game is a good replica of the arcade version, replete with Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. It can be played in full-screen or scroll version. The full-screen version is a bit small, but I find the scroll version difficult to play as you cannot see what the characters are doing on other parts of the board.
PacMania 3D and Pac-Man Arrangement are variations on the classic Pac-Man. Pac-Man Arrangement is my least favorite of the 4 games. Although the board is colorful, the floating dots add nothing. I also find it somewhat confusing, and it's difficult to control. PacMania 3D is enjoyable and includes several 3D worlds. You can make your Pac-man jump, and the ghosts have great menacing glares.
However, Pac-Attack is definitely my favorite game here - a brilliant variation on Tetris. Like Tetris, the falling blocks must be arranged. Some of the blocks contain ghosts and some contain a Pac-Man, and the goal is to arrange the ghosts so that you can eat them. It's pretty addicting. Overall, I'm really enjoying this collection. Most highly recommended.
Pac-man lives on as one of the best in retro-gaming... - Review written on July 03, 2004
Rating: 5 out of 5
4 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.
Ever since I've worked at this summer day camp, Pac-man (along with Ms. Pac Man) were my favorites among their choice of arcade machines in the game rooms. Thus, bringing it back further to my nostalgic Atari days. No buttons; just the turn of a joystick. While the GBA unfortunately lacks that periphal, Pac-Man Collection offers 4 good games ranging in difficulty and strategy.
Pros:
- The Classic Pac Man game and the short-lived Pac-Mania
- A chance for Pac-Mania to shine with superb graphics
- Passwords for puzzle mode in Pac-Attack, allowing you to continue the last level you completed
-The settings menu. Need more lives? More levels? Feel free to splurge.
-All the sounds and cut-scenes
Cons:
-Because of the GBA's shape, the Full Screen and Scroll for Pac-Man aren't too great, since Full Screen shrinks the gamefield down considerably and Scroll only shows half at a time. Pac-Man is best when you can see the whole field in good detail
-Pac-Mania offers too-many-deaths since you can't really see ghosts coming from the bottom of the screen
-Pac-Arrangement is fun but the game ends quickly
-Pac-Attack's Normal Mode is tough; stick with Puzzle Mode
Although I wish the original Pac-Man had more level variety like Ms. Pac Man, this is still a must-have for the retro-gamers who actually played an Atari. Pretty cheap, too. So chop down on a must-have for your GBA!
Nostalgic Chomp - Review written on April 07, 2004
Rating: 4 out of 5
2 customers found this review helpful, 2 did not.
It just surprises me when it really comes to video games these days. It all seems quite fancy with too much visual graphics, that it really kills the enjoyment of classics. That does come into the cases with classics from the 80's, that truly broadened the video game formatted market into a whole new level and beyond belief. That did come with the case of Pac-Man. It truly was one of the very first revolutionary video game characters ever. The feeling of Pac-Man still lingers on today. Despite many people thinking of Pac-Man as a throwback, there is a simplicity to the puzzles and mazes that this Yellow chomp has truly made in its long run, and it fits just as well here.
The Pac-Man Collection for the Game Boy Advance, is a collection of 4 of the classic games from the Pac-Man library. The games in itself are a great feel to all different audiences of Pac-Man, and his supporting casts of ghosts: Inky, Blinky, Clyde, Sue, and others just to name about. The games range from the Tetris-like feel of Pac-Attack, which truly is one of the few games that really wasn't like Pac-Man, to the realism of the maze, like the original version of Pac-Man, and one of the very first 3-D games ever made, Pac-Mania, to the ever changing realism of Pac-Man Arrangement. This particular game has just incredible graphics, well beyond some other Game Boy Advance games have been made since the Game Boy Advance came into release in 2001. Still, many people might be dissapointed, with the absence of other great games missing from this collection, including Ms. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Pac-Man Jr., and Pac Man 2 which was released in 1994, as the only unfortunate dud of the chomping legend.
Although Pac-Man is everywhere as a nostalgic throwback to the 1980's, many people might not want this version for the Game Boy Advance. Still, Pac-Man and his chomping impact are well worth the buck over here. If you have a Game Boy Advance, this game collection has to be one addition for the books.
A Real Disappointment - Review written on July 01, 2003
Rating: 2 out of 5
9 customers found this review helpful, 4 did not.
Ok, first of all, this game makes me very mad. You think with a rating of 2 stars, this would have to be a bad game. Well, this is actually a great game, and I couldn't want much more for the GBA. So, what drives me completely mad? Well, to have a game with such great potential, and so many good things, and then to have all or most of it thrown out the window because of the 2 most obvious easiest things they coulda done. First of all, this game does NOT save your high scores. That is truly ridiculous, to have a game that is based on your scores and your high scores, thats what makes you want to play in the first place. To try to beat your high score, or thats at least one of the reasons. So, I have to write my high scores down on a stinkin sheeet of paper that I'd have to carry around with me. Why? Even the Mario game saves your high scores and thats not nearly as important to save as in an arcade game like Pac-man. Also, the scoring system is 2 of the 4 games are totally whack, the score disappears in pac-attack right after the game is over, you barely have time to look and it and then write it down, and that doesn't even save your score while you keep the system on. Also, this game offers no 2 player or "muliplayer" support. This coulda been easy as pie for them to do. Just to have an option where you can compete against the person next to you with one gameboy passing it back and forth to try to beat the other players high score. That's how they did it with my Ms. Pac-man on gameboy. And no, there is no "muliplayer" where you can link up with someone else's GBA. That's not as bothersome, but lots of people like to do that. But hey, besides these complaints that totally destroy with an arcade game is all about, this is a great pac-man collection. The makers of this game must be blooming idiots, to miss the most obvious best things. Wow! Is it humanly possible for people to be so stupid, I would expect this out of dogs who decided to make a pac-man game. Oh yeah, this would probably be a 6 star game if they included everything in there that I talk about. But no, they destroyed this game turning it into a 2 star game.
you can never have too much pacman - Review written on December 31, 2002
Rating: 4 out of 5
5 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.
I really love the Pacman game for GBA than the one I had for my CGB.This Pacman comes with four different games that are equally fun and intriguing to play. One of my favorite games is "Pacman Arrangement," which has a variety of cool mazes and music to go along with it. It also happens to be the only game I can beat! "Pac Attack," my other favorite games,is very similiar to Tetris. The hardest game for me to conquer is the hip, colorful 3D "Pac Mania." The mazes in this game change different themes every two levels and gradually become larger. The cool thing is that PacMan can *jump* over the ghosts- but they can jump too! No matter how many times I try, I can never get past the board with the orange roof, and when I quit my thumb is quite sore...Last, but definetly not least, is the original "PacMan." That's always fun and challenging.
A GREAT PACKAGE, BUT... - Review written on March 30, 2002
Rating: 4 out of 5
1 customer found this review helpful, 1 did not.
Absolutely perfect emulations of the original Pac-Man, Pacmania, Pac-Attack and the new Pac-Man Arrangement! However, I was disappointed to see that a few essential Pac-Man games were left off: Super Pac-Man, Pac-Man Junior, PacLand, and Pac 'N' Pal, not to mention Ms. Pac-Man (which appears on the Namco Museum), would've been awesome to add to this collection. Hopefully, Namco will do a 2nd volume, and add these great Pac-Man games to the collection.
Good variety of play, Pac Man is Pac Man - Review written on March 01, 2002
Rating: 3 out of 5
8 customers found this review helpful.
Pac Man proved something to me with this collection, which was that the developers could take the same concept and make it interesting with four different versions of Pac Man. First there is the original hit game, Pac Man, where you are a little man with a huge mouth going through a maze, gobbling up pellets, being chased by ghosts in a never-ending quest. The next game is "Pac Man Arrangement," which is essentially the same game, only with fun new features, such as a dash and the graphics are a bit better. When Pac Man runs over a dash, he will zip from one side of the maze to the other, past all ghosts that chase him. The third game is Pac Attack, which is a clone of Tetris, falling blocks, some with ghosts in them, and eventually a falling Pac Man to eat the ghosts! You score points by stacking a line of bars or by having a Pac Man eat the ghosts. The fourth game is a great Pac Man game for the present day called Pac Mania! It features crisp graphics, a 3D maze, 3D Pac Man and 3D ghosts, each with their own personalities! The point of it is to still eat all of the pellets in the maze, but now there are more ghosts and you cannot see the entire maze in just one screen. The mazes even have different themes to them, such as one maze will be made of Legos, another will be on the top of a roof! One more thing, now Pac Man can jump over the ghosts! It's a very nice addition to the Pac Family. The only unfortunate part to all of these games is that it does not save your high scores when you turn the game off! There is some nice variety to this game pack, but its not for everyone.