Ms pacman review!Hey guys, it's Razor-987 here with another classic game review, today I will be reviewing Ms pacman! The game and concept itself is much like that of regular pacman, but there are some slight changes and differences that give distinction to this game. This game was released in arcades in 1983 and was then released for the gen later on while spreading to various other platforms. Now without further delay, onto the review!
Gameplay:
I am just going to talk about the relatively simple gameplay in this game before I really dive into detail with anything else. All you do is eat all of the dots in each maze to get points and with each stage that you successfully get through, the ghosts become a little faster and a little trickier to avoid and out maneuver, and the span of time that the power pellets get shorter in the amount of time you have to eat the ghosts. Each stage has a fruit item in the middle which you eat and then get points for, they can range in value from 100 to as much as 5,000 points depending on the level. As always, if you find yourself in a tight spot, you can always use one of the power pellets in each of the 4 corners of the maze. Whatever you decide to do when they are running away is totally your call, you can choose to eat them and get up to 1,600 points, or you can finish the maze by taking advantage of them in this form. As always though, it is important to keep note that the ghosts will get faster with each level you complete. This game has an incredible 256 levels if you are feeling lucky enough to try and go through them all and set a record! Then there is two player mode which is basically just competing to get the higher score once both players have lost all their lives. Pretty simple as far as gameplay goes. Now onto the review!
Graphics: 6
This game came out int he early 80s and the graphics are rather simple, Ms pacman looks the same as regular pacman but she has a bow on her head as well as some red lipstick which sets her apart from the good ol' pacman we know. As far as the stage goes, they are also a lot like regular pacman, but instead of 1 tunnel that runs through the maze, there are 2 sets which can really come in handy for trying to get a ghost off of your tail at the last second. I like the stages better than in regular pacman because they really provide more hiding spots and it is easier to escape the reach of the ghosts if you find yourself in a tight spot, nevertheless though, the design is still the same and you still have to collect dots and complete the maze. Overall, the graphics of this game are rather simple and basic and there isn't really much more to them because they are basically the same every single round and they don't really alternate, plus this was one of the first video games in the early 80s, so the graphics are at the very beginning in simplicity, because of this I scored them a 6 because they are pretty basic and there really isn't anything extremely special or different that would motivate me to give it a higher score.
Sound: 4
As far as the overall sound for this game goes, there just really isn't much to it, the only real sound is just Ms pacman waka waka waka munching through all of the dots in the maze and then there is the occasional bloop sound whenever you eat the fruit or when you get the power pellet and hear the few little seconds of the little fast paced music that follows when the ghosts run away from you. Aside from the actual in game sound, there are the sounds and music in between the game levels which play out in a mini story that lasts for a few seconds, so other than that, there really isn't much tot talk about as far as sound and music goes in this game. I really think that sound and game music are both very important factors in a game because they are catchy and they motivate you to play with their little tunes, so if there isn't really any music, it doesn't add anything to spice up the game and is one less reason to play it. So in the end I think there is a lot of room for improvement and they could've added some catchy music in each of the levels in the game, even if it is repetitive, it is still better than listening to waka waka waka all day long. Because of the lack of sound and music in this game I left it at a 4 because even with the little sounds and music it does have, it is rather simple and it only lasts for a few seconds.
Addictiveness: 4
You might be shocked with the score I have given for the addictiveness when you compare it to other arcade games I have rated in the past, but I've realized with most arcade games that they aren't really as addictive because you aren't really getting that much out of it other than just a high score at the top of a list,it varies with each arcade game though because some are different and varied and you actually might go on adventure through different levels rather than just do the same thing over and over again with just increased difficulty. Some of you may disagree with the addictiveness of this game, it all really depends on the kind of player you are, if you are the kind of person who is determined to beat your high score, than you are more likely to play through this game a bit more compared to someone who might just play it once or twice and then get bored and move on. Compared to the games of today, this game probably isn't played nearly as much and probably isn't as addicting as games like modern warfare and madden and zombies and whatnot, but back in the time it was made in the 80s, it was more addicting since it was at the arcade and it only cost a quarter or two to play, but by today's standards, this game isn't all that addicting to me, but it might be more so for you, it all depends on the kind of player you are, but going in accordance to I felt about the game, I scored it a 4, it is a simple game that is basically the same thing every level but it gets a little more challenging, so after a while you might just get bored of it which is why I scored it lower.
Story: N/A
There is no story to this game whatsoever, you just chomp some dots throughout the entire maze and you have to finish it in order to move on to the next level, it's that simple and there really isn't much to it. So the story that you would find in most games is replaced with a simple objective in this game. This game would be drastically different if it had a plot or storyline to go with it, meaning that there would be a variation in how you progress through the game rather than just go through the same thing each and every level. Nevertheless, this game lacks any form or trace of a plot.
Depth: 4
This game is rather simple as I have said before and it does get significantly harder with each level you go through. It is rather repetitive and might start to get boring or drag on after a while. On the flip side however there are 256 levels you can go through so, if you are really looking to challenge yourself, that is the way to go, I have enough trouble getting through level 10 because the ghosts are more evasive and faster, so imagine what it must be like in difficulty 200+ more levels down the road. I would say that the most fun thing would probably be to play it with a buddy and compete for a higher score, that is what I would do to get the most out of this game, but you can do what you will with this game. Overall I scored the game a 4 in depth because other than a lot of levels, there is no storyline, very little sound and not really a variety of things to do other than just finish each level, so there isn't a lot of motivation or reason to keep playing the game. It might be a simple game you can have fun with and pick up and play every once in a while, but I don't really think it is a game you will play every day, so the depth really depends on your interests and if this game is appealing to you. But according to me I scored it a neutral-ish score of 4 and left it at that because there are a lot of other games I could play instead, but this game is still a fun play every once in a while even though it doesn't offer all that much aside from increasingly challenging levels.
Difficulty: 5
As for actual difficulty in the game, it starts off pretty easy and then gets progressively harder as you make it through each level like most arcade games do, for instance, the ghosts are more evasive and start to move a lot faster, and the power pellets in the 4 corners don't have as long an effect the higher the level you are in the game, they may last all of 5 which is a good thing because it wouldn't be fun if it immediately started off hard because you would be discouraged from playing any further, that is basically the one really hard thing in this game because the objective and the controls are both relatively easy. So this game isn't hard to follow and you don't need to be an expert to be able to pick up on this game and do well, sure it might get challenging in the later levels, but that is expected to happen with almost every arcade game and that is what makes it both fun and challenging as well as interesting. So don't be frustrated and rage quit if you think it is super difficult, the more you play, the better you will be at it overall, so don't be discouraged.
Controls:
Control wise the game is pretty simple, you just use the 4 arrow keys or W,A,S,D to move in all directions to eat the dots. So most of the difficulty of this game was contributed by the difficulty increase with each level rather than the controls. That is why I left it at a score of 5, but you may fine it either a lot easier if you are a really good player, or you might find it difficult if you are a beginner. Nevertheless, it is still rather easy to pick up on and get the hang of, so don't let that keep you from at least trying!
Overall: 8
Overall I enjoyed playing this classic little arcade game despite its simplicity and I did have a good time with it. While it may not be extremely popular or commonly played a lot in today's times, I still think that classic games are some of the best because they are what truly started and contributed to the evolution of video games into what we are so interested in nowadays, so it is really simple little games like this that we take for granted that started all of the video games that we know today. So I think that if you are a classic gamer or just one for the old school stuff, this is the game for you to play. I had a great time playing this game and I hope that you are willing to give it a shot and get some much needed payback on those ghosts!
So what did you think of my review? Please feel free to comment and provide constructive and insightful feedback/ criticism on my review so that I can become a better reviewer and become more motivated to improve on my writing. Hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!
Graphics
6 Sound
4 Addictive
4 Depth
4 Difficulty
5