Pac-Man World 2
Encyclopedia
is a video game by Namco
for Xbox
, GameCube
, PlayStation 2
, Game Boy Advance
, and PC
released in . Like the original Pac-Man World
, the player controls the character of Pac-Man
in a 3D platform game.
mazes in six different environments. The plot involves Pac-Man finding five golden fruits that were stolen by ghosts. These fruits were vital to his town. Pac-Man sometimes must fight and defeat enemies in order to progress. At the end of each area is a boss
. The boss is always a ghost in a giant machine (the fifth machine holds all four ghosts), excluding the final boss. There are many items to collect in this game including fruit, the traditional dots, and tokens. Each of the levels has eight tokens, as well as a single bonus token for achieving 100% completion on the level and another bonus token for completing the time trial. Because there are 19 non-boss levels, and because the Pac-Village doesn't have a time trial, you will have beat every part of the game with 100% completion except for possibly the last level if you accumulate 189 tokens. Galaxians, which show up once in most non-boss levels, transport Pac-Man into a 3-D maze, akin to the classic arcade games. Not all levels contain all of the collectible items, nor do they contain the same number of each.
The tokens unlock old Pac-Man incarnations in the arcade in Pac-Village. Critics have described these games as "perfect emulations
". These unlockable "emulations" are Pac-Man
, Pac-Attack
(The updated version from the Japan
ese Namco Anthology 2
), Pac-Mania
, and Ms. Pac-Man
, unlockable in that order. Also unlockable is a jukebox, which enables the player to listen to music from the game, as well as a gallery of concept art. However, the GBA
version doesn't have any arcade games, even though it lists them in its copyrights when loaded.
. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions each have an average score of 68.2%. The GameCube version became a Player's Choice
title, the PlayStation 2 version became a Greatest Hits title and the Xbox version became a Platinum Hits title. The game also has a score of 8.0 on Gamespot
for the PS2 version, a 7.9 for the Gamecube version, and a 7.5 for the Xbox version. The game has been criticized for its camera system, but praised for its musical score.
The Player's Choice edition of the GameCube version included Pac-Man Vs.
as a bonus pack-in. In 2008, Pac-Man World 2, along with Pac-Man World 3
, and Pac-Man World Rally
, were released in a 3-pack called "Pac-Man Power Pack" for the PlayStation 2
.
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
for Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, and PC
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
released in . Like the original Pac-Man World
Pac-Man World
was released on the 20th anniversary of the creation of Pac-Man. It is a 3D based free roaming platform game for the PlayStation released on September 30, 1999...
, the player controls the character of Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
in a 3D platform game.
Story
Long ago, back in medieval times, an evil spirit known as Spooky had terrorized all of Pac-Land. In response to this, the great Wizard Pac created a potion that turned 5 ordinary fruit into the "Golden Fruit." A young knight called Sir Pac-alot fought and sealed Spooky underneath a large tree using the Golden Fruit, which were attached to the branches of the tree. In the present time late at night, Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde sneak into the village and, in their mischief, pick the Golden Fruit off the tree in the center of town. Unfortunately, this has released Spooky from his prison. Spooky tells the ghosts to take the Golden Fruit and follow him if they wish to rid the land of the Pac-people forever. When Pac-Man awakes, he hears the news from Professor Pac about the Golden Fruit and Spooky, and sets off to defeat the ghosts and Spooky.Gameplay
The player controls Pac-Man in a 3D environment along a linear, yet three-dimensional path with the simple objective of reaching the end. The game has twenty-five levels and sixteen GalaxianGalaxian
is an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed...
mazes in six different environments. The plot involves Pac-Man finding five golden fruits that were stolen by ghosts. These fruits were vital to his town. Pac-Man sometimes must fight and defeat enemies in order to progress. At the end of each area is a boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
. The boss is always a ghost in a giant machine (the fifth machine holds all four ghosts), excluding the final boss. There are many items to collect in this game including fruit, the traditional dots, and tokens. Each of the levels has eight tokens, as well as a single bonus token for achieving 100% completion on the level and another bonus token for completing the time trial. Because there are 19 non-boss levels, and because the Pac-Village doesn't have a time trial, you will have beat every part of the game with 100% completion except for possibly the last level if you accumulate 189 tokens. Galaxians, which show up once in most non-boss levels, transport Pac-Man into a 3-D maze, akin to the classic arcade games. Not all levels contain all of the collectible items, nor do they contain the same number of each.
The tokens unlock old Pac-Man incarnations in the arcade in Pac-Village. Critics have described these games as "perfect emulations
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
". These unlockable "emulations" are Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
, Pac-Attack
Pac-Attack
is a puzzle game in the vein of Columns and Dr. Mario. It was adapted from Cosmo Gang the Puzzle, an arcade game released in the previous year.Released by Namco, it features Pac-Man as the main playing pieces, with the Ghosts and blocks as obstacles....
(The updated version from the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Namco Anthology 2
Namco Anthology
Namco Anthology is a two disc series of game compilations for PlayStation that have only been released in Japan in 1998. They are similar to the Namco Museum series except that the Anthology collections include games that have been developed on consoles originally...
), Pac-Mania
Pac-Mania
is an arcade video game in the Pac-Man series, released by Namco in 1987 and distributed by Atari Games in the United States and Europe. It is a pseudo-3D interpretation of the classic maze game genre using an isometric view and features most elements of the original Pac-Man, as well as several new...
, and Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licensor Namco as an official title...
, unlockable in that order. Also unlockable is a jukebox, which enables the player to listen to music from the game, as well as a gallery of concept art. However, the GBA
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
version doesn't have any arcade games, even though it lists them in its copyrights when loaded.
Time trials
After completing any non-boss level, the player can attempt a time trial. The goal is to work through the level as quickly as possible after hitting the stopwatch at the beginning. Various clocks have been scattered throughout the level where items used to be. Collecting these clocks allows the player to recover the indicated number of seconds by stopping the clock; however, time clocks will not accumulate, sometimes making it better to skip a "2" clock less than two seconds after hitting a "4" clock. Unlike the standard game mode, the player must start the level over from the beginning if Pac-Man dies at any point in the time trial.Reception
The GameCube version of Pac-Man World 2 has an average score of 74% on Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions each have an average score of 68.2%. The GameCube version became a Player's Choice
Player's Choice
Nintendo Selects is a marketing label used by Nintendo to promote video games on Nintendo game consoles which have sold well; Nintendo Selects titles are sold at a lower price point than other games...
title, the PlayStation 2 version became a Greatest Hits title and the Xbox version became a Platinum Hits title. The game also has a score of 8.0 on Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
for the PS2 version, a 7.9 for the Gamecube version, and a 7.5 for the Xbox version. The game has been criticized for its camera system, but praised for its musical score.
The Player's Choice edition of the GameCube version included Pac-Man Vs.
Pac-Man Vs.
is a Pac-Man video game originally designed exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube that was included as an extra bonus disc with the Player's Choice edition of Pac-Man World 2...
as a bonus pack-in. In 2008, Pac-Man World 2, along with Pac-Man World 3
Pac-Man World 3
is a video game that was released on November 15, 2005 in North America for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and PC. It is the third game in the Pac-Man World series. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the Pac-Man arcade game. This game features more...
, and Pac-Man World Rally
Pac-Man World Rally
Pac-Man World Rally, is a kart racing game in the Pac-Man's series. It is developed by Namco Bandai Games, and released in August 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows...
, were released in a 3-pack called "Pac-Man Power Pack" for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
.
Music
The music composed for this game is lighthearted, save for some epic boss battle scores. Pac-Man World 2's music score is composed by David Logan Music, inc. For their website click hereExternal links
- Official Pac-Man World 2 website
- Pac-Man World 2 at GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
- Pac-Man World 2 at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
- Versions of Pac-Man game