A quick review of the controls link takes you to a page showing how Pacman will move through the game. There are the arrow keys of up, down and side to side for directions, the P button is for pause or unpause, the Q button is for quitting the game, the M button is for mute or unmute and the L button is for low quality on or off. You can turn any button off or on by simply clicking it a second time. There is a note in parenthesis stating to use the low quality button when Pacman is running slowly. We did not run into any slow action with this game but instead it was the very opposite. The About link tells you the history of this world renowned game which just happens to be the first ever video game. Let us get started with playing this classic game.
Once you hit the start button you hear the classic Pacman music and sounds. The enemy of Blinky, Inkey, Clyde and Pinky are on the attack and are not the cute little creatures you thought they were. Pacman starts eating the little white dots as he makes his way to the big white dots which turn him into the prey eating machine. The big white dot is not worth any point which is a little disappointing because you want to earn lots of points for a high score. You see your points racking up at the bottom of the screen with every gulp. Once you eat the big white dots the little creatures turn a little blue color and this is Pacman’s opportunity to eat as many as he can as he earns points. Even after you eat the creatures their eyes are still moving although they do not have a body. As they are getting ready to turn back to their normal state to attack you they flash a white color and then their natural color. The worst sound of all is when they eat you and you lose a life. The game is fast paced which can be good but it can also be discouraging. When you finally win the two cherries it is only for a hundred points and you feel like it should be more.
The sounds made by the game make you believe there is a subliminal message because of the beeping and crescendo as the creatures get closer to Pacman. But that is not the case instead the sound is a player in the game like the creatures, making you rush and commit errors with your turns of up and down or when you move from left to right. The responsiveness of the game is pretty accurate but you still find yourself feeling frustrated because the game pace is so relentless. This version of the game is moving at a much quicker pace than the original one and you have to be ready as soon as the game resets after Pacman is killed. You only get two lives to make as many points as possible so this game has you on pins and needles.
Once you eat all the big and little white dots the game gets faster and you have even more creatures added to the game. You get another set of cherries which are still only worth a hundred points. This game would be better if there was another playing field with different themes in the background. It would add to the dimension and fun of the game because after about an hour you start to want to take a break. We are not complaining but just pointing out little tweaks to make this classic game more of a challenge for gaming.
The status of the game is displayed on the across the bottom of the screen. This keeps with the theme of a clean game playing screen. The score is the first one listed followed by the lives icon and finally there is an icon of two cherries. Although, the score is listed first, do not think you can watch it add up to big numbers. Because the game is so fast paced you will be too busy trying to stay alive and get to the big white dots and not spend any time looking to see how many points you earned. The lives icon consists of two Pacman characters. You can find yourself playing for hours without a break and when you finally do you are bringing your food or drink back to the game. You will be using the arrows keys until there is imaginary smoke coming from your fingertips. You’ll also find yourself talking out loud until someone comes to check on you to see if you are alright. The sounds of the game heightened the tension sensation which makes you a little anxiety. This is not a good thing because it does not help your game play.
We like this version of the classic Pacman game and recommend that you give it some game time. But we have to warn you to be prepared to feel your tension gauge go way up. And get ready to make yourself stop playing because it can be a bit addictive. This is something else it has in common with the original version.