is a 1999
3D platform video game developed and published for the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
by
Namco
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...
. Controlling
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
, the player must complete each of the game's six worlds by collecting a certain amount of pellets to open up an exit door. The plot follows Pac-Man's enemies, the ghosts, crashing his 20th birthday and kidnapping his friends and family to bring them to their homeland of Ghost Island — with his birthday in ruins and his family in trouble, Pac-Man sets out to rescue them and defeat the ghosts.
The game originally began as an open-world adventure game titled ''Pac-Man Ghost Zone'', with development headed by director Bill Anderson and designer Scott Rogers. After being unhappy with the game's quality, Namco scrapped the game and fired nearly the entire team aside from Rogers and a few others. The development team focused on making the game live up to the "flavor and feel" of the original ''
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
'', and to successfully bring the character into an enjoyable 3D adventure game.
''Pac-Man World'' was a critical and commercial success, selling over 1.25 million copies in North America alone. Reviewers praised the game's originality, colorful graphics, gameplay mechanics, and soundtrack. Some criticized it for being repetitive after a while and its constant use of backtracking. A
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
remake was developed by
Full Fat
Full Fat is an independent British video game developer. The company was founded in 1996. The company's speciality has been developing games for hand-held devices including Nintendo's Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Sony's PlayStation P ...
and released in 2004, while the PlayStation version was digitally re-released for the
PlayStation Network
PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smar ...
in 2013 under the PSone Classics brand. It was followed by two sequels, ''
Pac-Man World 2
is a video game by Namco USA for the Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2, released in 2002. A version of the game for Microsoft Windows was released in 2004, and an isometric sidescroller was made for the Game Boy Advance in 2005. The game is a s ...
'' and ''
Pac-Man World 3'', and a racing spin-off, ''
Pac-Man World Rally
''Pac-Man World Rally'', known in Europe as ''Pac-Man Rally'', is a kart racing game in the ''Pac-Man'' series. It was published by Bandai Namco Games, and released on August 22, 2006 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, PlayStation Portable, and Mi ...
''. A remake developed by
Now Production
(Stylized as NOWPRO) is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Osaka. Founded in 1986, it started developing various games for major Japanese companies including Namco, Hudson Soft, Capcom, Activision, Taito, Konami, Sega, ...
and published by
Bandai Namco Entertainment, titled ''Pac-Man World Re-Pac'', was released on August 26, 2022 on
Nintendo Switch,
PlayStation 4,
PlayStation 5,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 202 ...
and
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
.
Gameplay
''Pac-Man World'' is a 3D
platform video game
A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...
. Controlling
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
, the player must complete each of the game's six worlds to rescue his family and friends, who are held captive by the ghosts in their homeland of Ghost Island.
Worlds consist of four levels each (except the Ruins world, which has three), which are completed by eating all of the pellets to open up an exit door. The final level of each world has a boss that Pac-Man must defeat in order to progress.
At the beginning of the game, only three worlds are available, while the other three are unlocked by completing all prior worlds.
The six worlds in the game each feature distinctive themes, e.g. the first world, Pirate, features ships, cannons, and beaches.
Levels contain fruit that can be eaten for bonus points, alongside letters that spell out "PACMAN". Collecting all of these letters in a level will unlock a secret bonus stage.
Some levels require Pac-Man to retrieve a key to rescue one of his captive friends.
''
Galaxian
is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, wh ...
'' flagships found in certain levels allow Pac-Man to access a 3D maze themed after the world he is in.
These mazes play similarly to the original ''
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
'' and ''
Ms. Pac-Man
is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the first sequel to '' Pac-Man'' (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's ...
'', where Pac-Man will need to eat all the dots and avoid the ghosts. Completing these mazes will unlock them for replay from the main menu.
Most levels also contain Pac-Man's nemeses, the ghost gang, which can be defeated by consuming large Power Pellets and eating them.
Pac-Man has two main moves, which can be used to defeat enemies and other objects: a butt-bounce that can shatter crates and crush enemies, and a rev-roll that allows him to propel up ramps or activate moving platforms.
Pac-Man has a health meter that allows him to sustain three hits before dying. He can find small fractions of health to replenish it in levels, as well as extra lives.
The player can find crates scattered around in levels, some of them giving Pac-Man access to new abilities, such as a metal suit allowing him to walk underwater.
Pac-Man can also interact with objects such as trampolines, doors and ramps, which can be used to solve puzzles to progress through the level.
At the main menu, the player can play a port of the original ''Pac-Man'' arcade game, which is the same version found in ''
Namco Museum Vol. 1''.
Development
''Pac-Man World'' began as a prototype platform game for the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
, titled ''Pac-Man Ghost Zone'', which was only shown at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo in 1997 and intended for released in the fall of that same year.
Headed by Namco Hometek director Bill Anderson, the game followed a teenager being sucked into a ''Pac-Man'' arcade cabinet by the ghosts and their leader the Ghostlord, and transforming into
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
.
The game was made to break the mold of previous ''Pac-Man'' games, such as having a grittier look.
Namco's Japanese division put pressure on the project with strict guidelines — Anderson recalls being unable to use a 3D render of the character as a reference, requiring the team to make it themselves.
Development was assisted by designer Scott Rogers, with music composed by
Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico (born Thomas Andrew Tallarico; February 18, 1968) is an American video game music composer, musician, sound designer, television personality, live show creative director and producer. He and his company, Tommy Tallarico Studio ...
.
When the prototype was presented to Namco, they became unhappy with it and cancelled it for quality reasons, firing the entire development team aside from Rogers, an artist and a programmer.
Namco also pushed the release date back to 1998 to allow the game to be reworked. The team decided to revamp the project with a new gameplay engine.
Rogers, who had previously worked on localization for Namco's own ''
Soul Edge
is a fighting game developed by the Namco team Project Soul and published by Namco as the first installment in the ''Soulcalibur'' series of 3D fighting games. Originally released as an arcade game in December 1995 in video gaming, 1995, an upgra ...
'' and ''
Xevious 3D/G'', became the head designer of the project and created many of the enemies and stage layouts.
The team set out to retain the "flavor and feel" of the original ''Pac-Man'', and to bring the character into an entertaining platform game.
Inspiration was taken from earlier platform games in the series, notably ''
Pac-Land
is a 1984 side-scrolling arcade platform game developed and released by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Bally Midway, and in Europe by Atari Games. Controlling Pac-Man (character), Pac-Man, the player must make it to the end of eac ...
'' (1984) and ''
Pac-In-Time
is a platform game developed by Kalisto and published by Namco, featuring the arcade character Pac-Man. It was released in 1995 for MS-DOS, Macintosh, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy.
This game was an offshoot from the norma ...
'' (1995).
During development, Rogers noted that trying to live up to the game's source material put a large amount of pressure on the team, claiming that most players were only familiar with the original ''Pac-Man'' and ''
Ms. Pac-Man
is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the first sequel to '' Pac-Man'' (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's ...
'' with no memories for later games in the series, which left the team having to make the game appeal to players of those two games.
The game originally featured cameos from other Namco characters, including Taizo Hori from ''
Dig Dug
is a maze arcade game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rock ...
'' and Valkyrie from ''
Valkyrie no Densetsu
''Valkyrie no Densetsu'' is a 1989 action-adventure role-playing arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. It is a follow-up to the Family Computer game '' Valkyrie no Bōken'' (1986). Players control the warrior maiden Valkyrie an ...
'', however these were replaced with members of Pac-Man's family in the final version — a Pooka from ''Dig Dug'' was later added into the game due to the character's popularity in Japan.
The game's main antagonist, Toc-Man, is named after Namcot, the older Japanese home console division of Namco.
Pac-Man wasn't given a voice in the game due to Namco being unable to decide what he should sound like — some suggested that he sound like an adult male and others like a human child.
To save money on voice acting and animation, the character was left largely unvoiced with no lines spoken. Tommy Tallarico's studio was hired back for the game's audio, with Joey Kuras being responsible for the sound design and Todd Dennis composing the music.
The game was first shown at the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo (
E3) tradeshow in Atlanta, Georgia, under the working title ''Pac-Man 3-D''.
Rogers recalls it being a popular title, saying that many play testers shared with him their memories with ''Pac-Man'' series.
It was then shown off at E3 1999 under the final title of ''Pac-Man World: 20th Anniversary''. The game was released in North America on October 15, 1999, to coincide with the original release of ''Pac-Man'' in the United States. The advertisements notably featured
Mr. T
Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud, May 21, 1952), is an American actor. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''. He is also known for his ...
and
Verne Troyer
Verne Jay Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, YouTuber, and stunt performer. He was best known for his role of Mini-Me in the ''Austin Powers'' film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and was ...
as neighbors in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
who are shocked to see Pac-Man move into and renovate the house across the street from them. It was later released in Japan on November 2, 1999 and in Europe on February 28, 2000. A
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
version was developed by
Full Fat
Full Fat is an independent British video game developer. The company was founded in 1996. The company's speciality has been developing games for hand-held devices including Nintendo's Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Sony's PlayStation P ...
and released in 2004. The PlayStation version was digitally re-released on the
PlayStation Network
PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smar ...
in 2013, part of the
PSone Classics
These are articles listing games previously released for the original PlayStation that were later made available for download from the PlayStation Store for play on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable,
PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV, PlayS ...
brand.
Reception
''Pac-Man World'' was well received by critics for its gameplay, soundtrack, graphics and originality, holding an 81% score on aggregator website ''
GameRankings'' though the GBA version held a score of 59.00%.
By 2007, the game had sold over 1.24 million copies in North America alone.
''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' compared the game favorably to Namco's own ''
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile'', praising its colorful graphics, character animations and controls, concluding that it was "worthy of anyone's library".
''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' had a similar response, liking the game's originality, graphics and soundtrack — they especially praised its gameplay for standing out among other platform games, with its puzzle solving and animation style.
''
GameFan
''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising. and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and import video games. It was notable for its ex ...
'' praised its gameplay, puzzle-solving mechanics and inclusion of the original ''
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
'',
while ''
Official US PlayStation Magazine'' applauded its gameplay, vibrant graphics, challenge and boss fights, saying that the game's use of nostalgia doesn't feel forced on the player.
''GameFan'' also wrote that the game "perfectly mimics those old 8-bit and 16-bit platformers we used to go nuts over", comparing the game's quality favorably to ''Klonoa: Door to Phantomile''.
''Atari HQ'' liked how the game tied in a platform game with mechanics from the original, highly praising its gameplay and originality.
''
Game Revolution'' was particularly negative towards the game, saying that it simply existed as a marketing ploy to scoop up additional money from the name recognition. They criticized the game for lacking originality, particularly comparing it unfavorably to ''
Donkey Kong Country
''Donkey Kong Country'' is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a Reboot (fiction), reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' franchise and foll ...
'' and ''
Crash Bandicoot
''Crash Bandicoot'' is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series c ...
'', as well as for having an unbalanced difficulty level and "quick, corner-cutting development". They only recommended the game to hardcore ''Pac-Man'' fans, although mockingly commented that they "probably bought
talready."
Remake
A
remake of ''Pac-Man World'', titled ''Pac-Man World Re-Pac'', was announced through a Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase in June 2022. Developed by
Now Production
(Stylized as NOWPRO) is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Osaka. Founded in 1986, it started developing various games for major Japanese companies including Namco, Hudson Soft, Capcom, Activision, Taito, Konami, Sega, ...
, using the
Unity
Unity may refer to:
Buildings
* Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building
* Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper
* Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England
* Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...
engine, the game recreates the game from the ground up. The remake was released on
Nintendo Switch,
PlayStation 4,
PlayStation 5,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
Xbox Series X and Series S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, ...
, and PC via
Steam on August 26 the same year. Unlike prior releases in this console generation (''
Katamari
is a Japanese video game franchise created by Keita Takahashi and developed and published by Namco (and subsequently Bandai Namco Entertainment). The series puts players in control of a young character called The Prince (also referred to as Da ...
'', ''
Mr. Driller
is a puzzle video game franchise created by Yasuhito Nagaoka and Hideo Yoshizawa for Namco. The eponymous first game was released in 1999 for arcades and several home consoles, such as the PlayStation. Gameplay in the series consists of contr ...
'', ''
Klonoa
''Klonoa'' is a platform video game series created by Namco in 1997. It stars Klonoa, an anthropomorphic creature who explores dream worlds. The series includes two main games: '' Klonoa: Door to Phantomile'' (1997) for the PlayStation and '' Klo ...
''), it is not a part of Namco's "Encore" series of 3D franchise remakes.
''Pac-Man World Re-Pac'' features several alterations to the game, ranging from visual overhauls to several worlds and alterations to gameplay. Various stages have been altered from their original counterparts, as well as boss battles being overhauled and new enemies being added. The remake also introduces several new techniques for Pac-Man, such as being able to destroy level objects after eating a Power Pellet, and Pac-Man being able to hover in the air. Several members of Pac-Man's family, notably Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Baby (who now appear as Pac-Mom and Pac-Sis respectively), were redesigned and renamed, similar to previous Pac-Man re-releases including ''
Pac-Man Museum +''. While not officially clarified why the changes were made, it is assumed to be tied to Ms. Pac-Man's ongoing AtGames dispute.
Paid DLC was added to the game that gives Pac-Man a special skin and also unlocks a jukebox to listen to the game's music.
Notes
References
External links
Official Japanese website
{{Authority control
1999 video games
3D platform games
Game Boy Advance games
Pac-Man
PlayStation (console) games
PlayStation Network games
Single-player video games
Video games scored by Tommy Tallarico
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games developed in the United States