Amid major releases like Hollow Knight Silksong and Ghost of Yotei, you’d be forgiven if you gave Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac a pass: I mean, we weren’t rearing our heads for a review on this one, but when the game was offered to us, we thought it could be a breath of fresh air among the most hegemonic releases of the time.
Truth is, we’re a bit late with this, since we wanted to take our time to make sure we got it right and, well, we did: Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac is the type of game where you either expect a lot of, or nothing — and it doesn’t deliver in any of those two ends.
Not that the title is bad per se…it just feels like it took some easy steps to play safe, lacking innovation even in the case of a remake. However, when it does decide to shoot for the Moon, it does with flying colors.
So, a mid game, is what we’re saying? Well, kinda. But…
The Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac Review you didn’t ask for, but should read anyway
To set the context, Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac is a remake of the same game, originally released on GameCube to wonderful success. And as remakes go, this one is pretty solid: everything that made the original great is here, while elements that took away from the older scores were remedies or otherwise minimized.
Still, this game feels like it doesn’t try enough, which is a shame since, ever since transitioning to the 3D world, Pac-Man has been nothing but fun and engaging.
In this game, you play as the titular character, imbued with the mission of recovering the golden fruits so you can re-seal an ancient, dark, powerful evil called…Spooky. Yes, that’s his name: this is Pac-Man, you won’t see any menacing naming capabilities here.
Also present and also cutesy-named are the ghosts that made the franchise known: Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, all under service of the major villain, each one a boss on each of the game’s six worlds. Yup, four ghosts, six worlds. The number adds up if you play, but we can’t tell you how without spoiling stuff, so we won’t.
Each of these worlds has three platforming levels plus a boss fight, and this is where the game’s first problem arises: the levels are too long.
Not in the sense of duration, mind you: there’s a time attack mode that allows you to tackle every level in under a minute in most cases. It’s just that publisher Bandai Namco tried to invest so much on the replay factor that finishing a level only to go back and collect any missing item (or “fruits”, in this case, as you have plenty of several types to get) just feels like a chore more than it adds any fun. And if you’re a completionist, you’ll feel it even more, as some unlockables require you to do just that in order to obtain them.
The same can be said for some bosses, by the way: every single one of them is two-phased (except for the final boss, who’s got three-ish) and their attack patterns change but not too much, so there’s virtually no challenge — just enough difficulty to make you jump one more time, dodge a little further or do a little more than what you were already doing.
We get it, Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac is not made to be tough — it is a nearly-brainless, pretty linear structure of a game that you blaze through in about an hour or so…but if you have that proposition, you might as well stick with it instead of making some parts of the game last so long that, by the time you realize it, you’re crossing the 20, maybe 30-hour mark just trying to get that one missing item from a level you replayed so much it starts to feel like you’re doing dishes — something you have to do, but never really enjoy.
In short, when you do get that missing item, the feeling you get is more in the lines of “about time” than “yay”.
Where Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac does shine, though, is in the overall presentation: for the visual freaks out there, the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second rate, in 4K definition on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X — the former being the version we got.
This goes nicely together with the gameplay fluidity and some new, cosmetic features: that usual ass drop Pac-Man does have some new visual markers that make it look more impressive, and a neat target on the floor, showing where your butt is gonna land, helps to minimize any foolish platforming mistakes.
The mini-games also got some visual overhaul even when we’re talking about the retro-looking ones, and things no longer feel like a sticker glued to the screen — it actually stands out and several elements are pretty noticeable and, even more so, capable of appreciation.
Level design is also very creative, with some highlights shining brighter than others: about 70% of the game is your run-of-the-mill 3D platforming — you run around, jump around, kick/stomp a few enemies and collect a bunch of seemingly inaccessible, just-barely-out-of-reach stuff.
Some other levels, however, brought many joyful moments to me: there’s one where you slide away from a giant snow ball, jumping over obstacles while on the lookout for any collectibles, holes on the ground and anything more you can expect.
The submarine levels are, though, by far my favorites: reachable in the game’s second half, you get to play those in a completely new gameplay setting, which was refreshing — sadly, you’re immediately thrown into the usual stuff afterwards, which was somewhat disappointing.
And then there’s the final boss which, again, we won’t spoil much, but what the hell was that? It’s like every single complaint you see here got thrown in the blender and that’s what came out.
Conclusion
Look, for nostalgia’s sake, Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac is a fun title, and you’ll probably enjoy most of it if platformers are your thing. The fact that you can go through most of it in a matter of hours also helps, and finally, you’ll see most elements that made the brand famous, although in a new, 3D, shinier way that may or may not be to your liking.
I’m just saying that, considering its price points ($34.99 on PS5, somewhat less on Switch and Steam), the negative points might become more evident than the good ones at some point.
Like we said earlier, it’s a game where you expect nothing and gain something, or expect too much and get disappointed.
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