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> Results: Pac-Man World 3
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An evil scientist named Erwin is trying to take over the Spectral Realm, home of the four ghost monsters Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. They can't stop him alone, so they enlist the help of their life-long nemesis, Pac-Man. Can Pac-Man and the ghosts team up and stop Erwin from taking over?
To celebrate Pac-Man's 25th anniversary, Namco puts the round yellow glutton in a 3D adventure for the third time. Pac-Man keeps his trademark moves from his last adventures, like the butt bounce that makes him dribble like a basketball, and the rev roll where he runs in place, then rolls off at high speeds. Pac-Man has some new moves as well, to keep him up to date with other platforming mascots. These include wall jumps, punches and pole swings, all things that today's 3D action-platform heroes are required to do. Pac-Man still chomps dots, fruits, and nabs power pellets, and you even find a secret maze here and there. But there are a bunch of new power pellets Pac-Man snatches to help him fight all the new monsters and robots he faces. The Ribbon Power Pellet makes Pac-Man leave a trail of energy behind him, and if he makes a ring with that energy, anything inside the circle is destroyed. Another power pellet charges up Pac-Man's butt bounce, and one lets him shoot out electric jolts. Of course, the classic power pellet lets Pac-Man chomp ghosts! But since Pac's teamed up with the four ghosts this time, he only chomps special Spectral Ghosts that Erwin has summoned.  You travel to rusty run-down factories, dank ruins, surreal alien landscapes, and other surprisingly dark and dismal areas. The levels look more like they belong in a game like Metroid Prime, not the bright and cheery style of Pac-Man's worlds. Sometimes Pac-Man relinquishes control to the ghosts. Pinky helps Pac-Man uncover secret platforms he can jump on. The red ghost is named Clyde, even though in the original Pac-Man game the red ghost is named Blinkyﾗyou'd think Namco would know the names of their own ghosts. Anyhow, Blinky/Clyde has a ﾑSonic Boo' attack that can defeat enemies and knock down barriers. There's also a museum where you can view an incomplete list of Pac-Man games (where are 16-bit titles Pac-Attack or Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures?), watch a trailer for the upcoming Pac-Man World Rally racing game or an interview with Pac-Man's creator. Plus you can play the original Pac-Man game that started it all, although here it is poorly emulated. Graphics are passable and the music is drab. A bright, cheery world with catchy music would have been at least a welcome change. Pac-Man actually talks in this game, as do all his friends and enemiesﾗand they sure are chatty! The voice acting isn't necessarily bad, but doesn't stand out either (Pac-Man's voice sounds like the main character from the Dilbert cartoon, in case you were wondering). The play control is spot on and nearly compensates for the bad camera angles. Overall, Pac-Man World 3 offers little to no improvements over his past 3D endeavors, and the whole thing comes off as being decidedly average. Maybe Pac-Man should just stick to mazes. 
There's nothing very violent here. Pac-Man only fights monsters and robots that disappear in a cloud of smoke and Pac-dots when defeated. Little reading skill is required since everyone talks most of the time. There are some attempts at forced humor that kids may get a chuckle at, even if they were too young to experience Pac-Man in his heyday. They probably won't mind too much that Pac-Man's new adventure is rather average and bland. But some of the later obstacles and jumps are probably too frustrating for younger gamers. If you really want to celebrate Pac-Man's 25th anniversary with your kids, pick up one of the better DS titles like Pac-Pix or Pac'n Roll, or one of the Namco Museum compilations on all consoles where you can play Pac-Man and other great classics. Happy chomping! Happy 25th Anniversary, Pac-Man! We still love you!
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