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Review : Pac-Man Vs for Gamecube and Gameboy Advance
A couple weeks back I noticed a local game store was giving away copies of Pac-Man Vs. with preorders of Gamecube games. So I put down some cash for a future game and walked home with a copy of Pac-Man Vs.
This game started out as a techincal demo of the gameplay possibilities of using a Gameboy Advanced linked to a Nintendo Gamecube. The leganary Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to show that game developers could be using Nintendo hardware in ways that we have not seen yet. Nintendo has an allience with Namco and Sega to create the Triforce arcade hardware platform that was used in Soul Calibur 2 and F-Zero AG. So Shigeru called up the origional designer of Pac-Man at Namco and asked for permission to use their game in this new re-interpretation of Pac-Man . Namco is giving the game away with a copy of Pac-Man World 2 for Gamecube.
In order to play this game you need two to four players, a Gameboy Advance, a GBA to GC link cable and a Gamecube. One player is going to control Pac-Man using the Gameboy Advance in a somewhat normal 2d version of Pac-man. The other players play as a ghost who are seaking to eat Pac-Man but only get to see a very limited section of the maze. The player who controls the ghost that finally gets Pac-Man gets to take the Gameboy Advance and play as Pac-man and start racking up points. The game continues until a player reaches a high score point goal.
The graphics on the 3d Gamecube maze is pretty good while the gameplay is a hybrid multiplayer party game that uses the classic game well. Mario provides a running commentary on the game and he can get pretty anoying at times.
This game is impossible to play with one person but it is a freaking blast to play. I hope that we see more innovative uses of the GBA and Gamecube link. I can't wait to get Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals and play with BBQ. The GBA is a big advantage that Nintendo has over Sony and Microsoft and I am sure that we will see new game possibilities like this.
Next time we have four dorks around the Gamecube I plan on breaking out this game.
Jake at January 21, 2004 
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Comments
I find most uses of the GBA/GameCube connectivity to be really lame. Pac-Man Vs. is one of the exceptions...FFCC is not. I played FFCC at E3, and found having to look down every few seconds really annoying. Same with Zelda: The Four Swords.
I never really used the VMU on the Dreamcast either, so maybe I'm just conditioned not to like these things.
Posted by: jason at January 22, 2004 7:06 AM
I thought the Sega VMU was pretty cool even if it had battery issues. I thought that US Playstation gamers got a bit shafted because they never brought out the Sony PocketStation to the US.
Now I think that the island mini game in Animal Crossing and the GBA was brilliant just like how you can use the GBA to design tile patterns.
Also the GBA to GC link for the new Sims Game is pretty interesting if you were into those games but the damn raising Chao in Sonic games has gotten really freaking annoying.
Posted by: Jake at January 22, 2004 9:04 AM
I have to say that the GBA's use in Animal Crossing was cool, and I am interested in this Pac Man experiment. I don't think I'd be able to rally three other people to play Pac Man though.
Posted by: Trapp at February 1, 2004 6:38 PM
It is addictive. I think the one thing that is missing from Pac-Man is the compedative edge. This game has is so it is sort of like Pac-Man multiplayer death match. If Nintendo would have gotten off their asses and actually put together an online gameplay developers kit we would see a whole bunch of games like this.
Posted by: Jake at February 1, 2004 8:51 PM
I was disappointed with the http://jakkstvgames.com/namco.html
Version of Pac-man. It has only one maze
and hence severely crippled.
Does anyone know if the upcoming release of Ms. Pac-man for the summer of 03
will have the complete set of mazes?
I feel that even at the low price paid that I was ripped off with an
inferior product,
Mark
Posted by: Mark at March 19, 2004 3:05 PM
I don't know. But I would recommended getting the Namco Museum for PS2, Xbox or Gamecube for a 100% legit version of both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.
Posted by: Jake at March 19, 2004 3:24 PM
