Pac-Man Monsters

Pac-Man steps into battle, with mixed results

Pac-Man Monsters
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Publisher: Gree Inc
Reviewed On: iPhone
Cert: 4
Available On: iPhone

Pac-man had me in its grip from an early age. I lost endless hours trying to gobble pac-dots while on the run from Blinky, Inky, Pinky and Clyde. I was hooked. Pac-man Monsters is a different beast altogether. On the face of it, it bears only a passing resemblance to the original game. Monsters, ghosts and Pac Man are all working together, but not all the time - the ghosts occasionally appear on the game board as something to be eaten. You eat pellets to attack enemies, but only certain coloured ones, or its backfires on you. The more pellets you eat, the stronger your attacks on your enemies are. There are hit points to watch, enemy attacks to dodge and it’s all done on a turn by turn basis. There is in-game currency, treasure chests, gold pellets, eggs, and ranks to climb. In short, if you are a fan of the PacMan classic, this will probably make you recoil in horror. It’s far too complicated, especially when compared to the simplicity of the original. Not one of Pac-Man’s better outings.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist