Pac-Man Rally

6.5
Average

Gameplay	5.0	"A rally game with a Pac-Man twist."
Graphics	6.0
Sound	6.0
Value	5.0

By Morgan Bates

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In recent years, Namco’s top mascot has seen some horrific review scores. Pac-Man Rally hopes to turn the tide with some fresh Pac-Man gameplay in a rally title, instead of another mediocre platformer. Between the colourful graphics and numerous power-ups to collect, it’s clear this is yet another Mario Kart clone. That isn’t to say it’s a bad clone though, as it does have a few good points, such as the amount of innuendo on offer with the dots and numerous ball shaped characters.

The driver line-up consists of a who’s who of the Pac-Man universe, including some new faces such as Pac-Devil, complete with cliché horns and facial hair. Familiar faces include Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, and the ghosts. Each driver and car supposedly has their strengths and weaknesses. However, in practice they handle the same, with similar speed, no matter whom you use.

Being a Pac-Man title, there are a few dots to collect during the races, and the number of them goes down on the harder tracks. Collect enough of the dots and you temporarily gain the ability to eat the other racers, just as you could eat ghosts in the original Pac-Man. There are also bits of fruit you can collect to unlock a short cut; if you pick these up every time you are almost guaranteed a win, as the other cars don’t use them.

Races are divided up into leagues. The later leagues are unlockable in circuit mode, but there are just five in total. The last one, Rally Cup, is a short replay of the tracks in single lap races. They don’t take long to finish but there are 15 races to race through. Each time you play through you unlock new drivers and cars, including The Prince from the Katamari series. The tracks are colourful and there is a variety of themed tracks to race on, including ice, beach and castle. Some are better designed than others, with some cheap holes you can easily fall into, as well as the odd corner you don’t see until it’s too late - at which point you’re falling off a cliff.

The majority of the races are easy though, as you only need to collect the fruit and unlock short cuts a couple of times to get the win. Namco have developed a simple control scheme so it’s easy to pick up and play: X accelerates, and tapping R1 in mid-jump gives you an extra boost, while holding it down on tight corners allows you to power slide.

Pac-Man Rally also features cameo appearances from other Namco franchises, including – as mentioned above - the popular Katamari series in the form of a track on the second circuit of Classic Cup, and The Prince is an unlockable driver. Cars on offer range from the regular go-kart Pac-Man wheels, to The Prince’s odd-looking Katamari car. The more interesting cars include Blinky’s rocket car, and Pinky’s scooter.

Once finished with the races, you may want to get into the multiplayer modes. Fortunately, Pac-Man Rally has five multiplayer modes, including death match, free for all, and last kart driving, as well as what is probably the best multiplayer mode name ever: binge. Here, players try to collect the most fruit before the time runs out.

Pac-Man Rally may be a Mario Kart clone, but it puts a unique Pac-Man twist on the kart-racing genre with the dots and eating the competition.

NZGamer.com - Pac-Man Rally Facebook