Not even Pac-Man escaped the 8 and 16-bit eras without a spinoff puzzle game to his name. Pac-Attack was an obvious cash-in by Namco on games like Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Puyo-Puyo, but it's actually quite good!
The game is an edited version of the arcade game Cosmo Gang the Puzzle (based on the somewhat well-known Cosmo Gang). As in Tetris, the objective is to create rows of blocks, which will make them disappear. As with all other falling block games, you have to keep your screen from filling up as long as possible.
Together with the blocks, red ghosts will drop down. These serve only to lodge in between blocks preventing you from finishing more rows. That's where Pac-Man comes in: after every two sets of objects that drop, a set of objects that includes Pac-Man will follow. When Pac-Man lands, he heads off in the direction he is facing and gobbles up every ghost he comes across, removing them from the play field and thus opening spaces for blocks.
The falling objects are all two spaces wide by two spaces high. They can include ghosts, blocks, Pac-Man, and blank spaces (so not every set of objects has to include 4 things). Blocks can be rotated and any objects that stick out over ledges will drop down. On the left of the screen is a large fairy wand that fills up as Pac-Man eats ghosts. When it's full, a "set" of objects containing nothing but a fairy will drop down, making all of the ghosts on the screen vanish.
As with most other games, you can't just keep going on forever. The rate at which objects fall increases rapidly, with a "level" indicator on the right showing how far along you are. After every 20 "levels" the speed goes back to the slowest setting, but at a cost - the number of object sets between each Pac-Man increases by one! If you're not that good a player, don't worry - there's a difficulty selector with four levels to choose from. You can also choose to play with two players.
Of course, that's not all the game has to offer. There's also a Puzzle Mode, with a whole 100 levels. In each there are be a bunch of ghosts and blocks already set up. Your goal is to make Pac-Man eat all of them. Before he appears, though, you're going to have to drop some extra ghosts and blocks onto the rest! There is a limited supply of Pac-Men, but if you fail with the first, don't worry, as you have another chance. Puzzle Mode includes a password system so you can continue where you left off. This mode is one player only.
Accompanying this is a soundtrack which is quite nice. The main game theme is a largely expanded remix of the theme that played in intermissions in the original Pac-Man, while the title screen and Puzzle Mode themes are original songs that also sound quite good. There is also a suitably fast-paced, nice song for two player mode.
Pac-Attack may seem like a ripoff of other, more popular falling block games, but it's actually a pretty good game. It's a sort of strange mixture of Tetris and Puyo Puyo's gameplay mechanics, which blends together quite well. Don't ignore this one in favour of other puzzle games. In fact, this this should be one of the first to check out.
1. Clinker
12 Jan 2008, 12:48 GMT
Wow! That came out of nowhere, I have Pac-Attack on Namco Museum and its a pretty cool game. I'd say its worth 800.
2. KeeperBvK
12 Jan 2008, 13:07 GMT
Finally another good falling-blocks-puzzler! The VC definitely hasn't got even nearly enough of them. It's pretty addictive, although maybe not as much as Tetris Attack and Dr. Mario (ond Tetris & Dr. Mario), but still a very nice addition.
3. Bass X0
12 Jan 2008, 19:41 GMT
Actually Pac-Man meets Cosmo Gang. I didn't think it was that great - the ghosts really get in the way of clearing blocks away. And its easy to mess up trying to get rid of the ghosts. Cleopatra Fortune is a similar but much more fun game.
4. SKKTR
12 Jan 2008, 19:50 GMT
I rented "Pac-Man World 2" for Gamecube, and I unlocked Pac-Attack there
+ the original Pac-Man (also available on VC)
+ Pac-Mania (not available on VC)
+ Ms. Pac-Man (not available on VC).
Besides of the main adventure I liked Pac-Attack the most, because it's a unique puzzle game.
Watch the video and decide for yourself.
Although you can get Pac-Man World 2 very cheap for Gamecube
and you have one big game + four classics for about ten bucks instead of one classic for 8 bucks. (Yeah, you have to unlock them in Pac-Man World 2 but Pac-Man and Pac-Attack are very easy to unlock). I'd try to get Pac-Man World 2.
5. Boredom v2.2
20 Jan 2008, 04:25 GMT
I did the exact same thing as SKKTR a few years ago! Pac-man World 2 was an awesome game! If Wii Shop had Gamecube games available for download and it had PMW2 as a choice, i'd get it big time!
Oh and guess what (unrelated again)! Hey Dazza, this may seem surprising, but i think i found one of your miis in the Check Mii Out Channel! Did you have a Mr. T mii?
6. toaster
05 Feb 2008, 12:35 GMT
I was completely unaware this game existed until recently. So, I downloaded it. It is pretty fun. I never had a change to play Dr. Mario when I was young either, I always had a limited budget (what ever I could save up from mowing and stuff) and there was always something else I wanted.. No one that I hung out with ever had it either. So, I'm looking forward to playing it someday!
7. MrLopez
28 Mar 2008, 21:29 GMT
Is this coming to EU?
8. Bass X0
28 Mar 2008, 21:40 GMT
could do any time. next week or next year. nobody knows.
9. Pocketim
27 Jun 2008, 05:05 GMT
I just came out today
Im not getting it though, I have it on a GBA game called "Pac-Man Collection"
10. Clinker
27 Jun 2008, 22:48 GMT
But on TV, you can play multiplayer!
11. Mr. Cheez
27 Jun 2008, 23:26 GMT
I played this game on Pacman World 2, on pacman collection for GBA, and also on that old GBC Pac-Man port back when I was a kid. It's a decently fun puzzle game, but not worth 800 points. Just get one of those games I previously mentioned.
12. Mr. Cheez
27 Jun 2008, 23:32 GMT
Boredom v2.2, what's the point in having gamecube games for download if the wii is backwards compatible w/ GC games? Just look for PMW 2 at a trading store somewhere.
13. MrLopez
28 Jun 2008, 09:24 GMT
Looks like fun!
14. Adamant
29 Jun 2008, 04:07 GMT
The price point is an interesting one - since the game is a puzzler, it's pretty timeless, and could've perfectly well have been released today for the price of a full game. However, that's not the case, and the game can be found on several collections that can probably be found for the same price Nintendo asks for this VC game if you scour a used game store, should you happen to have one nearby (no, that's not the case wit heveryone, particularly outside the US).
Are we paying for entertainment value (it's fun), age-based assumed value (it's old, and thus apparantly not worth as much), or monetary value (it can be purchased for less if you happen to stumble across it in certain other forms)?
15. Beau Skunk
12 Aug 2008, 02:02 GMT
A pretty cool puzzler, I felt. If you like Tetris, you'll like this.
The 100 level puzzle mode is definatelly the best mode in the game, I liked it better then the main game personally. The main game is nice to, don't get me wrong.
16. PuppetMasterKuruku
30 Aug 2008, 12:02 GMT
AHHHH!!! I'M HAVING A PAC-ATTACK!!!! *keels over*
Oh, wait. I have a version of this for free on Pac-Man World 2, which was free with Pac-Man Vs, and I'm free to think that it's not very fun, so I spend my free credits on Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man instead.
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