Out of all the old SNK pre-Neo-Geo arcade classics that are now available to download on PS3 and PSP as PS Minis, I think Marvin’s Maze is my favorite. Of course, that comes as no surprise, since I’m a huge Pac-Man fan, and Marvin’s Maze is just a Pac-Man clone. But it’s a pretty good one.

You play as Marvin, who is a little blue bespectacled drop who looks like a nerdy cousin of Slick and Sam from Q*bert (yeah we’re keeping things old school around here). It’s your job to eat all the dots in the maze. Actually, because of the 3-D isometric visuals, Marvin’s Maze is more akin to Crystal Castles than Pac-Man. The mazes also have two levels, and you can go between the levels via elevators on the four corners of the maze.

Marvin must avoid the four Robonoids that rove about the maze, too. If he touches one, he loses a life. But Marvin has a couple of tricks up his sleeve to defend himself from the robots. Similar to the power pellets in Pac-Man, there are a few Super Dots on the maze that allow Marvin to fire lasers that destroy the robots. Each Super Dot collected lets you fire one laser apiece, but you can destroy multiple robots if they are in a line. You get bonus points for defeating robots at the end of each maze. Marvin is blue when he has no lasers, and is red when he’s packing heat.

There are also sections of the maze that Marvin can change when he runs across them. These come in handy when you are being chased by robots. If a robot is very close, and you change the path of the maze and the robot falls off the edge, you’ll get a lot of bonus points instantly. With multiple mazes of fun, Marvin’s Maze is a nifty little download for Pac-Man fans.

Kid Factor:

Marvin’s Maze is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Cartoon Violence. Marvin can zap robots with lasers, but they just disappear. When a robot touches Marvin, he just does a little googly-eyed dance. Out of all the recent SNK classics that are PS Minis, Marvin’s Maze is probably the best for young players. One of the options in the game menu allows for limitless lives, so even the youngest gamers can enjoy this one without getting frustrated. And as always, classic arcade games are great for kids as they are simple to learn and no reading is needed.

Tags: Game Reviews