bit-tech Shopping: Namco Bandai Pac-Man World Rally for Sony PSP

Rating: 6

Time with product:

Strengths: Better than expected racing game featuring Pac Man and other Namco characters

Weaknesses: The bar is not set high for "kart" games other than Mario's - like all the others, this one pales in comparison to Mario Kart

Summary: Pac-Man World Rally is a typical kart racing game featuring a cast of characters from a particular publisher - this time Namco. The game is better than others in the genre (like the Shrek racing game) but still pales in comparison with the long-running champ, Mario Kart. They do manage to work the actual elements of Pac-Man into the gameplay, however, which adds a little twist. Eat enough pac-dots and the other racers will turn into ghosts that you can munch. The classic fruit bonuses from the original arcade game are here - they open up shortcuts. Besides the various Pac-Man characters there are others from Namco's stable including the Prince from Katamari Damacy. To fans of that game, this might be worth checking out just for that. All in all, this is not a game I would put high on any sort of top games list, but it is more enjoyable than you might expect.