Pac-Man World Re-Pac

Pac-Man World Re-Pac
Promotional artwork.
Developer	Now Production
Publisher	Bandai Namco Entertainment
Series	Pac-Man World series
Game system(s)	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
Genres	Platformer, Adventure
Release date(s)	JP: August 25, 2022 WW: August 26, 2022
Number of players	1 player

Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a remake of the 1999 PlayStation platformer Pac-Man World, developed by Now Production and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game was released on August 26, 2022 for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.

Overview

Main article: Pac-Man World

Pac-Man's Mega form destroying crates in a maze area of Buccaneer Beach.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a full recreation of the original Pac-Man World. Re-Pac features completely redone visuals as well as quality-of-life alterations.

While Pac-Man World Re-Pac retains the original structure of the original PlayStation game, the game's presentation in general is altered in various aspects, from visuals to mechanics. All backgrounds and character appearances are fully redone and feature more detail or are drastically altered in appearance, with new visual enhancements added to several mechanics of level functions. While gameplay functions the same as the original Pac-Man World, several changes have been made across the game's mechanics, controls and level layouts. Pac-Man is notably affected less by momentum across the game, and stops briefly in mid-air when butt-bouncing a few times. Pac-Man also gains a hover ability where he flutters in the air to extend air time, while eating a Power Pellet now allows him to take on a larger version of his wedge form and destroy enemies or level structure.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac also notably rebalances various aspects involved with unlockables and collectables. Saving every family member is no longer required to complete the game, though a new ending sequence will occur if all family members are rescued. It is also no longer required to eat every fruit, defeat every enemy and open every fruit door to fully complete a level. The game has also reworked various other aspects, such as boss fights, bonuses are more.

Changes from the original Pac-Man World

Gameplay differences

• Pac-Man can now walk in all directions with the left Control Stick, as opposed to the original’s eight directions with the direction pads.
• Each level on Ghost Island is now accessed by approaching its level entry gate and confirming, as opposed to simply touching it.
  • With the change, approaching a gate now shows the player's progress on each level: the high score, keys collected, mazes completed, family members rescued and PACMAN letters collected.
• Ghost Island’s layout has been notably altered, changing the linear paths for each area to spread out locations. The Pirate Ship, Ruins and Space areas are located on the bottom of the island, while the Funhouse, Factory and Mansion areas are located more towards the top of the island. Also added to Ghost Island at the center of each area is a teleport pad, which allows Pac-Man to instantly warp to other points of the island.
• An Easy Mode is introduced, which adds more platforms known as "Easy Blocks" to specific areas, making it easier to progress; as well as a substantially extended Hover Jump duration. The Easy Mode can be toggled through the Pause menu. The player will be notified and asked whether to play on Easy Mode if they lose a certain number of lives in a single level.
• Extra lives are no longer awarded after accumulating sets of 10,000 points while Pac-Man is in a stage. They are now awarded at the end of the Slot Machine bonus/score tally which occurs at the end of a level.
• Pac-Man’s Butt Bounce and Pac-Dot Attack now have increased delays when initiating the attacks. Repeatedly Butt Bouncing shortens the initiating delay for said move.
• Pac-Man gains a Hover Jump ability that lets him hover in the air for 2 seconds (20 seconds in Easy Mode), making it easier to jump over lengthy gaps.
• Eating a Power Pellet transforms Pac-Man into Mega Pac-Man, which depicts him in a gigantic version of his spherical wedge form (similar to his design in Pac-Mania). While in this form, in addition to being able to eat ghosts, Pac-Man can destroy stage objects, and temporary platforms appear to help Mega Pac-Man cross large gaps.
• Pac-Man no longer gains an extra health wedge if he eats all the ghosts in a section of a level using a single Power Pellet.
• Pac-Man’s swimming controls have been reworked; Pac-Man now sinks in the water while swimming, and the player can press the button to move him upward. In the original game, the player would have to manually control Pac-Man underwater, both upward and downward; while downward movement in Re-Pac is effectively automatic.
• Various stage layouts have been altered.
  • Many underwater chests are now placed on the ground as opposed to floating underwater.
• When opening a fruit door, the corresponding fruit no longer disappears from Pac-Man's items.
• The Steel Ball Power Up is now referred to as the "Metal Dot", and it now respawns after its effects wear out.
  • Chests containing the Metal Dot now have a different design from regular chests.
  • Pac-Man can now Rev Roll underwater while under Metal Dot effects.
• Metal variants of enemies are introduced in the game, which can only be defeated as long as Pac-Man is under the effects of the Metal Dot.
• Instances of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde appearing in non-Maze Mode stages are now replaced with single-color ghosts representing the area. Any ghosts in areas where they would regenerate also no longer regenerate.
• The number of Pac-Dots needed to perform the Super Pellet Blast has been reduced from 10 to 5.
• The Goal Token at the end of every level is now placed inside a Toc-Man statue, which can be destroyed using any of Pac-Man’s attacks (with the exception of the Toc-Man statue in Corsair’s Cove, which needs to be destroyed using a cannon; similar to destroying the cage holding the goal token in the original).
• The Weigh-In Machine (now known as the Slot Machine) is revamped:
  • A new item is introduced: Slot Medals, which are spread throughout levels, are now used to spin the Slot Machine at the end of a level; as opposed to obtaining three fruits of the same kind in a level in the original.
  • If the player's score ends with an exact thousand number by the time they begin the Slot Bonus, a new "Fever" mode is activated where all the fruit symbols on each wheel become identical to each other, ensuring extra lives to the player. The fruit that becomes featured within the Fever is determined by the player's score.
    • A Fever bonus occurs if the player's score ends with an exact thousand number (ex; the player ends the game with a 1,000 point score or 5,000 point score).
    • If the player has the numbers 765 in the last three digits of their score, the Galaxian Flagship will be the featured fruit in the Fever mode.
  • The second and third slot wheels now use different patterns from the first wheel, as opposed to each wheel using the same pattern as the first wheel.
  • It is no longer possible to skip the Slot Machine mini-game, unless the player did not collect Slot Medals.
• The score tally at the end of a stage now incorporates a "No-Miss Bonus", which awards points based on the amount of life losses in a stage. If the player clears the stage without losing a life, they will be able to earn up to 10,000 extra points.
• Boss fights have been heavily altered:
  • The presentation for several bosses are changed:
    • Various bosses now have newly added "pinch modes", most notably HMS Windbag and Toc-Man.
    • HMS Windbag, Anubis Rex, and King Galaxian now have health bars present during their respective fights.
    • The Anubis Rex boss fight now has its platforms connected to the main ground, making it easier to dodge attacks. The platforms begin to crumble as Anubis Rex takes damage.
    • King Galaxian now attacks using his tail, with the tail also having its own health meter.
      • The player can now hold A to rapid fire. Power Pellets and Shockwave Pellets now assist Pac-Man during the stage.
    • The Clown Prix race is now played in first-person, as opposed to top-down in the original. In addition to a progress bar at the top; which the original did not have, the scenery for the stage features larger amounts of detail.
    • The Krome Keeper boss fight has been revamped, making it more similar to an earlier version of concept art for the boss fight. Pac-Man must now find a Metal Dot and rev-roll across a hot pipe to damage the Krome Keeper. As an interesting fact, Krome Keeper has 6 health points instead of 8 in the original.
    • Toc-Man's boss fight has been revamped. Toc-Man now has two new phases, each consisting of him using the Metal Dot and the Power Pellet to power himself up. A finishing sequence has also been added. In addition, Toc-Man now has a total of 19 hit points, divided into 3 counters (8 in the first two phases and 3 in the last), compared to the original where he had a single counter amounting to 16 hit points.
  • At the end of a boss fight, various types of fruit, Slot Tokens and Pac-Dots are thrown near Pac-Man before the Goal Token appears.
  • Unlike the original, bosses do not have checkpoints, whereas in the fight against Anubis Rex and Kromee Keeper, there was a checkpoint for every hit in the original.
• Saving all the members of the Pac-Man family is no longer required for game completion, whereas it was mandatory to rescue them in the original game.
  • The change makes it similar to that of the Game Boy Advance version of Pac-Man World, which featured a similar change.
  • Depending on whether or not Pac-Man has saved all his friends, two different ending sequences will play (see below).
• Several changes have been made to the Maze Mode:
  • Pac-Man is now defeated instantly upon contact with a ghost or stage hazard, as opposed to simply taking damage in the original.
    • With this change, Pac-Man also has three extra lives to complete the maze, separated from his regular life count if the Mazes are accessed via Quest levels, similar to Pac-Man World 2.
  • Fruits no longer appear within the mazes.
  • Pac-Man now emits sparks when he turns, a mechanic previously seen in the Pac-Man Championship Edition games.
  • Maze walls now dynamically push over to accommodate Mega Pac-Man’s size.
  • The teal color ghosts that appear in the Mansion mazes are replaced by clones of Inky and Clyde.
• Pac-Man's family and friends permanently stay on Ghost Island after being rescued, as opposed to disappearing after Pac-Man talks to them in the original.
• The Magic Key is now obtained after accumulating a high score total of 765,000 points, compared to the original game's 1,000,000 point threshold. The change makes it similar to the Japanese version of the game.
• Classic Mode (which features the original Pac-Man; referred to as Original Mode in Re-Pac) is now unlocked by completing the main story, as opposed to it being unlocked by default in the original. The port is almost identical to the version seen in Pac-Man Museum +.
• Achieving 100% completion in a level no longer requires collecting all fruits, defeating all enemies or opening every door.
• Maze Mode’s Marathon can now be replayed after completing it once.
• The credits now play following the game’s ending. The credits sequence takes place in a Pac-Dot filled maze where Pac-Man attempts to find letters in alternating mazes that spell out "THANK YOU FOR PLAYING", as well as eating as many Pac-Dots as possible before the credits end.
  • The original ending theme has been replaced with a new original song titled "We are PAC-MAN!", composed by Yoshihito Yano and Kazuhito Udetsu, with vocals performed by Kaho Kidoguchi.
• A Jukebox has been added to Ghost Island, allowing the player to listen to the game’s music soundtracks, in addition to alternate variants of soundtracks from the original Pac-Man World, extra soundtracks from the original game that were unused in Pac-Man World Re-Pac prior to version 1.0.2, "We Are PAC-MAN!" in different languages, cutscene music and themes from the original Pac-Man.
  • The Jukebox was added to the game through the 1.0.2 update, released on November 15, 2022, and and is unlocked by purchasing its paid DLC on the platform's respective storefront for $2.99 USD.

Audio/visual differences

• The game’s visuals have been redone from the ground-up, sporting more modern-looking graphics.
• The game now runs in the 4K resolution, with the frame rate doubled to 60fps.
  • The Nintendo Switch version has two graphic modes: the Resolution Mode runs at 1080p and 30fps, while the Performance mode runs at 720p and 60fps. By default, the game is set to Resolution Mode, but the setting can be changed in the Options menu.
• Pac-Man’s appearance in his Chrome form can be changed to resemble the Chrome Noir Chogokin Pac-Man figure through the options menu.
  • The skin was offered as a bonus to those who pre-ordered the Chrome Noir Chogokin Bundle version of the game. The skin was later made available as paid DLC on digital storefronts for $0.99 USD.
• Most of the display options from the original game were removed.
• The game HUD has been completely redesigned; it is now always present on screen, as opposed to it hiding after a period of time in the original. A high score counter has been added to the top-right of the screen.
  • Pac-Man’s hit point counter has been altered from the original: Pac-Man’s last hit point is now represented as a standard fourth wedge instead of the counter being completely empty like the original. The hit point counter flashes red when Pac-Man has one wedge left.
  • Score indicators feature greater prominence, now appearing when Pac-Man collects Pac-Dots.
• The Maze Zoom camera options when playing a Maze is now simplified to two camera options, compared to the original three.
• Designs for most of the characters have been updated:
  • Pac-Man and the ghosts’ designs have been updated to be reminiscent of the “merchandising” art style, seen in promotional artwork from the late 2010s and 2020s. This most noticeably effects Pinky and Inky; as they wear orange gloves instead of purple and teal (respectively), and Pinky no longer wears lipstick.
    • Most of the models, including the Pac-Man family and the ghosts, have been reused from Pac-Man Museum +.
  • Additional bosses have had their designs updated, most notably Toc-Man and Krome Keeper. The former has purple eyelids and wings and lacks a nose.
  • Like recent Pac-Man titles (including recent individual re-releases of Pac-Man games and Pac-Man Museum +), several members of the Pac-Man family have been redesigned, renamed or replaced with new characters. While not officially clarified why the changes were made, it is presumed to be tied to the ongoing legal disputes surrounding the Ms. Pac-Man game.
    • Most notably, this practice includes replacing Ms. Pac-Man with "Pac-Mom", Jr. Pac-Man with "Pac-Boy", and Baby Pac-Man with "Pac-Sis". Additionally, Chomp-Chomp is referred to as Pac-Buddy; the design of "Pac-Buddy" remains mostly intact apart from proportion adjustments. Pooka and Professor Pac-Man are the only Pac-family members not renamed or replaced, though they did see minor alterations to their designs.
  • The aliens in the King Galaxian stage are redesigned to resemble their appearances in the Japanese promotional flyer for Galaxian.
• Several locations have been completely redesigned, including Pac-Man’s house and Ghost Island. Many stages now have more background detail than they did in the original game.
• Various stage visuals, layouts, items and other elements have been fully redone.
  • The appearances of the Fruits have been redesigned and now bear greater resemblance to their original Pac-Man and Pac-Man Championship Edition appearances.
    • The Magic Key now has its own design, as opposed to it being a color-cycling key.
  • Buttons now have unique designs for each color.
  • Checkpoints are now spinning checkmark buttons instead of a glowing Pac-Man icon.
  • The Goal Token is no longer golden and simply uses the Pac-Man icon.
  • Some enemies such as the Spider temporarily leave behind a corpse when defeated in the original game. In the remake, the enemy simply vanishes upon impact of the killing blow.
• The cutscene presentations are altered from the original game:
  • Spoken dialogue from all characters are replaced with gibberish vocals and accompanying subtitle text.
  • The opening cutscene has been revamped while keeping the same concept as that of the original game. The cutscene takes place entirely around Pac-Man’s house and the Ghost Gang make their appearances, discussing how they can capture Pac-Man. In addition, Pac-Man’s family members are captured differently compared to the original game. Pac-Man himself still appears at the closing part of the cutscene, but the flyer for the party at Ghost Island appears here instead of the prologue cutscene.
  • The prologue cutscene has also been completely reworked so that it takes place entirely on Ghost Island. Here, Pac-Man appears on a television footage instead of the end of the cutscene.
  • Funky does not appear in the game at all, with Inky and Clyde taking his role in the prologue and the climax respectively. For instance, Inky rushes toward Toc-Man, informing that Pac-Man has arrived at Ghost Island. In another cutscene, before the Toc-Man boss fight, Clyde announces Pac-Man to the party, which turns out to be really Toc-Man.
  • An introductory sequence has been added to each boss fight before Toc-Man, where Toc-Man himself appears and taunts Pac-Man before calling in or activating the level's boss.
  • The ending scenario now has two different endings: the standard ending from the original, and a new true ending.
    • The original ending where Pac-Man chomps Orson occurs if Pac-Man does not save all his friends before the Toc-Man fight. Following this, the ghosts free all of the family members that Pac-Man did not rescue. It then shows Pac-Man returning home to celebrate his birthday party with his family.
    • The new true ending occurs if all of Pac-Man’s friends are rescued before the Toc-Man fight. In this ending, Pac-Man forgives Orson and shakes his hand. Alongside the Pac-Family, Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde accompany Pac-Man's birthday party celebration in the ending.
• As with Pac-Man Museum +, the Original Mode (which features the original Pac-Man) now uses border art based on the Bally Midway cabinet art for the game, as opposed to the Namco Museum Vol. 1 border art, which is based on the Japanese cabinet art of the game.
• Various sound effects have been redone.
• Select songs now use their source quality versions of their soundtracks, which appeared in the Maze modes for each area in the original game. However, the majority of songs have been recomposed. While the songs remain the same, the recomposed songs feature slight differences in instrumentation compared to the originals.
  • The 1.0.2 update released on November 15, 2022 increased the audio quality of the remixed songs, including Under Pressure now re-using its original source composition. In addition, some songs' pitches were corrected.
• A new music track plays while Pac-Man is in his Mega Pac-Man form.
• A new music track plays during Pac-Man’s direct encounter with Windbag.
• The boss music silences after a boss battle level is completed. Windbag’s unique defeat fanfare is also removed.
• The game now uses source quality versions of the arcade Pac-Man sound effects (eating Pac-Dot, the Power Pellet noise, collecting fruit, etc.) as opposed to the compressed ones in the original. Sound effects originating from Ms. Pac-Man are also removed.

Misc. differences

• The game now supports up to 4 save files, compared to the original's 3 save files maximum.
• Maze Mode and Classic Mode are now accessed through Ghost Island, identified by spaces in the Pirate Ship area.
• A new "Story" area has been added to Ghost Island, where the player can replay unlocked cutscenes from the game.
• Levels are now referred to as "Episodes", with each level's respective title ending with the word "Episode".
• In the cutscene subtitles, Orson is referred to as "Toc-Man (Ghost)".
• The unlockable Outtake reel and Gallery modes from the original game have been removed.

Development and release

Development on Pac-Man World Re-Pac started in 2020, and was produced by Yuji Yoshii, who simultaneously produced Pac-Man Museum +. The planning of the Pac-Man World remake was mostly influenced by the requests of fans, who have demanded the return of Pac-Man World for several years. The production team focused on keeping the original game experience intact, while updating aspects of the game to appeal to the demands of the players.

The graphic style of Re-Pac was one of the major aspect focuses during production, which involved "creating a more modern Pac-Man design while maintaining the comic-book feel the Pac-Man universe has." Extra adjustments to stages were made, to make it easier to guide players in areas where they would get lost in the original, and to reduce frustration with controls, enemies and gimmicks. The Hover Jump and Mega Pac-Man abilities were added in an effort to "evolve the game into a more playable and entertaining modern action game."

Pac-Man World Re-Pac was first announced in a Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase presentation on June 28, 2022, with the announcement of the release for PlayStation, Xbox and Steam coming hours later.

Trivia

• Pac-Man’s pose on the box art of Re-Pac is based on the original game’s cover (with him punching while running), though it is angled differently. Blinky’s pose on the cover mimics a stock artwork pose.
• Pac-Man World Re-Pac is:
  • The first and only Pac-Man World game to be developed by Now Production.
  • The first Pac-Man World game to be developed by a Japan-based studio, as the previous development studios (Namco Hometek, Blitz Games and Smart Bomb Interactive) were based in North America and Europe respectively.
• Some of Pac-Man's idle animations in Pac-Man World Re-Pac are present in Pac-Man Museum +, though they were unused there.
  • This was originally the first evidence of Pac-Man World Re-Pac content being released publicly, with the announcement of Re-Pac coming out exactly one month following Pac-Man Museum +'s release.
  • Many contents from Pac-Man World, such as chests, were present as decorations which could be placed in the game's arcade.
  • Coincidentally, Now Production, the studio that developed Pac-Man Museum +, also developed Pac-Man World Re-Pac.
• In the United Kingdom, the physical version of Re-Pac is exclusive to the retailer "GAME". The American and Japanese versions' physical releases are not exclusive to any locations.
• Pac-Man World Re-Pac's credits sequence, like many other Bandai Namco remakes at the time, originally did not list any members of the original Pac-Man World development team when it launched. One of the lead designers for Pac-Man World, Scott Rogers, voiced disappointment that proper attribution (towards him and others) was not given.
  • A patch for the game released on November 15, 2022 added the staff of the original Pac-Man World development team and Namco Hometek to the game credits, with Scott Rogers later expressing his pleasure.
• Sour Puss, a Pac-Man family member who appeared in the original Pac-Man World in the game's cutscenes and instruction manual, is absent in Pac-Man World Re-Pac.
• In the original game's prologue cutscene, Toc-Man states he wanted a chocolate cake as opposed to the vanilla cake that the Ghosts give him. In Re-Pac, the ghosts now give him chocolate cake, so Toc-Man instead states that he wants strawberries on his cake.
• Pac-Man's Hover Jump ability makes a return in this game following the ability's debut in the Nintendo 3DS version of Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, 9 years prior.
• Along with the replacement of the Ms. Pac-Man character, many elements related to Ms. Pac-Man, such as the moving fruits in the Mazes and sound effects from the game are also removed, likely removed in conjunction with the aforementioned legal disputes around the game.
  • Despite the changes, musical motifs originating from Ms. Pac-Man are left intact with minor alterations.
• The cover art for the songs from the original Pac-Man World in the Jukebox is a reference to the Japanese box art for the original Pac-Man World.
• In November of 2023, Bandai Namco issued an online survey asking for customer feedback for Pac-Man World Re-Pac. Notably, its questions included asking participants if they would be interested in "Re-Pac" versions of Pac-Man World 2 and 3, as well as entirely new Pac-Man World games; suggesting such projects are in consideration for development.

Gallery

Artwork

Promotional artwork

Promotional artwork (vertical)

Logo

Pac-Man

"Pac-Boy" and "Pac-Mom"

Professor Pac

"Pac-Sis" and Pooka

"Pac-Buddy"

Inky and Blinky

Blinky, Inky, Clyde and Pinky

Toc-Man

GIPHY stickers

Pac-Man

"Pac-Mom"

"Pac-Boy"

"Pac-Sis"

Professor Pac

"Pac-Buddy"

Pooka

Wallpapers

Pac-Man

Pac-Man

"Pac-Mom"

"Pac-Boy"

"Pac-Sis"

Professor Pac

"Pac-Buddy"

Pooka

Pac-Man's family

Blinky

Pinky

Inky

Clyde

Toc-Man

Toc-Man and the Ghost Gang

External links

• North America website
• European website
• Japan website

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