One of the most anticipated "classic" titles to be released during 2000 was Pac-Man: Adventures in Time. Granted, there are many ways that we can play "classic" Pac-Man on our PC's, but the game hadn't been updated for the PC like it had for the PlayStation. Hasbro Interactive licensed a number of Namco titles, and Pac-Man is one of the first games released from that agreement. Pac-Man: Adventures In Time was co-developed by Creative Asylum & MindsEye. Creative Asylum was responsible for the majority of the game programming, and MindsEye handled the sounds, music, and full motion video.

The story goes something like this….. The ghosts from the Pac-Man coin-op games have invaded Pac-Land, and have stolen the five Magic Power Pills. The ghosts have sent the Pills through time to five different eras. As Pac-Man, you must make your way through time to retrieve all five of the Magic Power Pills. Your quest will take you to places such as ancient Egypt, the distant future, and the Wild West.

If you had a chance to play Namco’s Pac-Man 20^th Anniversary game on the Sony PlayStation, you will feel right at home with this title. Pac-Man: Adventures in Time looks & feels very similar to the "Maze" mode in the 20^th Anniversary game, except that everything has a much cleaner look. If you have a good 3D card, you will see some wonderful examples of dynamic lighting in this game. Colors have been used very effectively, and everything is bright and clear. I played the game at 1024x768, and the game shines at that resolution. The game environment has a fun & whimsical feel.

There are 45 mazes in the game. Although the game looks the best in 3D mode, you can hit the spacebar and change to a "top-down" 2D perspective similar to the the original coin-op game. I didn't use this option very often, because most of the beauty of the game environment is lost while playing in 2D.

The screen capture on the left is taken from one of the "Medieval" mazes of the game. Yes, you are seeing ghosts dressed up as knights, and two of them are jousting on horseback. In the upper left hand corner is a display showing you how many lives you have left. Just below that is your stamina display, which is used for jumping. (More on that in a minute.) The number in the upper center of the screen is your score. The indicator in the upper right hand corner shows how many dots are left to be eaten in the maze, and how many total dots are in the maze.

The rules are essentially the same as the original Pac-Man coin-op. You must guide Pac-Man around the maze and eat all of the pellets. The ghosts will try to stop you, and touching a ghost means certain death. If you eat one of the power pills, you get a brief burst of energy, and you can eat the ghosts.

Screen captures of
Pac-Man: Adventures In Time
Click on images to enlarge

What sets this game apart from the Namco's original Pac-Man coin-op game are the 3D graphics & maze design. Many of the mazes have multiple levels, complete with elevators, stairs, etc. For example, in one of the jungle mazes, there is a set of bamboo stairs that take you to a second maze above the main playfield. There are also other 3D aspects to the mazes, such as mountains, valleys, etc.

Other unique aspects of maze design include jousting ghost-knights, as seen above. One thing that I really liked was the addition of obstacles, such as fire breathing dragons during the "Medieval" era mazes. During one of the Wild West mazes, there are train tracks that run right through the middle of the maze. If you aren't careful, you will get run over when the train runs through the maze.

I am pleased to report that the developers have retained multiple aspects of the original Pac-Man game. For example, many of the sounds you would expect to hear in a Pac-Man game are here.

One thing that bothered me a bit is that the "dot eating" sound has been changed, and frankly, it wasn't a good change. The sound of Pac-Man eating dots has to be one of the most recognizable sounds in video game history, and the sound has been changed to something that is...well...annoying. I had a chance to play a "beta" of the game shortly before its release, and I was shocked when I noticed that the famous "waka-waka" sound was gone, and replaced with something else. I had hoped that it would be fixed in the final version. Sadly, it has not.

While some things have stayed the same, some things are very different. In this game, Pac-Man can jump, fly, swim, and race around in runaway mine cars. The ghosts have gone through some nice visual changes as well. During each era, the ghosts wear "costumes" that fit the time period. (See the photos of the ghosts below.) I played through all 45 levels of the game, and I saw ghosts dressed up as cowboys, robots, and mummies just to name a few.

Since the game screen doesn't show the whole maze at one time, a tool has been added to help you out. The "Pellet Indicator" helps direct you towards any stray pellets you may have missed by pointing you in their general direction. Also, in the upper right hand corner of the screen, there is a running count of how many pellets are in the maze, and how many of those you have eaten already.

Another new addition to the Pac-Man world are the bonus stages. If you have ever played Sonic the Hedgehog, you will already have a good idea of what to expect from the bonus stages. In each bonus stage, Pac-Man must make his way through a narrow channel (which is littered with obstacles) and collect as many dots as possible. The bonus stages each have a theme based on the time period that you are in.

Pac-Man: Adventures In Time is a perfect example how a "classic" game can be brought up to modern standards. Despite the significant changes in audio & graphics, the game retains the same fantastic gameplay that made Pac-Man a big hit in the arcades twenty years ago.

Something that is somewhat new to Pac-Man is jumping. Pac-Man now has the ability to jump over obstacles. This was first attempted in Atari’s Pac-Mania coin-op game in the late 80’s. In Pac-Man: Adventures In Time, Pac-Man has a "stamina" meter on the screen, and he cannot jump unless he has built up some energy, which is indicated by the stamina meter in the upper left hand corner of the screen. I like the way that this feature has been implemented, because it prevents you from jumping any time that you want. You need to be strategic about how and when you use your ability to jump.

Some multiplayer features are in this game as well. It is possible to play two-player "hot-seat" Pac-Man on one PC. If you have a good Internet connection, or a LAN, you can play Pac-Man with up to four players. There are a few different modes of play, including Dot Mania, Time Bomb and Ghost Tag. Dot Mania is pretty simple. The player who eats the most pellets in the time allowed is the winner. Time Bomb starts with one player holding a bomb. He must try to get rid of it by forcing it off onto another player before the bomb explodes. Ghost Tag features three players as ghosts and one player as Pac-Man. Only Pac-Man can eat the pellets, and those playing as ghosts can become Pac-Man only by chasing down and touching him. The person with the most pellets wins.

The addition of multiplayer options is a nice touch. Traditionally, Pac-Man was played by one or two people for top score. The multiplayer options add a new dimension to the game, and I would suggest that Pac-Man: Adventures In Time would make a great party game. In particular, Time Bomb was a blast (pun intended) to play against other people.

The music in this game is pretty good. The theme music is excellent, and I am tempted to use it for the theme music for my Back In Time Webcasts, assuming that I won't get sued. :) If you listen really close, you can here sounds from several arcade & console versions of Pac-Man over the years. I especially got a kick from the sounds that were taken from the Atari 2600 version.

The rest of the game music is appropriate for the different environments environments in the game. The other audio in the game is very appropriate, except for the annoying new "dot eating" sound that I mentioned above.

There is very little I would have done different with this package. Above, I mentioned some minor audio & visual "tweaks" that could have given the game a 95% rating, or higher. The only other change I would have made involves the personality of Pac-Man. In this game, Pac-Man runs around all of the mazes with the same goofy smile on his face. Occasionally, he will throw his arms up in a panic if he has some ghosts on his tail, but for the most part, the character of Pac-Man seems rather bland. It would be really nice if Pac-Man could be given some "personality" via changing facial expressions. For example, if I had a ghost on my tail, I don’t think I would be smiling. When Pac-Man gets in a tough spot, it would be nice to see a frown, or some other facial expression to show his mood.

The only major item that is missing from this game is some kind of historical information. Pac-Man: Adventures In Time was released twenty years after the original coin-op game hit the arcades. It would have been nice to have included some historical information on the original game to commemorate that anniversary. Perhaps an emulated version of the original arcade game could have been included, similar to what Namco did with their Pac-Man World game on the Sony PlayStation.

The documentation consists of a 30 page jewel-case insert. I'm not a big fan of manuals of this type, because they tend to be thin on information, and feel like they were quickly thrown together at the last minute. However, all of the appropriate information for the game has been included.

Here are a few of the ghosts you will be facing in Pac-Man: Adventures In Time

For another preview of Pac-Man -- Adventures In Time,
visit my friends at ClassicGaming.com

For more information, visit the Atari Interactive
homepage at Hasbro Interactive