In June of 2013, a television series premiered in the United States titled Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. The show took the classic Pac-Man and ghost arcade characters and restyled them as CGI mascots with an appeal towards young viewers. Less than six months later, a video game based on the show was released on most major platforms, including the Nintendo 3DS; unsurprisingly, as with so many interactive tie-ins that came before it, the game was received with mostly luke-warm reviews. Fast forward one year and a sequel to the aforementioned title has already been released — by now any observant reader should have no trouble seeing the red flags popping up around Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2.
Following the same plot as its Wii U counterpart, Ghostly Adventures 2 tells the story of Lord Betrayus – Pac-Man's spectral nemesis from the TV series – planning to take over Pac-World using giant robots. In a self-referential exchange between himself and his henchmen, Lord Betrayus makes a comment that implies his motives are little more than a ploy to do evil, just as they were at the start of the last game. We mentioned this in our review of the Wii U version as well, but it's worth the reminder that even those developing this game were apparently well aware that, no matter how much effort they put into production, this game was destined to be a shallow cash-in. That being said, the younger audience being targeted – the same audience that presumably watches the show – are likely to find humour in this exchange and in the rest of the voiced dialogue.
Unlike the first 3DS game that played as a side-scrolling platformer, Ghostly Adventures 2 has you running around in 3D environments. The game is broken up into five unique worlds each containing stages to match the theme, but the goal is always to advance to the end while chomping ghosts along the way. Pac-Man can transform into different versions of himself with unique abilities, such as Ice Pac who can freeze enemies and Metal Pac who can magnetically cling to walls, but even with these alterations the gameplay still feels rather bland, focusing mostly on basic platforming.
Stages are linear, but they do offer up some opportunity to explore and find hidden treasures, not unlike the stage design in Super Mario 3D Land. Despite giving the limited freedom to roam, the game still feels very restrictive, however, guiding its players to the end of each stage with a firm grip. The feeling of constraint also comes from the incredibly low difficulty setting; we acknowledge that this game is made for younger players, but it's worth mentioning that the adventure is easy to the point of swiftly growing uninteresting. Stages go by so quickly and spare lives are amassed with such ease that at no point did we ever feel like we were facing any sort of challenge. At the end of each stage you are given a score and a ranking, ensuring that anyone who can stomach multiple plays through will be returning to stages over and over again in an attempt to best themselves. There are also in-game achievements to unlock, providing further fodder for the perfectionist flame.
As mentioned before, each stage is rendered in 3D, but in attempting to create lush environments with intricate backgrounds and attention to detail, everything ends up looking like a grainy, muddy mess. There is a distinct lack of visible depth, making some platforming sections leap-of-faith situations, and the handheld console’s signature 3D doesn’t help the problem at all. Rather than providing anything close to the illusion of distance, having the 3D turned on instead alters the environments and characters into nauseating blurs; there are also issues with an inconsistent frame rate, especially with the 3D effect turned on. Adding to the subpar visuals is a finicky camera that will sometimes quickly pan around to odd angles, making it difficult to tell exactly where you are on the map and where you need to go. It’s obvious that a lot of care was put into designing the environments so each looks and feels unique, making it especially upsetting that this is one of the game’s biggest letdowns.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 for 3DS is not a very good game, but this points to a much deeper issue at hand. The Pac-Man character has fallen victim to something very similar to what Sonic the Hedgehog – we're looking you dead in the eye, Sonic Boom – now faces, and that's the threat of modernization. Rather than allowing these characters to exist as they are, the respective property owners insist on finding ways to appeal to new generations of fans and alter the characters to the point of being unrecognizable. When this happens, the characters change so much that we completely lose sight of what they once were.
Ghostly Adventures 2 is a video game that is based on a TV show, but when you trace it back one step further, that TV show is based on a completely different video game. Rather than being treated as a game character and focusing on making his games good, Pac-Man is instead treated as an opportunity for merchandise, completely shifting the focus to making the character himself appear "cool" rather than producing good games. Ghostly Adventures 2 attempts to cash in on a cash in, and the players are the ones being left empty handed.
Comments 18
Man, I guess Sonic and Pac-Man are now well and truly doomed, these horible tv tie-ins were the last nail in the coffin!
Well, other franchises survived such tie-ins rather unharmed... But then, when was the last time that Pac-Man appeared "cool"?
@ekreig Rayman Origin was good, Epic Mickey Power of ilusion (but its a bit short) and I'm personaly enjoying Shifting worlds too
And Pac-Man is so charming and fun in Smash Bros. He's one of my favourites just because of his personality, even though I like other characters with fairly similar playstyles a lot better. It's sad when the companies that own the rights to these characters are doing a worse job at representing them properly, than another company borrowing them for a mascot fighter.
@ekreig Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (yes, the 3DS version) can be expensive and is kind of short but if you're into the figures, it's also wonderfully addictive for levelling them and in general is a well-polished and fun game.
The sequels are fairly average, but enjoyable (except for Giants, which is bad- plain game and art design, bogged down by performance issues- at best, it's a neat distraction for someone into the series).
Damn. My 7yo son loves Pac-Man from Smash Bros - so much so he even now plays the original Pac Man games. He want this game for Christmas, I fear he may be disappointed.
Namco, Pac-Man World 4 plox.
I'm sure if they actually bothered to take the time to develop this like a good game, it could become something special, but my god those textures look nasty
@Tobias95 Epic Mickey for the 3DS moved like a molasses and was a commercial failure. I bought it like a sap and boy did I regret it.
I might pick up this Pac Man gae if I find it cheap
@TeeJay I personaly had no issues with the game, well it might been a world too short but I still it was enyoable.
The Wii U game was actually quite enjoyable. Not a perfect game by any means but a game Id score around 7.0. Saying this franchise is becoming like Sonic is pushing it a bit far in my opinion. Now the 3ds version might not be good from the looks of it, although I head that the original 3ds version of ghostly adventures was fantastic.
It's crazy, isn't it?
Nintendo has done Namco and Sega a huge favour (and an enormous service to their franchises) by including their iconic characters in Super Smash Bros. and they squander their golden gooses by releasing crappy games that will only serve to further detract from the reputation of these two brands.
Nintendo, buy PAC-Man and Sonic or they'll both just die out because there companies cant make a decent game, although I should play the first 3ds game of this as I heard it was actually good. Now Sonic does need a reboot because except for Colors and Lost World all the games control like utter crap and are tasteless in gameplay.
Anyways, does Bandai Namco make this? Because they sure have been one irrelevant company that really could do a whole lot better there probably dying off themselves.
I finished the first Ghostly Adventures on Wii U last night. An average game, but I would not call it bad. I hated the cliched one liners, but the game is obviously targeted at kids.
Of course I took advantage of the last Smash related sale, so I paid $11 and don't regret it.
If you like Pacman as a character, go ahead and get the game. It's not that bad. I'd say 6.5 out of ten.
Oh no! First Sonic, now Pac Man... I can see why Capcom is hesitant about Mega Man U...
Just give us Pac-man World back already...
"The Pac-Man character has fallen victim to something very similar to what Sonic the Hedgehog – we're looking you dead in the eye, Sonic Boom –"
No... the Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventure games are decent. They are not the broken mess Sonic Boom is. Though I prefer the original game on 3DS. This one is better than the first on Wii U.
Good thing he doesn't look like a sack of crud in Super Smash Bros. Those blue eyes and teeth... shudder Kids have low standards these days. Now, let me sit on Cranky's rocking chair and have more negative opinions.
I let my 5 year cousin play Super Smash Bros. (For 3DS) over the break. Pac-Man has faded into such omnisty with Kids these days, he didn't recognize Pac-Man at first (It took him a minute to realize who it was though). Also about Smash Bros, I love the retro characters it's introducing to the young generation. Thanks to it, my cousin LOVES Little Mac and wants to play Punch-Out!! (He also is now interested in Banjo Kazooie thanks to me bringing my N64).
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