Pac-Man World 2 (パックマンワールド2 Pakkuman Wārudo Tsū) is a 3D platformer game in the Pac-Man series, developed and published by Namco Hometek in 2002. The game was originally released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, and would later be ported to the Game Boy Advance and Windows platforms. It serves as the direct sequel to Pac-Man World, and is the second game in the Pac-Man World series; it would be followed by Pac-Man World 3.
A remake of Pac-Man World 2, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac, was released on September 26, 2025.
Story[]
The Ghosts witness Spooky being freed from his century-long prison.
During a restful night in the Pac-Village, Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde sneak into the village to cause mischief. Reuniting at the village's Golden Fruit Tree, Blinky unwittingly commands the ghost gang to pick off the five Golden Fruit off the tree, intending to mess around with them. Pinky juggles the fruit, while Blinky, Inky and Clyde use the fruit like a football. Unaware to them, the tree begins to violently shake. The ghosts, while initially distracted in their antics, realize the occurring scenario and witness a monster emerge from the bottom of the tree. The ghosts look in shock as the monster reveals himself to be Spooky, free from his century-long prison. Spooky recruits the ghostly quartet to hide the golden fruit to rid Pac-Land of the Pac-People.
Pac-Man wakes up the following morning, seeing a distressed Professor Pac-Man tell him that the ghosts had stolen the Golden Fruit and freed Spooky. Proceeding to tell him the history of Pac-Land, Spooky is an all-powerful ghost that terrorized Pac-Land in ancient times. The Great Wizard Pac, one of Pac-Man's ancestors created a potion that turned five ordinary fruit into the all powerful Golden Fruit. The brave knight, Sir Pac-A-Lot entered combat with Spooky, and reigned supreme against the ghost. Using the Golden Fruit, Spooky was sealed under the Golden Fruit Tree, and remained imprisoned beneath it for centuries until his escape. Professor Pac-Man warns all of Pac-Land will be doomed unless Pac-Man recovers the Golden Fruit and defeats Spooky once again.
Pac-Man travels across Pac-Land and faces many enemies. Among the enemies, he also encounters the Ghosts, guarding the Golden Fruit and using their giant robot mechs to defeat Pac-Man. Pac-Man reigns supreme at the end of the fights and recovers the stolen Fruit. In various occasions, Pac-Ranger and Professor Pac-Man assist Pac-Man during his journey with advice and equipment. Pac-Man's journey brings him to Ghost Island, where he is challenged by Wormwood; the Golden Fruit Tree's evil brother and heart of Ghost Island, to solve his maze. Pac-Man completes Wormwood's challenge, making Wormwood admit defeat. Wormwood accepting defeat puts out his life energy, extinguishing the heart of Ghost Island. A furious Spooky witnesses the occurring scenario rushes to Pac-Land to destroy the Golden Fruit Tree once and for all, while Pac-Man follows pursuit.
Pac-Man returns to the Pac-Village, where he places back the fruit on the tree. The Golden Fruit grants Pac-Man a gold body, letting him take on Spooky. Spooky then shows himself, hiding behind the tree's sight; he casts a spell that lifts the Golden Fruit Tree's terrain into the sky, challenging Pac-Man to a battle with his powerful magic. Pac-Man bests Spooky using his golden powers. The Golden Fruit Tree begins to react to Spooky's defeat, sucking him into the bottom pit of the tree. As Spooky struggles to escape the power of the Golden Fruit Tree's gusts, Spooky proclaims to Pac-Man his ghosts will free him again. Spooky makes a final swing to grab Pac-Man, narrowly missing him as the powerful gusts suck Spooky to the bottom of the tree, sealing him once more and returning the Golden Fruit Tree to the ground. The Pac-Village townspeople come out of their homes and congratulate Pac-Man. Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde react in concern hearing Spooky's remark. Eavesdropping on them, Chomp-Chomp eats Power Pellets and chases the ghosts out of the Pac-Village. Chomp-Chomp returns to Pac-Man with a ripped piece of one of the ghosts' sheets. With the land safe once again, Pac-Man winks at the player as he walks back to the applauding Pac-People.
After the celebrations, Professor Pac-Man thanks Pac-Man for his brave deeds, and assures that the townspeople will protect the Golden Fruit Tree from the ghosts.
Gameplay[]
Pac-Man standing idly in the game's first regular level, The Bear Basics.
Similar to its predecessor, Pac-Man World 2 follows Pac-Man as he travels across Pac-Land in a 3D environment, guiding him along a linear path with the objective of reaching the end area of the level. In every level, there are multiple Pac-Dots, Tokens and fruit; for the full completion of a level, all of these must be collected during a stage run. The game has 25 levels (17 in GBA) in six different-themed environments such as the grassy hills of Pac-Land, a forest, a volcano, underwater and a haunted island; alongside 15 unlockable Galaxian mazes. The player will also fight the ghosts using their mechs at the end of each area, where each of them guards one Golden Fruit; there are six bosses in total. In specific areas such as the Ocean, the game changes play style significantly, such as placing Pac-Man automatically swimming underwater in rail-type fashion, submarine stages where Pac-Man uses the Pac-Sub's cannon to shoot at enemies, and Pac-Man skating at rapid speeds to avoid falling off quickly balancing platforms. Pac-Man has a health meter indicated on the top left corner which lets him sustain up to four hits before dying. Pac-Man takes damage upon contact with an enemy, hazardous object, or from fall damage. Pac-Man can replenish one of his hit points by collecting health wedges or eating 50 Pac-Dots. Among the levels are several checkpoints, which allows Pac-Man to continue from said point if he loses a life; though he will restart from the checkpoint with the same amount of Tokens, Pac-Dots and Fruit collected from when he touched said checkpoint. The game ends if Pac-Man loses all of his lives, with the given choice to begin from the beginning of the level or continuing from their last save.
In comparison to the first Pac-Man World, levels in Pac-Man World 2 are much more spread out. While the levels are still linear, most levels have more space to run around in, and consist much more of moving forward towards areas as opposed to side-scrolling levels from the predecessor. The player also has the ability to control the camera throughout the game, though there are certain areas where the camera is locked to an angle and cannot be controlled.
Pac-Man uses different moves and Power-Ups to defeat enemies, while he uses Power Pellets to eat ghosts. Many of Pac-Man's moves from Pac-Man World, including Butt Bouncing and the Rev-Roll return. Among these moves, Pac-Man can also perform an aerial flip kick that lets him hit enemies and destroy boxes in the air. Returning from the original game is the Steel Ball, which makes Pac-Man briefly invincible, makes him heavy to walk underwater and allows him to destroy underwater crates and enemies. Alongside the Steel Ball is the new Shrink Pellet, which shrinks Pac-Man to a miniscule size for a few seconds and allows him to progress through tiny gaps within the levels, though this Power-Up doesn't appear as frequently as the rest. Ocean levels feature Pac-Man automatically swimming in the water, able to torpedo attack enemies and use the Pac-Sub to fire torpedoes towards enemies. In some levels, Pac-Man dons ice skates/roller skates to traverse across terrain at high speeds.
Fruit appear spread throughout the levels. Some Fruit are required to open marked crates, which can be opened by Butt Bouncing them if Pac-Man is in possession of the respective fruit. Tokens are scattered throughout levels alongside, with each one containing 8 tokens. Two extra bonus Tokens are awarded for achieving 100% completion on a level; which is achieved by collecting every Fruit, Pac-Dot and Maze; and for completing the level's respective Time Trial challenge. Tokens serve to unlock extra content in the Pac-Village.
Mazes[]
Mazes are unlocked by collecting Galaxian Flagships, which appear in the majority of levels; the player now only has to collect the Galaxian itself (unlike in the first game, where the player must also open a door with it). Eating the item will transport Pac-Man into a three-dimensional maze, akin to the classic arcade games.
Unlike the predecessor, the rules for the Mazes are more closer to the original game. Pac-Man is given three lives to complete the maze (which is separated from the main game's life count), and will lose a life upon getting caught by a ghost. Fruit and Pac-Dots are added to the level's score, but will not count towards Fruit and Pac-Dot completion in the level. Completing the maze will award the player the Galaxian item of the level.
The mazes can be replayed in Sue's Arcade once they are discovered.
Time Trial[]
Upon finishing a regular level for the first time, the level's respective Time Trial mode is unlocked. It can be initiated by touching the Time Trial Stopwatch that is present at the beginning of each previously completed stage. If Pac-Man proceeds towards the level and passes by the Stopwatch, the Stopwatch will disappear from the level and will not appear again unless the level is restarted.
In the Time Trial modes, the player must reach the end of the level as fast as possible. Checkpoints are removed from levels during Time Trial, so a life loss will result the player being sent back to the beginning of the stage. Most collectables such as Pac-Dots and Fruit disappear upon initiating the Time Trial challenge (with the exception of some power-ups like the Power Pellet). By collecting clocks spread throughout the levels, the timer can be frozen for the amount of seconds shown on the collected clock (which can either be 2 seconds or 4 seconds; collecting multiple clocks do not stack upon each other), while eating a scared Ghost will grant a 4 second timer freeze. Completing the stage's Time Trial will grant the player an extra Token if it is completed earlier than the level's marked Best Time Trial once.
Pac-Man does not lose lives if he dies during the Time Trial challenges.
Unlockable content[]
Upon collecting thresholds of Tokens, a variety of extra content is unlocked in the Pac-Village, which Pac-Man can visit in the world map.
Sue's Arcade[]
In the Pac-Village, Sue runs the village's arcade, featuring a collection of games and extra modes. The arcade houses six different machines with different functions.
Classic Games[]
- Pac-Man (1980) - Pac-Man is unlocked after a total of 10 tokens are collected throughout the levels. The version of Pac-Man included is based on the version of the game seen in Namco Museum Vol. 1.
- Pac-Attack (1993) - Pac-Attack is unlocked after a total of 30 tokens are collected throughout the levels. The version of Pac-Attack included is based on the remade version of the game seen in Namco Anthology 2; this version of the game only includes the Arcade Game mode (Normal Game).
- Pac-Mania (1987) - Pac-Mania is unlocked after a total of 100 tokens are collected throughout the levels. The version of Pac-Mania included is based on the version of the game seen in Namco Museum Vol. 5.
- Ms. Pac-Man (1982) - Ms. Pac-Man is unlocked after a total of 180 tokens are collected throughout the levels. The version of Ms. Pac-Man included is based on the version of the game seen in Namco Museum Vol. 3. The Nintendo GameCube version features a bug where some maze colors are incorrect.
Modes[]
- Pac-Man World 2 Mazes - This allows the player to replay any of the mazes they have discovered within Pac-Man World 2. Unlike the other machines in Sue's Arcade, this is available from the start with some extra mazes available.
- Jukebox - This allows the player to listen to the background music from Pac-Man World 2. This is unlocked after collecting a total of 60 tokens across the levels.
Museum[]
Upon collecting a total of 150 tokens, the construction worker repairing the museum will complete the repairs and allow Pac-Man to proceed inside the Museum. The Museum showcases a reel of concept art for the game and a photo of the Namco Hometek development team.
Levels[]
| World | Level | Level # | BGM | Statistics | Maze Fruit | Time Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | Pac-Village | 1 | 6 Cherries 6 Strawberries 4 Apples 8 Melons 142 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
N/A | N/A | |
| Spooky | 25 | N/A | ||||
| The Bear Basics | 2 | 6 Cherries 6 Strawberries 1 Orange 3 Apples 2 Melons 327 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
N/A | 0:43 | ||
| Canyon Chaos | 3 | 14 Cherries 8 Strawberries 7 Oranges 5 Apples 3 Melons 1 Galaxian 178 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
Cherry | 0:30 | ||
| Pac-Dot Pond | 4 | 9 Cherries 7 Strawberries 9 Oranges 9 Apples 5 Melons 1 Galaxian 142 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
0:35 | |||
| Blinky's Frog | 5 | N/A | ||||
| Tree Tops | B-Doing Woods | 6 | 6 Cherries 9 Strawberries 9 Oranges 4 Apples 2 Melons 1 Galaxian 217 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
Strawberry | 1:11 | |
| Treewood Forest | 7 | 5 Cherries 6 Strawberries 5 Oranges 4 Apples 3 Melons 1 Galaxian 194 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
1:35 | |||
| Butane Pain | 8 | 5 Cherries 4 Strawberries 8 Oranges 2 Apples 2 Melons 1 Galaxian 243 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
2:17 | |||
| Inky's Blade-o-Matic | 9 | N/A | ||||
| Snow Mountain | Ice River Run | 10 | 6 Cherries 11 Strawberries 2 Oranges 8 Apples 1 Galaxian 333 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
Orange | 1:14 | |
| Avalanche Alley | 11 | 24 Cherries 33 Strawberries 36 Apples 4 Melons 1 Galaxian 297 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
2:47 | |||
| Blade Mountain | 12 | 22 Cherries 23 Strawberries 1 Orange 7 Apples 1 Melon 1 Galaxian 216 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
1:03 | |||
| Pinky's Revenge | 13 | N/A | ||||
| Lava | Into the Volcano | 14 | 3 Cherries 2 Strawberries 2 Oranges 3 Apples 1 Melon 1 Galaxian 200 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
Apple | 2:22 | |
| Volcanic Panic | 15 | 4 Cherries 6 Strawberries 2 Oranges 5 Apples 3 Melons 1 Galaxian 310 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
3:48 | |||
| Magma Opus | 16 | 5 Cherries
7 Strawberries |
2:17 | |||
| Clyde in the Caldera | 17 | N/A | ||||
| Ocean | Scuba Duba | 18 | 7 Cherries 8 Strawberries 4 Oranges 4 Apples 6 Melons 1 Galaxian 133 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
Melon | 1:46 | |
| Shark Attack | 19 | 10 Cherries 7 Strawberries 5 Oranges 5 Apples 3 Melons 1 Galaxian 111 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
1:54 | |||
| Yellow Pac-Marine | 20 | 20 Cherries 5 Oranges 2 Apples 8 Tokens |
N/A | 7:14 | ||
| Whale on a Sub | 21 | N/A | ||||
| Ghost Island | Haunted Boardwalk | 22 | 13 Cherries 4 Strawberries 6 Oranges 8 Apples 9 Melons 1 Galaxian 153 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
Galaxian | 2:58 | |
| Night Crawling | 23 | 2 Cherries 1 Strawberry 1 Orange 4 Apples 2 Melons 255 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
N/A | 2:27 | ||
| Ghost Bayou | 24 | 12 Cherries 21 Strawberries 13 Apples 13 Melons 1 Galaxian 535 Pac-Dots 8 Tokens |
Galaxian | 6:42 | ||
Game Boy Advance version[]
Screenshot from the Game Boy Advance version.
A version of Pac-Man World 2 was released for the Game Boy Advance on August 19th, 2005, developed by Full Fat Games. It is a isometric 3D platformer rather than a full 3D one, due to the limitations of the Game Boy Advance hardware and is much different compared to the console versions.
The game has a isometric 3D playing field similar to 'beat-em-up' titles like Golden Axe, with Pac-Man being able to walk in all four directions, but the game is still primarily 2D in terms of artwork. While Pac-Man's moveset, most power-ups, scenery and other mechanics are similar to that of the console versions of Pac-Man World 2, the game features drastically different level layouts in comparison to the console games. Levels are rather lengthy compared to the previous Pac-Man World titles, taking about twenty minutes each to complete. Instead of a save feature, the game used a password system to continue at a later time, due to the lack of a battery within the cartridges.
Aside from its many gameplay differences, the game also features many glitches, errors, and inconsistencies. Sue's Arcade and the extra arcade games are absent within this release (despite still being credited on the copyright screen). Three Galaxian mazes appear, but there are four Galaxians to collect total - the last one does nothing, though a text box appears stating a new maze was unlocked. In level 3, a red ghost is frozen, despite nearby ghosts behaving normally. In addition to all of this, the passwords for the last two levels in the game seem to inexplicably not work. Players also report difficulty with determining the distance of objects.
Game Boy Advance levels[]
Several levels and elements of the original game are not present in the Game Boy Advance version; notable omissions include the Blinky's Killer Frog boss and all underwater areas, and some levels such as "Canyon Chaos", "Pac-Dot Pond" or also "Butane Pain". Aside from the curiosity, in the "Blade Mountain"/"Haunted Boardwalk" levels, Pac-Man does not wear Skates/Rollers.
In order to reach 100% completion at a given stage, the player only has to collect all the fruits; Pac-Dots do not need to be collected, unlike the original version. Additionally in the GBA port, Wormwood is a boss that Pac-Man has to fight directly; while in the original version of the game, Wormwood is defeated by Pac-Man completing his "maze".
| # | Level | Statistics |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 Fruit 61 Pac-Dots | |
| 2 | 32 Fruit 176 Pac-Dots | |
| 3 | 34 Fruit 151 Pac-Dots 1 Galaxian | |
| 4 | (Inky) |
|
| 5 | 25 Fruit 90 Pac-Dots | |
| 6 | 20 Fruit 64 Pac-Dots 1 Galaxian | |
| 7 | 28 Fruit 94 Pac-Dots | |
| 8 | (Pinky) |
|
| 9 | 22 Fruit 135 Pac-Dots | |
| 10 | 14 Fruit 90 Pac-Dots | |
| 11 | 18 Fruit 75 Pac-Dots | |
| 12 | (Blinky) |
|
| 13 | 10 Fruit 10 Pac-Dots | |
| 14 | 22 Fruit 154 Pac-Dots | |
| 15 | 16 Fruit 105 Pac-Dots 1 Galaxian | |
| 16 | (Wormwood & Spooky) |
Home Ports[]
- Game Boy Advance
- The Game Boy Advance version, as mentioned above is a completely different game compared to the console versions.
- Nintendo GameCube
- The Player's Choice re-release was sold as a bundle with Pac-Man Vs.
- PlayStation 2
- First version to be released.
- Xbox (North American exclusive)
- Windows PC
Later reprints of the game seemed to tone down the difficulty somewhat. Generally, versions under labels like "Greatest Hits" (PlayStation 2), "Player's Choice" (GameCube), and "Platinum Hits" (Xbox) contain the "easy" version, while copies without these labels are more difficult. The European PlayStation 2 version (which was released much later, in 2003) is also the "easy" version; and it is also the case for the PC release. The Japanese PS2-only release was made even easier, making very heavy alterations (such as removing the majority of bottomless pits).
Remake[]
- Main article: Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac
A remake of Pac-Man World 2, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac was announced during a Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase on July 31, 2025. This game is scheduled to be released for Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on September 26, 2025. The game is rebuilt from the ground-up and sports more detailed visuals alongside quality-of-life changes to the game.
Trivia[]
- Pac-Man World 2 is:
- the last Pac-Man game to be developed by Namco Hometek prior to in-house development closing as part of Namco's restructuring in 2003.
- the only game in the Pac-Man World series to not feature Toc-Man in any capacity. Toc-Man does, however, appear in the game's remake, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac.
- The PlayStation 2 version of Pac-Man World 2 sold an estimated 1.2 million copies in the U.S. alone, as of 2007.[1] The GameCube version sold over 470,000 copies in the U.S. by July of 2004.[2]
- Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped in their respective boss battles (see Clyde and Blinky error).
- The Japanese version of the game makes use of a notable voice cast on a number of characters. Among the new voice cast, several new voice lines have been added throughout the game when a character communicates with Pac-Man during cutscenes, most especially during boss or level introductions; most of which are exclusive to the Japanese version.
- Hikaru Midorikawa voiced Blinky (referred to as Clyde).
- Tamotsu Nishiwaki voiced Clyde (referred to as Blinky).
- Junko Noda voiced Inky.
- Sara Nakayama voiced Pinky.
- Daisuke Gouri voiced Spooky & Wormwood.
- Takeshi Aono voiced Professor Pac-Man.
- Tetsu Inada voiced Pac-Ranger.
- Pac-Man has many hidden animations that can be done by doing simple actions:
- Leaving him idle for long enough will eventually put him to sleep.
- Tilting the joystick slightly will make him walk or sneak.
- While Ms. Pac-Man herself does not appear in Pac-Man World 2, a frame of her can be seen in Pac-Man's house during the opening and ending cutscenes. The frame of Ms. Pac-Man originates from the opening for Pac-Man Fever, which released nearly 7 months after Pac-Man World 2.
- In Sue's Arcade, the Pac-Man World 2 Maze Mode machine uses a screenshot of Pac-Gal, a bootleg ROM hack of Ms. Pac-Man.
- For unknown reasons, some PC releases of the game have an ESRB rating of T [for Teen]; all other North American versions of the game, including other PC revisions, have an ESRB rating of E [for Everyone].
- The Player's Choice release of Pac-Man World 2 on the Nintendo GameCube erroneously labels the game as having 4-Player simultaneous multiplayer.
- The original composer for the Pac-Man World 2 soundtrack, David Logan (under his production company, David Logan Music/Orb Soundwerx), would publish the game's soundtrack on SoundCloud in 2014, including an unused "Arcade Mazes" track.[3] Following the unveiling of Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac, Logan announced that the soundtrack would be releasing on all major streaming platforms.[4] The original soundtrack was released on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube on August 7, 2025;[5] however, all releases would be delisted shortly thereafter by legal request of Bandai Namco.[6]
Gallery[]
Promotional artwork[]
.jpg "PMW 2 PS2 cover (2008 re-issue).jpg (84 KB)")
Character Artwork[]
Screenshots[]
References[]
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220101032316/http://the-magicbox.com/Chart-USPlatinum.shtml
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/07/13/wocka-wocka-wocka
- ↑ https://soundcloud.com/davidloganmusic/sets/pac-man-world-2-soundtrack
- ↑ https://twitter.com/OrbSoundwerx/status/1951044318241890336
- ↑ https://x.com/OrbSoundwerx/status/1953530489198748001
- ↑ https://x.com/OrbSoundwerx/status/1963005909724233787