Everybody knows the classic arcade game called Pac-Man that came out way back in 1980. It features a yellow circle named Pac-Man who has to navigate through a maze to eat all of the pellets. 

Standing in his way are four ghosts that roam around the maze, trying to kill him. In order to fight back against the ghosts, Pac-Man can eat special pellets that give him the ability to “eat” the ghosts. It’s a fun game that even my Mum enjoyed playing it back in the day. 

While the original Pac-Man game has been re-released multiple times, what some people don’t know is that the character starred in his own 3D platform games in the late ’90s and early ’00s. It was a series of games called the Pac-Man World franchise. 

The first Pac-Man World came out on the PSOne in 1999, with its remake coming out 23 years later in 2022. Now we have Pac-Man World 2 Re-PAC, which is a remake of the original Pac-Man World 2 from 2002. 

Before I talk about the gameplay, let’s discuss what the story is about. In Pac-Man World 2 Re-PAC, the four ghosts inadvertently reawaken an ancient evil character called ‘Spooky’ who terrorised Pac-Land 100 years earlier. They did this by removing golden fruit from under a tree. 

With the golden fruit scattered and Spooky now on the loose, Pac-Man has to venture out to try and put a stop to all of this nonsense. His goal is to retrieve the golden fruit in order to imprison Spooky again before he destroys Pac-Land. 

In terms of gameplay, Pac-Man World 2 Re-PAC is similar in design to the original Crash Bandicoot games. Unlike Super Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie, Pac-Man cannot freely roam in the levels of this game because they’re quite linear in structure. 

Instead, most of the levels just require Pac-Man to mostly travel in a straight line while he faces enemies and avoids obstacles along the way. The cool thing about this game is that Pac-Man has many abilities to defeat enemies. 

Probably his most effective attack in the entire game is his ‘Butt Bounce’. This is literally when Pac-Man jumps into the air and comes back down to squash enemies with his butt. It’s very useful at defeating enemies, and he can reach higher platforms using this move as well. 

Another cool move he can use is his ‘Flip Kick’. This move is a somersault kick similar to the one Law uses in the Tekken games. Not only can it kill most enemies, but the kick can also reach boxes that might be previously hard to reach. 

Pac-Man also has something called the ‘Rev Roll’, and this move makes Pac-Man run really fast for a small amount of time. It’s really effective at attacking enemies or for getting up steep hills. 

The last move in his arsenal is that he can throw pellets that he collects during the levels. These pellets can be thrown at both enemies or during boss fights. Personally, I didn’t use this move very much because it’s hard to aim and isn’t that effective most of the time. 

After you finish three levels in each hub, the last stage ends in a challenging boss fight. The boss fights are quite hard because Pac-Man does not have any potions or anything like that to replenish his health. You have to defeat the bosses in one go, and this can be hard because the bosses are relentless. 

Speaking of the levels, most of them are creative and take inspiration from other platform games. There is one level where Pac-Man can dive underwater, while another is similar to Crash Bandicoot, where he has to run away from a heavy boulder hurling towards him!

All in all, the game has 25 levels, including the first tutorial stage, and most people can finish the main story in only four to five hours. You can prolong the gameplay if you want to complete all of the side goals in each level. This may include collecting all of the fruit or making sure to open every box in each level. 

When you finish the main game, an additional story and remixed levels are available for you to play. In this story, Pac-Man has to save Pac-Sis and Pac-Brother, who have both gone missing. You even have to face a harder version of the bosses in the main game!

Despite its cutesy appearance, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is a deceptively hard game. The earlier levels are fine, but the boss fights and latter stages get progressively harder. If you are struggling to play the game, there is a very easy mode that gives Pac-Man infinite lives. That being said, this sequel is much harder than the first game. 

However, the game has a lot of replay value because you will want to collect all of the unlockables and try to finish all of the side quests in each level. Since the main game is quite short, getting the platinum trophy shouldn’t take too long. 

While the game is surprisingly hard, Pac-Man World 2 Re-PAC is still a fine remake of a game that some people may have missed out playing back in 2002. Hopefully, this means we will see a remake of Pac-Man World 3 sometime soon if this sells well. 

Verdict: 8.0/10