Pac-Pix DS review
Pac-Pix is a game tailored specifically for the Nintendo DS’ system capabilities.
By drawing Pac-Man characters in a specific fashion (the mouth first, then the circle, all in one swoop), the drawing will come to life and munch anything in his path. Players can maneuver Pac-Man drawings in different directions by plotting pathways on the screen for the scribble to follow.
System: DS
Genre: Action, Puzzle, Arcade
Release dates: April 26th 2005 (USA), May 8th 2005 (AUS), May 20th 2005 (EURO)
Players: 1
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Origin: Japan
Rating: E for Everyone
One day a mischievous wizard came up with a mysterious invention called “Ghost Ink.” Everything drawn with the Ghost Ink turned into Ghosts. These trickster Ghosts began jumping into pictures and books, pulling pranks, causing havoc around the world.
Our hero, Pac-Man, rushed to defeat them with his mighty Magic Pen – the only weapon effective to defeat these Ghosts, and locked all the Ghosts inside a book. But before he could turn the Ghosts back into the Ghost Ink, he was also captured within a piece of paper!
You must now take over Pac-Man’s quest to defeat the mischievous Ghosts. Use the stylus to draw Pac-Man, control his movements to eat up all the Ghosts on the screen. Travel from the lower to the upper screen to collect items and accumulate points. Can you bring peace and quiet back to the world with the Magic Pen?
The action-puzzle game with familiar Pac-Man arcade gameplay makes extensive use of the DS touch screen. It allows you to draw Pac-man and guide him through each level by drawing walls and devouring ghost monsters. Obstacles such as walls and shields must also be overcome by drawing bombs and arrows accordingly. You’ll also have control of the speed of the Pac-man that you create, by changing the size of the drawing when it is created. But keep in mind that you have to keep an eye on your ink supply.
Watch the Pac-Pix launch trailer:
The main features of Pac-Pix are:
* Draw Pac-Man! Use the stylus to draw Pac-Man, and watch as he comes to life on-screen for a totally new gameplay experience.
* Pac-Man gets bigger! How big is your Pac-Man? When you encounter the big Ghost Boss, draw a bigger Pac-Man so you can eat him!
* Control his movements! Draw a wall, and Pac-Man will change direction; when you place the stylus on a moving Pac-Man, he stops. Maximize Pac-Man’s movements and eat all the Ghosts!
* Shoot down the Ghosts! How’s your aim? Once you clear the fourth stage, you will be able to draw arrows on the bottom screen that will shoot up to the upper screen, making Ghosts fall for you to eat.
* Collect Items! Scoot over to the Item Road on the upper screen and collect items that appear.
* Blow it up! When you clear stage 8, you acquire a new skill – the ability to draw a bomb. The size of the circle you draw determines the size of the blast, and the length of the fuse determines the time it takes for it to blow.
Some Pac-Pix DS gameplay footage:
As a conclusion let’s rate Pac-Pix on its fun-basis.
FUN FACTOR – 7.0
Pac-Pix is a fun budget game starring the first great hero of the arcades, Pac-Man! It’s up to you to draw Pac-Man and control him with your stylus to guide him towards eating all those evil Ghosts. If you’re dedicated to improving your Pac-Man drawing skills — I kept failed due to the game’s annoying perfectionist drawing detection system — you might be able to get all the highscores you want to achieve and make it through all 12 levels. It’s definitely fun for a while, but it’s mainly for arcade highscore and Pac-Man fanatics.
Graphics – 6.5
It’s fantastic to see your own drawings come to life on the DS screen. The game’s movements are smooth and the bright colors and cartoony graphics look good, but the overall visuals could’ve been made more different, now every level looks the same. The same goes for the minimalistic animations.
Audio – 7.0
The classic Pac-Man music is back, their remixes gives a great upbeat retro feeling. The sound effects are your standard Pac-Man fare, nice to have but nothing new.
Ingenuity – 7.5
Using the stylus to draw and control Pac-Man on the DS is a fantastic innovation. Drawing different shapes and sizes allows you do take all the needed control actions in-game. However, since this requires a precise detection system, if Pac-man and other objects are not drawn in the correct order or not accurate enough, they’ll be erased and you’ll be forced to start over. Adding to the troubles are the ink and time limits that can expire and set you back several stages when either runs out. But mainly the drawing detection system is troublesome. It feels like being presented to a grand dinner, but not being able to eat all that delicious food.
Replay Value – 7.0
It’s a short single player game that does try to mix things up with the occasional boss fight. What you’re getting is 12 reasonably varied levels with incredibly unique gameplay. The drawing concept is pretty fun the first nine levels. If you’re a highscore buff you’ll be playing this arcade title for a while, especially because the last three levels are tough-as-nails.
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