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We analyzed Pac-Man Museum + in its PlayStation version to find out how the versions of these 14 classic games are coming to current consoles.
Pac Man is one of the most consecrated legends in the video game sector. The Pac-Man, as it is colloquially known, was one of the first great successes of arcade machines and has managed to reinvent itself over the years, until it reaches the present day, although for many there is only the nostalgia of those moments when that a coin was inserted into a machine to keep trying to escape from the ghosts (or monsters) while bringing up the ultimate ability that everyone had with the joystick.
Bandai Namco has not missed the opportunity to rescue one of its greatest classics through compilations that allow all veterans to revisit the adventures and misadventures of Pac-Man, since arcade games are becoming less frequent. This is precisely the case of Pac-Man Museum+, which collect 14 different titles to rescue their essence and allow them to be enjoyed on current consoles, recreating a recreational venue that breathes the spirit of four decades ago.
Pac-Man Museum+: all the information
Pac-Man Museum+ | |
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Platform | PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC |
Release date | May 27, 2022 |
developer | NamcoEntertainment |
Gender | arcade, puzzle |
Idiom | Spanish texts |
Pac-Man Museum+ is a compilation of 14 classic Pac-Man titles: Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, Pac in Time, Pac Attack, Pac-Man, Pac Land, Pac-Mania, Pac-Man Arrangement x2, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Pac ‘n Roll Remix, Pac Motos, Pac- Man Battle Royale and Pac-Man 256. Developed by Namco Entertainment with a release date of May 27, 2022, it brings together these classics in an arcade available for all platforms, in addition to being fully translated into Spanish.
Experience with Pac-Man Museum+
Playing Pac-Man is always a fun experiencego ahead. However, there are so many titles that it has received the license in its history of more than 40 years that it is not easy to choose 14 of those titles. The selection is not all bad, but some classics are missing with more success and popularity than those that have been decided to include on this occasion. The compilation is a perfect complement to Pac-Man Museum, but perhaps falls short of its excellent selection of games, which provided an experience much closer to that of the golden age of Pac-Man.
Beyond the typical fun that Pac-Man always brings, I’m sorry to say that the sensations that Pac-Man Museum + leaves are not excessively positive, since the emulation of its classic games leaves a lot to be desired, with notable flaws in its controls and debatable quality, no matter how much you want to maintain the retro essence. If you are a staunch Pac-Man fan you will enjoy it, but if, on the contrary, you are a more casual player of the license, you will find moments and some of the titles that do not satisfy your desire for enjoyment.
Reliving a classic with 14 lives
As I said, in Pac-Man Museum+ you enter fully into a recreational space in which you can enjoy 14 different titles of the classic among the classics. To begin with, a compilation that proposes to be a perfect tribute to Pac-Man, is very limited with this number of games, especially due to the more than notable limitations that the licensed titles have. Pac-Man Museum+ tries to get the most out of them with a kind of missions to complete, but even so, those who are more experienced with these titles are not allowed to increase the hours of play.
There is no doubt that the initial impact is sensational and allows you to relive some of the best moments with Pac-Man already an arcade machine, but those initial sensations are diluted with the passing of the hoursespecially before the frustrations caused by the poor emulation of the vast majority of these titles, which have not been able to adapt in the best way to the controls of current consoles, and can even destroy games that seem controlled.
Poorly adapted controls with an understated experience
Efficiency is one of the highlights of the Pac-Man games. You have to be a specialist in each movement to escape from the ghosts and even some titles have special patterns to always win if the movements are executed with surgical efficiency. Unfortunately, in the case of classic games such as Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, Pac-Man or Pac-Mania this does not happen as expected, since the response time is sometimes not correct and it can cause the character to drift where you don’t want or that its movement is not as precise or fast as you had planned in your head.
These fatal consequences can cause many frustrations and force to repeat some of the missions offered by each of the titles, introducing the factor of randomness that moves away and much of the skill that characterizes Pac-Man video games. In this sense, it is an absolute fiasco that the games that are probably most attractive to classic fans of the license have not been taken care of in the slightest and offer a lousy experience on many occasions.
Create your own arcade with great customization options
One of the most interesting additions to Pac-Man Museum+ is that everything takes place in an arcade, rescuing that classic and nostalgic essence of all those who began their journey in the franchise in 1980, inserting coins into a machine to try to get the maximum possible score recorded. This feeling is still present, since as it is played, coins are awarded to the player to be able to insert them into the classic machines (half of the games available) and have that unique feeling of classic arcades. In this sense, Bandai Namco must be given a 10 for the detail that will surely please the most veterans.
In addition, interesting elements have also been included such as the arcade machine, where you can buy a multitude of items and the Gachapon machine, where you can get figures of the characters in different categories, a lot of luck for the most collectors. But what are these decorative objects and figures for? well for customize the recreational venue as you wish, so that you can place and remove all the available elements you want. In the customize option you can modify the environment as you like, adding decorative objects, changing the background panel, including figures, more arcade machines or everything you want from the objects that are available.
In this sense the possibility of increasing the space of the premises is missing, since as you complete missions in each of the titles you have the option of receiving up to 7 visitors, which can make the space very small in case you want to decorate it with a multitude of elements. It is not the main function of the title, of course, but since it is included, these details should be taken care of.
Graphically retro, but with clear lack of emulation
Where Pac-Man Museum+ unfortunately doesn’t work as well as it should is in emulation. Here are warned The law of least effort at its best, as there are retro game compilations that do this like a charm. Bandai Namco here has limited itself to including a CRT filter that is very easy to forget about and adjustments in relation to the size of the screen in classic games, something that is almost better not to touch, since it makes the experience and appearance of older titles quite ugly. In conclusion, an absolute waste of time to touch these parameters, since they do not modify the original experience in practically anything.
In fact, some curious details of each of the titles are not even offered, beyond a small text explanation of each of them and it is not possible to unlock special effects with the passing of the games or anything like that. Does not invite replayability in excess and, in addition, they offer only the cooperative multiplayer it also doesn’t offer a huge walkthrough to any of the games available in the collection. Without a doubt, a missed opportunity to make the perfect tribute to a legendary license.
Conclusions and note of Pac-Man Museum+
Definitely, Pac-Man Museum+ is a great way to re-enjoy 14 classic Pac-Man licensed titles. However, its edges become more and more noticeable as the hours go by, causing failures in controls and response time to lead to increasing frustration as little replayability is perceived. it gives the fourteen games and the options that the compilation itself allows, in terms of emulation, mainly. A good opportunity to add Pac-Man games to the collection of current consoles, but a poor execution for the most demanding and experienced in the matter.
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Is Pac-Man Museum+ worth it? | |
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The best |
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Worst |
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Conclusions | The conclusions of Pac-Man Museum + navigate between the nostalgia of enjoying one of the best valued classics in the video game sector and the poor execution of a museum that should function as the perfect tribute to Pac-Man and that falls short way with a questionable selection of games, with a pitiful execution of controls and with few unlockable elements that complete the formula. At least he’s still Pac-Man, something that never fails. |
Related topics: Analysis
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