Pac-Man Championship Edition

Pac-Man Championship Edition
Gear Up! Lure and eat ...or be eaten!
Protagonist(s): Pac-Man Genre(s): Maze Platform(s): Original: Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable iOS Android Roku Maemo 5 Microsoft Windows Nintendo 3DS DX: Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Windows Phone PC iOS Android Demake: NES Release Date: Championship edition (6/6/7) DX (11/17/10) Developer(s): Mine Loader Software (DX) Namco Bandai Games Namco Bandai Studios (DX and 2) Publisher(s): Namco Bandai Games Bandai Namco Entertainment (2) Country: Japan Series: Pac-Man

Pac-Man Championship Edition is a maze video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games. This is an HD reimagining of the original Pac-Man. It also got another version of the game called Pac-Man Championship Edition DX.

Why They’re Champions

Overall

1. To get the elephant out of the room. The graphics! You heard that right, the graphics. To put it this way, they are considered to be eye candy and match the tone of the game.
2. Despite being a reimagining of Pac-Man, there are major differences from the original game. Lets list them out like this.
   • Fast-paced gameplay that is faster than what you would expect! Will get faster if you survive long enough.
   • The mazes here are divided into two halves. Eat the dots on one half causes a bonus item to appear on the other side and eating the item causes a new maze to appear on the other half.
   • The usual power pellets return, but not only can you eat the ghosts, but you can increase your powered-up time and get maximum points with the additional power pellets.
3. The gameplay and controls are still fun also maintaining the original maze game that Pac-Man is usually known for.
4. Awesome soundtrack. The soundtrack is so awesome that you just want to play the game longer just to listen to the songs.Gets better in the DX version.
5. Introduced new bonus fruits. You can make Pac-Man eat coffee, cakes, the Boss Galaga, the Gaplus Drone, hamburgers, eggs, candy, clovers, blue diamonds, hearts, the Galaga Drone, and crowns.
6. Supports online leader boards.

Original

1. This is more of a simple game where it only had six modes so it's a start.
   • Championship: A five minute mode.
   • Challenge: Two ten-minute modes that affect the stage like increasing the power pellet pickups or putting the maze in darkness.
   • Three extra modes that have different time limits via different mazes.

DX

1. Introduced a new type of ghost called sleeping ghosts. Sleeping ghosts stay in a stationary spot on the maza until Pac-Man moves past it and begins to follow him. Pass several more ghosts, they make a rainbow trail that will grant massive bonus points once Pac-Man is able to get a power pellet and eat them.
3. Bombs are added to the game. They allow Pac-Man to use bombs just to return all the ghosts to the center of the maze. Limited supply but it works.
4. 9 courses are added in the game with one of the mazes being based on the original Championship Edition.
5. Various visual styles. Players can mix and match the visual styles just to see how interesting the gameplay will come out. For instance, you got visual styles that are related to Dig Dug and Rally-X. You also have those that share a resemblance to Pac-Mania and Pac-Man Arrangement. Regardless if you want to change the visuals for the things like the mazes or the characters, you know you're getting some neat stuff right there!
6. Every time you get close enough to a ghost, a slow-motion effect will occur. This helps players get the last-minute chance to avoid being killed.
7. There are three main modes used for this version of the game. Allow us to introduce them!
   • Score attack: You just need to get the highest score within 5 or 10 minutes. Nothing else for that matter.
   • Time attack: There are several short trails and one long trial. These allow players to obtain a certain amount of fruit as quickly to the best of their ability.
   • Ghost combo. Players need to stay powered up to eat as many ghosts as possible.
8. Had a free update that renamed the game as Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+. The update improved leaderboard functionality and the ability to challenge friends.
   • Medal support and a new skin based on the classic Pac-Man. They can be unlocked just by getting all achievements and medals.
   • DLC is also introduced in the update. You get new courses, new skins, and new background music. The price for the DLC is cheap!

NES version

1. This game managed to push the NES's hardware beyond it's limits, and managed to make the sounds in the game sound like their arcade counterparts. Since it's something a NES couldn't actually do, a lot of emulators aren't able to play the sounds in the game, albeit there are a few exceptions, such as Mesen2.
2. The soundtrack is godtier, especially if counting Extra Mode's music.
3. The graphics are incredible, not much as the original, but still, having the stage react to the beat of the music is fire!

Bad Qualities

1. Back then, the original Pac-Man Championship Edition didn't have much content compared to DX. It kinda felt more like a demo. Though this could be understandable, still.
2. Lack of multiplayer mode on both.
3. The original Championship Edition game had AI that felt reused in the original arcade game.
4. The iOS version of the original Championship Edition had a microtransaction strategy while the Android port of the game had poor controls.
   • The PSPmini version had an absence of online leaderboards.
5. In the DX version (At least in the updated version called DX+), there is a DLC skin based on the not-so-well-received show Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures which might bother some players. At least the skin still looks pretty cool.

Reception

Championship Edition was well-received by reviewers. Metacritic gave the game an 83/100, 1Up.com gave the game an A, and TeamXbox gave the game an 8.6/10. DX gotten reviews that are more improved compared to the predecessor. with universal acclaim from Metacritic (on the Xbox 360, PS3, and i0S versions at least). TeamXbox gave the game a 9.8/10 and TouchArcade gave the game 5 stars.

Trivia

1. DX was the first game under the now discontinued Namco Generations label.
2. This game was the last game that Toru Iwatani designed.
3. Tadashi Iguchi was not much of a Pac-Man fan and had to look at the game from the perspective of a hardcore fan of the franchise while working on it.
4. You can play the original Championship Edition on Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions for the Nintendo 3DS.
5. A demastered version of Pac-Man Championship Edition that runs on NES hardware is included in the game compilation Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1.

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