Pac-Man Fever
SCORE: 80
Nintendo really started a fascinating genre with the Mario Party series. Well other companies see a good idea, and do their best job to emulate it. Pac-Man Fever is just that. It is a party game in the same vein as Mario Party, with a few interesting twists. It is called Pac-Man Fever, however it is more of a Namco Fever. The Ridge Racer girl is present, as are some scary characters from Soul Calibur, and the Tekken series’. The goal of this board style game is to be the first to the finish line. That can be easier said that done since each level starts with a party game. How well the player places in that party game determines how many squares they will advance. The squares then offer some wonderful diversions. Some of the possibilities are jumping ahead, being sprung backwards, getting coins, taking half of another players coins, buying things in a store, etc. The real skill comes near the finish line. The final three spots require the player to acquire a certain place in a mini game in order to advance (i.e. third place to advance, then second place, and finally first place to win the game).
Graphically all of the characters are rather deformed to fit into the Pac-Man style of art. Thankfully this makes the scary looking characters not look as bad. The Ridge Racer girl does not look as seductive, but her female assets are still rather pronounced. The different boards are themed quite well, if a little confusing at times. There is some cartoon style violence in the different party games, which is along the lines of the Looney Tunes.
The sounds are very crisp, and clear. The music in Pac-Man Fever has a real Pac-Man theme to it. If the player is a complete lover of that style of music, they are going to be very pleased. The music is pretty cheerful, albeit a little overused at times. The sound effects work quite well in this game.
Party games are best played with more than one person. That way there can be some ribbing going on amongst the players. The player must play through the game a few times to start buying the party games. It takes quite a bit of replay to be able to purchase all of the extra content. Raffle tickets are also found within the game boards, which can be used later. This game can be found pretty cheap, and is decent for a party game. If Pac-Man is your thing, and you really need a party game, then think about this one.
The completely bizarre thing about Pac-Man Fever is not being able to practice the party games before going live on them. This can be a bit of a problem since most of them are short, and take a few tries to figure out. The other gameplay problem with this game is the time it takes to play one board. Normally one game takes around half an hour. That was on the shortest mode too. The party games control quite well, and the control design works well. This was a fun little game to play at first, but then got repetitive. There were not enough party games to keep it interesting.
A few of the characters
present moral problems, like the guy with a monster sized axe. The
cartoon style ghosts are also present throughout the game. The main
lesson in this game is to work hard to win. Competition is the main
theme, and the main concern there is at what lengths will one go to? The
Gamecube has quite a few better party games, and I can think of at least
one better on the Playstation 2 (The Bible Game). This reviewer would
recommend passing on this game.
-Paul
Graphics: 77%
Sound: 84%
Replay/Extras: 90%
Gameplay: 79%
Family Friendly Factor: 70%
System: Gamecube/Playstation 2
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
{Mild Violence}
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