Pac-in-Time (SNES) Quick Review
All right so now we go back in time with Pac-In-Time. This title on the SNES was the first time that the Pac-Man series took on a non-arcade style and (for this one) switched to a side-scrolling adventure. Pac has been forced back in time to his younger days in 1975 by his nemesis the Ghost Witch and must battle his way back to the present day. We've seen this a lot with the older classic games, getting remodelled into a different style of gameplay. Can Pac-In-Time hold the previous standards of the iconic game series? Only one way to find out.
The Good
- Maintains The Original Source. In the original games you guided Pac around different mazes, collecting all the pellets in a stage to move on to the next one, all the while avoiding the ghosts and collecting pieces of fruit for bonus points. Pac-In-Time keeps the mechanic of the game pretty much the same, just in a side-scroll setting. You still have to collect all the pellets in a stage, you still have to avoid the ghosts, but now you have a few other enemies to contend with and different abilities you can gain in each stage.
- Improved Graphics. This game looks gorgeous, especially when you consider where it began. Just a top down view of a maze with minimal colors and details, and now you get these snowy and woody areas to traverse through.
The Bad
- Small Items. In each stage there is usually a door that you have to get through, and can only do so with a key. The issue is in some stages, the keys blend into the environment because they're so small. In just the second stage, I ended up restarting the game because I thought I did something wrong and got myself stuck in an impossible situation in the game. Come to find out, I just needed a key, and I found it by complete accident after I'd restarted. Not a common issue in the game, but annoying when it does happen.
- Ability Jump Rings. So as I mentioned above, there are different abilities you can earn through each stage. These are a rope you can shoot to the ceiling to swing from, shooting fireballs, swimming underwater, and an axe that you can use to chop through wooden platforms to gain access to lower areas. The issue, is gaining the abilities themselves. You do this by jumping through colored rings you can find in the stage, but the rings are actual physical walls unless you jump directly through the center (it's not as easy as you'd think either). So you might spend a literal minute or two trying to jump through a ring, only to find yourself hitting the bottom or top of the rings and falling backwards, or even landing completely on top of the ring standing on top of it.
Is it Worth it?
Despite the few faults of this one, it's still a lot of fun and most definitely worth a play or two. It brings a completely new spin on the series, and it works very well. I especially like that they keep the mechanic of collecting all the pellets to beat the level, and that you even have power pellets for dealing with the pesky ghosts. In the end, this new spin on Pac-Man is worth some attention. You can find a loose cartridge for a little over $10, and unless you're a collector you're not going to concern yourself with the CIB copy which clocks in around $60.
- Maintains The Original Source. In the original games you guided Pac around different mazes, collecting all the pellets in a stage to move on to the next one, all the while avoiding the ghosts and collecting pieces of fruit for bonus points. Pac-In-Time keeps the mechanic of the game pretty much the same, just in a side-scroll setting. You still have to collect all the pellets in a stage, you still have to avoid the ghosts, but now you have a few other enemies to contend with and different abilities you can gain in each stage.
- Improved Graphics. This game looks gorgeous, especially when you consider where it began. Just a top down view of a maze with minimal colors and details, and now you get these snowy and woody areas to traverse through.
The Bad
- Small Items. In each stage there is usually a door that you have to get through, and can only do so with a key. The issue is in some stages, the keys blend into the environment because they're so small. In just the second stage, I ended up restarting the game because I thought I did something wrong and got myself stuck in an impossible situation in the game. Come to find out, I just needed a key, and I found it by complete accident after I'd restarted. Not a common issue in the game, but annoying when it does happen.
- Ability Jump Rings. So as I mentioned above, there are different abilities you can earn through each stage. These are a rope you can shoot to the ceiling to swing from, shooting fireballs, swimming underwater, and an axe that you can use to chop through wooden platforms to gain access to lower areas. The issue, is gaining the abilities themselves. You do this by jumping through colored rings you can find in the stage, but the rings are actual physical walls unless you jump directly through the center (it's not as easy as you'd think either). So you might spend a literal minute or two trying to jump through a ring, only to find yourself hitting the bottom or top of the rings and falling backwards, or even landing completely on top of the ring standing on top of it.
Is it Worth it?
Despite the few faults of this one, it's still a lot of fun and most definitely worth a play or two. It brings a completely new spin on the series, and it works very well. I especially like that they keep the mechanic of collecting all the pellets to beat the level, and that you even have power pellets for dealing with the pesky ghosts. In the end, this new spin on Pac-Man is worth some attention. You can find a loose cartridge for a little over $10, and unless you're a collector you're not going to concern yourself with the CIB copy which clocks in around $60.
