Pac-Man Vs.

Nintendo exclusive

Pac-Man Vs. is a Pac-Man video game originally designed exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube that was included as an extra bonus disc with the Player's Choice edition of Pac-Man World 2.

Released: 2 December 2003
Platforms: GameCube
Genres: Maze Puzzle
Developers: Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
Publishers: Namco
Modes: Multiplayer
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E PEGI 3 CERO A

About

Pac-Man Vs. is a 2003 maze video game developed by Nintendo and published by Namco for the GameCube. In the game, one player takes control of Pac-Man, who must eat all of the pellets in the maze, while the others control the ghosts to try to catch them. The objective is to be the first to reach a set number of points, selected before the game begins.

The player controlling Pac-Man uses the Game Boy Advance to play, while the others use the television to control the ghosts. The game requires the GameCube - Game Boy Advance link cable in order to play.

Keywords

mascot
maze
asymmetric gameplay
artificial intelligence
high score
collectibles
non-humanoid protagonist
player vs player
female antagonist
peripherals
leaderboard
connectivity

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Pac-Man Vs. is a maze video game. The game requires a Game Boy Advance, the GameCube - Game Boy Advance link cable peripheral, and one to three GameCube controllers to play. Before the game begins, a predetermined score value can be set to either 7,000, 10,000 or 15,000 points; the first player to reach this score wins.

One of the players will be assigned as Pac-Man, the others being the ghosts. The player controlling Pac-Man uses the Game Boy Advance to play, the objective being to eat all the dots in the maze without being caught by a ghost. Eating large flashing "Power Pellets" will cause the ghosts to turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them to steal points and send them back to the regeneration box in the middle of the maze. If a ghost catches Pac-Man, the person that caught him will become Pac-Man in the next round.

Development

Pac-Man Vs. was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) for the GameCube. A fan of the original Pac-Man arcade game, Miyamoto designed a tech demo to show off the capabilities of the GameCube - Game Boy Advance link cable peripheral, where one player controlled Pac-Man and three others controlled the ghosts. A short demo was shown off at the Games Convention in Germany, simply titled Pac-Man for Nintendo GameCube, where it gained a sizable amount of attention.

The game took a month to complete, where it was then shown to Namco, who took interest and agreed to publish it as a full game. It was presented at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), with Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani invited to the presentation as a guest.

Reception

Pac-Man Vs. was met with generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its clever take on the core gameplay, multiplayer and replay value. It holds a 78/100 on Metacritic.

Nintendo World Report called it "a must-have for parties", while GamePro said it was worth owning for its "posterity" alone. IGN, GamePro and Nintendojo praised the game's interesting take on the Pac-Man gameplay, with IGN in particular noting that it is "intuitive for anyone regardless of their gaming skill levels". Nintendo World Report highly praised the game's multiplayer aspect for keeping the gameplay frantic and fast-paced. A similar response was echoed by IGN, who called it "incredibly fun" and said it added to the overall experience.