Developer: Namco Publisher: NEC Release: 01/90 Genre: Action
Pac-Man has led an interesting life as a video game character. Common sense would say Namco should have created a direct sequel with another set of mazes to follow up such a classic game. And they did but tried really weird gimmicks to spruce up the gameplay which people did not like. So Pac-Man would explore other genres instead. Pac-Land is one of the earliest platformers ever and would inspire many of the games that would follow. But there is a reason why it is not fondly remembered outside of that fact. This is a miserable experience from beginning to end.
There were many ports of Pac-Land, from the Famicom to the Atari Lynx. The Turbo Grafx-16 version for its time was the closest to the arcade. Not that it is saying much; this was not the most complex arcade game from a technical perspective. More platformers were always welcome seeing as the system in the US suffered from a glut of shooters and awful sports games. But in this case I still think you would be better off replaying the Bonk games then settling for this one.
Although this is a platformer it keeps many of the staples of Pac-Man intact. All four ghosts serve as the primary antagonists and attack in multiple ways, be it in cars, planes, or UFOS. The crew is joined by Sue, who serves as the game’s hard time limit. Sue slowly follows Pac-Man throughout the level. Once time runs out she gains a massive speed boost and is near impossible to avoid. Power pills allow you to eat ghosts, fruit grant points, and pushing parts of the environment will reveal other items. Two in particular, keys and ships, are level specific and aid in other ways.
Pac-Land offers two control schemes, button and lever controls. I will tell you right now to switch to lever controls immediately and thank me later. The button setup uses button II to move left and button I to move right with jump relegated to Up. I cannot stress enough how unwieldy this control scheme is. Pac-Man is already slippery to control as is. Trying to navigate tight platforms while fighting to remember which button is which is essentially playing on hard mode. The lever controls are the standard platforming fare you expect and make the game playable.
In a lot of ways you can see how Pac-Land influenced Super Mario Brothers. Structurally the game is split into eight trips. Each trip has four rounds with the fourth being a reverse journey back home using boots that grant infinite jumps. Rounds cycle through a few different themes that give you an idea of what to expect. Castle levels are mazes of locked doors requiring keys to progress. These are the few stages where players will brush up against the time limit. Mountains are heavy platforming stages featuring floating clouds and revolving log bridges. Ponds are the most perilous as they feature the dreaded springboard. The game does a good job of varying its levels and becomes more complex as you progress.
Even though it was influential you can kind of see why Pac-Land is not as popular as its influence would suggest. The controls as I mentioned before are slippery. Regardless of the control scheme Pac-Man tends to slide a bit before stopping. On any of the mountain levels this is a huge detriment. The level design and certain mechanics, for as much as they try, are lacking in execution. The mechanics of using the springboards feels inconsistent and unfortunately is mandatory.
As the game ramps up it begins to require a level of precision that it cannot deliver. The difficulty is inconsistent. The first five trips are simple if a bit frustrating at times. But the last three see a significant spike that feels cheap. Enemy placement is suspect and full of gotcha moments. The unreliable spring controls will lead to many cheap deaths as well and unfortunately the game leans on it heavy toward the end. To a degree I can forgive some of the game’s faults. I can see what they were going for and as one of the first of its kind someone has to make the mistakes everyone else has to learn from. In the end the game suffers for it though.
In Closing
Pac-Land has its place in history as one of the pioneers of the genre. But that does not mean it is a good game. The weird controls hold back what would otherwise have been a decent game. Respect its place in history but do not bother playing it.
