Pac-Man World 3

Since Pac-Man is celebrating his birthday in real life, that is indeed the basis of the story for this third platform adventure. In what has to be one of the corniest introductions I have seen in a long time, he is stood looking very happy with his yellow self and ready to have some yummy cake when *blip* he disappears, only to reappear elsewhere in Pac-Village...This happens a few times until eventually he is teleported down into a strange world, where Pac-Man must figure out how to prevent the evil Erwin from taking over the world. Thankfully, he has the help of his technical friend Orson throughout the game. Thank goodness for that then...!

 

No longer is Pac-Man a very small, two-dimensional character that moves in four directions making wacca-wacca sounds. He has been fully fleshed out in 3D to wander round like an everyday human (albeit one with a severe case of jaundice...). The game is surprisingly easy on the eye, with well-animated characters and a refreshing amount of variety mixed into the levels you play through. Unfortunately the camera can be a little too erratic at times, but not to the point of ruining the game, more just adding a touch of extra frustration to the proceedings. As for the soundtrack, well, there is nothing major to report in terms of horrible tunes

 

The problem with 'paying homage' to other games is that when you take a look at the final product, unfortunately you cannot help but be overly critical in your comparison of it to the other titles. This is the main sticking point with PMW3, as it could have been loved, but will forever languish in the land of mediocrity as it fails to lift itself above the games it is so keenly lifting from. There are mecha aspects mixed in, but they do not cause many sparks of interest; and there are the usual antics of defeating 'bad guys' by either punching them or jumping and stomping on their heads (the choice is dependent on what style of enemy you are currently facing

 

Other than the slightly problematic camera mentioned earlier, there is also an issue with the frame-rate in over-crowded areas, which is a shame since the GC is so powerful when used correctly. And there is also the recurring problem of seeming like a poor copy of Mario (wall-jumping is a main feature) and even Metroid (there is a move similar to Samus going into Morph Ball mode and dashing). But there are classic Pac-Man elements involved as well, such as being able to pick up pieces of fruit or play through traditional arcade Pac-Man mazes (after collecting a Galaxian item