10 Years.
Well not quite exactly, it's been close to 10 years since I first played this. I bought this in the box set along with World 3 and World Rally, and this has since become one of my favorite games of all time. I played the shit out of this and Rally, but never that much of 3. Actually I didn't even start the first game until last year but I'm getting off topic.
Strangely, I've had this for a decade and have never actually completed it. I remember years ago I got up to the final battle but could never defeat Spooky.
I recently started playing from where I left off, which was in the volcano world, and just beat it for the first time yesterday.
As you can see, I gave it a full five stars but I can't say it actually is that on an objective level, but I'll get to issues later.
I'll start with some positives. The gameplay itself is good, I mean it's your standard 3D platformer gameplay where you go around the level and collect everything but it works and Pac-Man controls really well.
The graphics still hold up well, obviously they're not up to date with today's since this game is literally two months older than I am, but they've aged pretty well I'd say.
There are tokens you can collect, and there's ten per level, eight in the level, another for if you 100% the level, and another for completing the time trial. They don't count toward 100% completion, in fact you can 100% a level and still not get all the tokens, and their main purpose is for the arcade in Pac-Village or unlocking the museum there. There are 189 in total.
Another thing you can collect, which is needed for 100% completion, are these Galaxian ships which allow you to play mazes in the levels, and while they can be fun, I do see how they could potentially slow down the game's pacing because you have to play them before you continue on with the level.
Now as I said, this game isn't perfect, as I recently noticed a huge problem with the game's plot.
The game's story is that the ghosts are screwing around with the golden fruit from the golden fruit tree, and because the fruit is no longer on the tree, the ghost named Spooky was able to be freed from under there.
So if Spooky is a threat and has to be imprisoned under a tree with the power of golden fruit that can easily be picked off of the tree, why isn't that better guarded? In fact, why isn't it guarded at all? I've been playing this for ten years and just realized this yesterday.
The other problems are usually related to the game and not the story, like some of the levels can be very frustrating, but most platformers have their frustrations.
I wish there was more variety with the bosses, the only ones that don't feel the same are Clyde's frog (even though the game confuses him with Blinky), Spooky's flagship submarine (why would a ghost who's been imprisoned for a very long time have a flagship submarine), and Spooky himself. Those are half of the bosses, the rest are these giant robots controlled by Inky, Blinky, and Pinky, who shoot sawblades, snowballs, and fireballs at you and they're pretty much the same.
My least favorite levels would probably have to be the underwater ones, but the problems with those are trying to 100% them, because I'm someone who has to 100% complete my games.
Another issue is game as is something that other 3D platformers have is that the camera can be frustrating sometimes.
I guess it can be annoying having to replay every level for the time trial, which I never actually started doing until a few years ago.
I know this sounds like I'm complaining a lot but none of this is game breaking, although if that tree was guarded, this game wouldn't exist.
So even though this game isn't perfect, it's always been and will always remain one of my favorite games of all time, which is why I'm giving it that score.
Well not quite exactly, it's been close to 10 years since I first played this. I bought this in the box set along with World 3 and World Rally, and this has since become one of my favorite games of all time. I played the shit out of this and Rally, but never that much of 3. Actually I didn't even start the first game until last year but I'm getting off topic.
Strangely, I've had this for a decade and have never actually completed it. I remember years ago I got up to the final battle but could never defeat Spooky.
I recently started playing from where I left off, which was in the volcano world, and just beat it for the first time yesterday.
As you can see, I gave it a full five stars but I can't say it actually is that on an objective level, but I'll get to issues later.
I'll start with some positives. The gameplay itself is good, I mean it's your standard 3D platformer gameplay where you go around the level and collect everything but it works and Pac-Man controls really well.
The graphics still hold up well, obviously they're not up to date with today's since this game is literally two months older than I am, but they've aged pretty well I'd say.
There are tokens you can collect, and there's ten per level, eight in the level, another for if you 100% the level, and another for completing the time trial. They don't count toward 100% completion, in fact you can 100% a level and still not get all the tokens, and their main purpose is for the arcade in Pac-Village or unlocking the museum there. There are 189 in total.
Another thing you can collect, which is needed for 100% completion, are these Galaxian ships which allow you to play mazes in the levels, and while they can be fun, I do see how they could potentially slow down the game's pacing because you have to play them before you continue on with the level.
Now as I said, this game isn't perfect, as I recently noticed a huge problem with the game's plot.
The game's story is that the ghosts are screwing around with the golden fruit from the golden fruit tree, and because the fruit is no longer on the tree, the ghost named Spooky was able to be freed from under there.
So if Spooky is a threat and has to be imprisoned under a tree with the power of golden fruit that can easily be picked off of the tree, why isn't that better guarded? In fact, why isn't it guarded at all? I've been playing this for ten years and just realized this yesterday.
The other problems are usually related to the game and not the story, like some of the levels can be very frustrating, but most platformers have their frustrations.
I wish there was more variety with the bosses, the only ones that don't feel the same are Clyde's frog (even though the game confuses him with Blinky), Spooky's flagship submarine (why would a ghost who's been imprisoned for a very long time have a flagship submarine), and Spooky himself. Those are half of the bosses, the rest are these giant robots controlled by Inky, Blinky, and Pinky, who shoot sawblades, snowballs, and fireballs at you and they're pretty much the same.
My least favorite levels would probably have to be the underwater ones, but the problems with those are trying to 100% them, because I'm someone who has to 100% complete my games.
Another issue is game as is something that other 3D platformers have is that the camera can be frustrating sometimes.
I guess it can be annoying having to replay every level for the time trial, which I never actually started doing until a few years ago.
I know this sounds like I'm complaining a lot but none of this is game breaking, although if that tree was guarded, this game wouldn't exist.
So even though this game isn't perfect, it's always been and will always remain one of my favorite games of all time, which is why I'm giving it that score.