Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

The Good
Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures is the first game to feature the entire Pac-Man family: Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Pac-Jr., and Baby-Pac. Before they reunited, they starred in their own game where the aim is to gobble up dots while avoiding four ghosts, nicknamed Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Sue. They all want Pac to get back one of four items that the ghosts have stolen.

You do not control Pac by moving him left or right. Instead, you fire a slingshot at different objects around the screen to attract his attention to it. Pac is very smart when it comes to this. You see, firing at a trashcan or crate will make Pac look inside it and find something that he likes. Firing at something in a tree like an apple or power pellet will make it fall on the ground, and if Pac faces its direction, he will notice it immediately.

How successful you are in getting the items will depend on what mood that Pac is in. If he is in a bad mood, Pac becomes unresponsive at times. You can make Pac be in a bad mood, up to the point where he blows his top, grits his teeth, and marches down the path. But whether he is in a good or bad mood, Pac always take it out on other characters. In a good mood, Pac pets Chomp-Chomp, the family dog, but then again, he could yell at him. Other characters in the game have mood swings. If Pac returns home without getting the required item, Ms. Pac-Man will yell at him, telling him to get out and don't come back until he gets the item. I enjoyed watching Ms. Pac lose her cool.

Getting some of the items require you to ride some kind of transport such as a mine cart or hang glider. Even using these can be a real challenge, because there are ghosts lurking about, but you can get rid of them just by shooting at them with your slingshot. Speaking of ghosts, some situations in the game require a power pellet to be fed to Pac in order to become Super Pac-Man and gobble them up. More often than not, doing this will help you get an item, usually a cartridge you use in town to help you unlock some mini-games. One of these lets you play the original Pac-Man, complete with the bells and whistles that made it a success. The only difference is that Pac is more detailed than he was when we first saw him.

The graphics are similar to Pac-Land. As in that game, everything is cartoon-like. You stroll between mountains, valleys, and towns. A big plus is that you can interact with most of the environment. You can make Pac jump and grab onto things, fix a valve, or do other things.

The sound is average. Some sound effects are cartoon-like, and go well with what event has been triggered. The music is easy to listen to, and reflects the situation that Pac is in. The speed at which it plays depends on what mood that Pac is in. If he is in a really bad mood, then the music will be playing quite fast. If he feels droopy, then slow music will be played. Otherwise, the music plays normal.

The Bad
Even when he is in a good mood, Pac does not seem to respond to your commands sometimes.

The Bottom Line
Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures tells the story of Pac-Man retrieving lost items for his family. It's up to you, the player, to keep him happy. If you don't keep him happy, then he will get into a bad mood and cannot respond to every command you throw at them. Getting the items require a ride on the hang glider or in the mine cart, or simply a little bit of ghost-munching.