While I love evolutions in genres as much as the next person, sometimes going back to basics and appreciating what was is just as effective.

That’s often where remakes, remasters and the like really get their chance to shine, as we try to recreate the fond memories we had growing up and possibly even create similar memories for the generations growing up today.

These games can be bonding experiences between family members and sometimes they can even be opportunities for games that didn’t get much attention in the first place to be preserved and rejuvinated for a new generation.

PAC-MAN WORLD 1 was clearly the more recognised and known of the two games, but now Bandai Namco have bought their beloved mascot back to the 3D realm and the good news is they really took their time to craft and curate the experience to be better than ever.

I think that’s sometimes a critical flaw remakes or remasters have. When the player comes away from the experience wishing they were playing the original on the classic hardware because something got lost in translation, but not so here. In fact, I’d go as far as to say this is how remasters should be done as there are improvements made here over the original, more divisive game.

In PAC-MAN WORLD 2, for instance, Bandai have added a bunch of quality of life features, such as updating the boss battles in the game to make them feel more dynamic and action-packed. They’ve also tweaked some things, such as not losing everything you’ve collected when you die or changing the criteria on what you need to 100% the game. Genuine feedback the game had at launch.

This gives the game another bite at the proverbial dot, so that it can still be the beloved classic of old but in equal measure, removing layers of frustration that plagued it in the first place.

And this is an extremely enjoyable platforming romp, with stunning visual layers, a fairly healthy slice of content, all at a low-end price. You really see the golden shine of the levels pop and dazzle as you work through, the animations on the character models feel immediately warm, cozy and welcoming and the voice acting isn’t inoffensive enough to be distracting or infuriating. It’s actually pretty endearing.

This is an extremely vibrant, colourful, enriching throwback to classic 2000s platformers, but in that also comes some drawbacks when compared to more recent titles. For one, despite the varied biomes, the level structure does become a tad repetitive at times. The flow to the levels ends up either putting you in frustrating timed-jump loops that feel extremely of the time or it sometimes feels like you played this exact level just a few back. Sometimes just the one before.

As such, this feels like a game best played in short blasts to really maximise your enjoyment. And certainly with the amount of things to find, additional things to unlock and challenges in store, it’s one you can be grinding with for some time to be a true completionist.

You now have Gashapon machines in the game that can unlock lots of additional figurines that can decorate the PAC-LAND, which is a lovely little feature – though these do feel incredibly grindy to get everything –  and the arcade machines are back and restored, offering you a chance to play classic PAC-MAN in order to unlock more elements within the game.

Yet, the oddest thing is PAC MAN WORLD 2 actually feels more at home and present on modern formats now than it ever did before. The quality of life features have really brought the quality levels up to other platformers in many other ways and it does almost make it seem as if the original was ahead of its time in many other regards.

The game itself handles really nicely, there’s smooth turns on the character, though the camera can sometimes still work against you and for the most part, the challenge feels at a decent, respectable level, though some levels / bosses really surprise you with the difficulty spikes. The game can be really unforgiving at points.

But don’t get me wrong, there’s some really special, memorable moments in here that truly celebrate the best of PAC-MAN and those in his world. There’s even some crossovers with other characters, like the Sonic cosmetics that just help to celebrate this critical moment in the franchise history.

It’s not the best platformer out there, and when you have remasters of Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 on the way, as well as remasters of greats like Yooka Laylee, and even the recently released Croc, there’s definitely a lot of competition in this field for big major returns in the platformer space.

But what I love about PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-Pac is it has heart, it’s a wonderful love letter to the original game, it absolutely updates it to be a better, more enjoyable experience, it’s still a solid game through and through at a low-end price point, and there’s quite a lot of content here, most of which is very satisfying to play.

It’s absolutely worth a run-through whether you’re a retro enthusiast, or just fancy a good old-fashioned platformer to cleanse the palette and renew your love of the big yellow dot. And his ghosty friends.

Verdict

PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-Pac is a really lovely trip down memory lane while at the same time being a total rejuvination for a game that launched in a fairly divisive way. The visual quality is shiny and first rate, the gameplay feels mostly smooth and enjoyable and there’s a lot of varied, enjoyable content in there. It’s not always the easiest going and the content can be a bit limited at times, but this is a great game at a low price point.

PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-Pac is out now on PC, Xbox, and Switch

Played on PS5

Code kindly provided by Bandai Namco for review purposes