Pac Man 256 is a 4 player co-op multiplayer game designed with one thing in mind, survive!
General Gameplay
The gameplay is simple, chomp dots on the board, eat some fruit and power pellets to get the ghost monsters, you know the same formula for the past 35 years, well there is also a twist. You only have one life, some power ups that you can use to help you, and also a “glitch”, yes a “glitch” that is chasing you on the board.
Audio
As you would expect from a Pac Man game, the same wakka-wakka-wakka and other 8 bit sounds. Does it get old, no but there is nothing new here. The game is not in surround sound, or 5.1, however the game itself for headset users sound great through the headset.
Visuals
The game itself takes a3/4 isometric view of the board. This allows the gamer to go upwards in the level progressing throughout the game. Also this allows up to four players to play at once in the game also. The developers also added the ability to change the game graphics to other objects and icons. This game is very friendly to color blind gamers and as well to gamers that have a hard time seeing the screen as the game does a great job of displaying everything in the game.
Controls
The game controls are very easy to pick up and play, either the D pad or the analog stick is used, no buttons during the game play and only one button is used for menu selections. You can chooses up to 3 power ups that show up in the game but the face buttons have no other use in the game. From our play test, no one had any issues with playing the game. Special needs family members found the game very easy to play and enjoyable.
Delivery
If you are in the market to get a family friendly four player game, then Pac Man 256 is the digital game for your library. The game is a family fun game that from young to old can play. The game formula is still there and fun with the new add on power ups make the game more fun. What makes this a fun, family game is that there is no frustration what so ever in the game. Also if you are playing the game with others that if one gets caught by either the “glitch” or a ghost monster, another player can revive them in the game and bring them back. Also all power ups on the board can be used by all of the players. In our playtest we have seen all of our gaming families using strategy on what is the best way to conquer the game. This is truly a fun family game.
Family Friendly
With a four player couch co-op mode and very easy controls, this is a must have game in your digital library. This game is very family friendly and fun to play. Even though that the game is a Pac Man title at heart it is still fun to play a game that is designed for couch co-op. The only thing is that the game does get harder as you go longer in the game, however this is expected as this was the same formula for the Pac Man series for over 35 years. Another thing which was a surprised to us during testing is that there is no online co-op in the game. As we put it through the test there was no issues with any of our gaming family members playing this title. The game itself is very easy to pick up and play and without any controller issues. Again we recommend this game to anyone that is looking for a fun family oriented co-op game.
Closing
Pac Man 256 may be an old game, but with a friendly co-op, power ups and a new run style of gameplay it makes it a great family game. So what are you waiting for, go out there and get those ghost monsters.
