| Pac-Man Championship Edition | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Namco Bandai |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Designer(s) | Tōru Iwatani |
| Platform(s) | Android, Xbox Live Arcade, iOS, PlayStation Network, Nintendo 3DS, J2ME, Roku |
| Release date(s) | Xbox Live Arcade June 6, 2007 J2ME December 10, 2009[2] Android Q3 2010[3] PSP minis
June 23, 2011[5] |
| Genre(s) | Maze, Arcade |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) |
| Media/distribution | Download, DVD-DL |
Pac-Man Championship Edition (パックマン チャンピオンシップエディション Pakkuman Chanpionshippu Edishon, sometimes simply referred to as Pac-Man C.E.) is a 2007 video game in the Pac-Man series, developed by Namco Bandai Games. The game was designed by Tōru Iwatani, the creator of the classic original 1980 arcade game Pac-Man, and it was Iwatani's final game before his retirement.[6] Originally released on the Xbox Live Arcade service for the Xbox 360 video game console, Championship Edition was later released for the Android, iOS, J2ME, Roku, and S60 platforms, on the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 consoles, and on Nintendo 3DS as part of the retail game Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions. A follow-up game called Pac-Man Championship Edition DX was released in 2010, featuring new gameplay elements.
Contents |
Like the original Pac-Man, the basic gameplay of Pac-Man Championship Edition consists entirely of navigating Pac-Man through a maze, eating dots, power pellets and bonus items (such as fruits, keys, and other objects), and avoiding the four ghosts that roam the maze as well. If Pac-Man is caught by a ghost, the player loses a life. Eating a power pellet causes the ghosts to turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them and send them back to their home, where they re-emerge in their original form.
However, there are several major differences from its original counterpart, making Pac-Man C.E. a faster paced game. Each maze is divided into two halves. Eating all 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. Players can also collect additional power pellets to increase their powered up time and continue earning maximum points for eating ghosts. The longer the player stays alive, the faster the game gets and the more points can be earned. As opposed to levels, the game is played within a certain time limit, with players attempting to get the highest score possible.
The game features six modes: Championship, which is the basic five-minute mode, two Challenge modes which affect the stage (such as increasing power pellet pickups or putting the maze in darkness) and three Extra modes featuring different mazes. The game also supports online leaderboards.
The game was originally released on the Xbox Live Arcade service on June 6, 2007.[7] The announcement of the game spurred more purchases of the Xbox 360 in Japan. Pac-Man C.E. is also available on a disc titled Xbox Live Arcade Compilation that is bundled with the Xbox 360 Arcade console bundle, as well as on the compilation package Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (in the latter however, it can't be accessed within NMVA itself; it must be accessed from the game library). Ports for iOS, J2ME, Android and PSP minis were released on December 10, 2009, middle of 2009, late 2010 and December 1, 2010 respectively.[8] The follow-up Pac-Man Championship Edition DX was released on Xbox Live Arcade on November 17, 2010 and PlayStation Network on November 23, 2010.[9][10] The original Pac-Man Championship Edition was ported to Nintendo 3DS as part of a retail game titled Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions in 2011.
On June 5, 2007, the first Pac-Man World Championship was held in New York City, which brought together ten competitors from eight countries to play the new Pac-Man Championship Edition just prior to its release on Xbox Live Arcade. The top two scorers, Robert Glashuettner of Austria and Carlos Daniel Borrego Romero of Mexico, competed for the championship in a single five-minute round. Borrego was named Pac-Man World Champion and won an Xbox 360 console, specially decorated with Pac-Man artwork and signed by Tōru Iwatani.[11][12]
Participants:
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 83/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | A[13] |
| Computer and Video Games | 7/10[14] |
| Eurogamer | 7/10[15] |
| GameSpot | 7.9/10[16] |
| IGN | 8.4/10[17] |
| TeamXbox | 8.6/10[18] |
| X-Play | 5/5[19] |
Pac-Man Championship Edition received mostly positive reviews by critics, with reviewers stating the gameplay was "fresh and exciting,"[20] "one of the best 'exclusive' pieces of downloadable/casual entertainment available,"[21] and that it was "nice to see a classic remade instead of simply repackaged."[22] Jared Rea of Joystiq called it "The first true sequel to Pac-Man since Ms. Pac-Man."[23] Criticisms include a lack of a multiplayer mode, and an apparent relapse to patterns that had been in the original. As of April 14, 2009, the Metacritic score is 83.[24] The iOS port was criticised for its microtransaction strategy[25] while the Android port was criticised for poor controls.[26] IGN criticised the PSPminis version due to the absence of online leaderboards and its inferiority to its sequel.[27]
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