The NES Classics range for the Gameboy Advance is a chance for gamers old and new to experience legendary Nintendo titles in their original formats. This may seem a little over the top for old games which can now be downloaded to every console, personal computer and toaster in the Western Hemisphere, but this is a chance to experience them on the move. With the Gameboy Advance going out of style, the prices are dropping too, meaning that many titles from the series can now be picked up for less than a fiver. That’s the price of a kebab. A big one, yeah, but a kebab nonetheless.
Pac-Man is one of those games that will never require a description. Partly because said description would be something along the lines of “yellow pizza in a grid with ghosts and Ecstacy tablets”, but mostly because it’s already been burnt into the common conscious – a pop culture icon up there with the Rubik’s Cube and Kylie Minogue. The only reason why Digital Lard saw it fit to review this is to remind the gaming public of the simpler things, the ultimate pinnacles of gaming that need to be dusted off once in a while and gorged upon. Don’t get it confused; not every old game is worthy of sentimental praise, but Pac-Man is an early stroke of genius. It exists in a self-contained genre, plays like a dream, and refuses to let you go.
The Pac-Man franchise flagged throughout the Nineties, as Namco seemed to decide that it was the Pac-Man character that sold the games, not the style of the original game itself. The original (and best) has made a return of sorts in the 21st Century, as the dominance of mobile phone technology brought twitch (easy-to-handle, simple yet addictive) gaming to the forefront of the gaming experience. You can now play Pac-Man on practically every mobile device out there, and most of them are arcade-perfect and none are preferable to any other. But if you want a spot-on port of the NES version, complete with single-cart multiplayer (a smart and rewarding addition) and a real D-Pad rather than a bed of number keys, this is perfect pocket money material.
It's Pac-Man, you fool.