Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX Out Now! Ghost ridin' the train! 10/10 at IGN!

RainbowDespair

So I'm pretty pleased. Tonight, I successfully managed to play the highest scoring game of Pac-Man: Championship Edition in the world with a score of over 992k in Extra Mode 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MABIJNYsQ9k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMp0jzVazAE

So what is Pac-Man: Championship Edition? Pac-Man: Championship Edition is quite possibly the greatest XBox 360 game of all time. My word not good enough for you? How about Tycho's?

If Pac-Man CE remains on Live Arcade only it will be a criminal act, and I will work to bring these evil men to justice. I downloaded the demo expecting disposable content, consistent with the necrophilia on display elsewhere in the classic coin-op section. After one round, this demo I grabbed explicitly to revile had become a sale, and a week later it is an obsession and perhaps even a lifestyle.

It's in Widescreen, and it has a slick look, but what it really does is segment the maze into two distinct "boards." In strategy games, you often play through classical scenarios, and this has a similar feel: each side of the map can have its own maze, and its own arrangement of dots to consume. It may be full of dots, or dots may be sparse. There may be no "Power Pills" to drive back ravening spectres. Every time you complete a side, the classic fruit appears which can both replenish it and radically alter the maze. If you are caught, there is a slight pause before you return in the same location, so the game never really stops. Each mode is time limited, which I've heard complaints about - it would be nice to have an option to play perpetually, to play forever if possible - to play until the Earth is a lifeless ball of ice. I don't mind it. It just emphasizes a different style of play, reinforcing the already manic drama of hunger and pursuit.

It's absolutely critical that you grab the demo, at the very least. You'll be surprised by its vitality and relevance.

Pac-Man:CE may look about the same as the original at first glance, but first looks can be deceptive. The game is still simple accessible fun, but by making a few key changes, it's also added levels of depth for those who really want to get into it. It's no longer a defensive game, but rather an offensive one: your chief enemy is not the ghosts but the timer and your true goal is to play as efficiently as possible rather than merely stay alive.

Anyway, I thought some people would be interested in seeing my victory videos and I'm all up for discussing the game and strategies.

DoctorArch

May I say, well done.

DeathPrawn

*golf clap*

Color me very impressed.

RichardTauber

Came bundled with the 360 arcade and I booted it up, realized it was still just Pacman and turned it off.

Raiden333

Fucking congrats, man

Feral

Those are some skills, of the kind that pay the bills.

LBD_Nytetrayn

Wicked. I know when I'm beat.

RainbowDespair

Feral wrote: »

Those are some skills, of the kind that pay the bills.

If only.

hyperpower

Well done man, that is awesome
I wish I had those kind of Pac Man skills

Roland_tHTG

Very nice.

Reminds me of when my grandfather figured out the ghosts routes on the Atari 2600 and could literally play it indefinitely.

Ah_Pook

RichardTauber wrote: »

Came bundled with the 360 arcade and I booted it up, realized it was still just Pacman and turned it off.

i wish i could hate you to death.




anyway congrats rainbow, that shit is ridiculous. i wish this game would come out on steam or something, i want to play it every day of my life.

Lunker

Still one of my favorite games on XBLA. Good show, old bean! My paltry high score still sits at about 330k.

RichardTauber wrote: »

Came bundled with the 360 arcade and I booted it up, realized it was still just Pacman and turned it off.

If you like simple-but-complex games, I would recommend going back. Spending more than five minutes with the game (or exactly five minutes, actually) will show you how different it really is.

Like Rainbow mentioned, superficially it looks like Pac-Man, and the core mechanics are roughly the same—eat pellets, avoid ghosts. But by making it a score attack with limited time, it's less about "How long can I survive?" and more about "How efficiently can I make use of every precious second I have?" And the way the game's speed throttles up depending on how well you're doing, the pacing and speed is always perfect. You can still set the low bar and see if you can just survive the time limit, which is pretty easy on any of the game's modes, but for gamers who want a challenge, spending a few moments to figure out how the game's mechanics work are really rewarding. You have to be the kind of guy who likes gunning for high score, though.

cloudeagle

I'll agree... I was pretty skeptical on this game for the longest time, but when I finally played it I was sucked in by the survival nature of the game, the constant need to "unlock" more dots and the mutating maze.

Rex Dart

RichardTauber wrote: »

Came bundled with the 360 arcade and I booted it up, realized it was still just Pacman and turned it off.

Whereas I bought the 360 arcade partly because it came bundled with Pacman CE.

chamberlain

Holy shit, dude.

I suppose I should redownload this now.

RainbowDespair

Roland_tHTG wrote: »

Very nice.

Reminds me of when my grandfather figured out the ghosts routes on the Atari 2600 and could literally play it indefinitely.

That brings up an interesting difference between the two games: in Pac-Man:CE since the level is constantly changing, the ghosts don't really have any set routes like they did in the original. However, they do have AI that you can learn with experience. Their basic AI is as follows:

Red - The rusher, this ghost just goes straight at you. One useful thing is that it tends to prioritize horizontal movement over vertical movement if you're diagonal from it which can be used to coax it through the warp paths on the sides.

Pink - This is the smartest AI of the lot. It'll chase you, but it also tries to ambush you as well. More than any other ghost, I try to always be aware of where pink is on the board.

Orange - The random ghost. If it looks like you're trapped, Orange is your best best for escape since it's the most likely to switch directions away from you.

Blue - The confusing ghost. One theory is that this ghost has AI that rotates between the different ghost types. It's random, but not as random as orange.

Snare

That was so awesome to watch, gz Rainbow!

Brainiac 8

Congrats dude. I absolutely love this game, it was one of my first purchases when I bought my 360 last year.

I'm sitting at around 450k or so....so yea, your score blows me away.

Dodge Aspen

Rex Dart wrote: »

RichardTauber wrote: »

Came bundled with the 360 arcade and I booted it up, realized it was still just Pacman and turned it off.

Whereas I bought the 360 arcade partly because it came bundled with Pacman CE.

Ditto. I somehow justified the lack of a harddrive with "But it comes with Pacman: CE!" I do wish you could turn off the timer, but still, this shit is so fucking good.

DeathPrawn

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Roland_tHTG wrote: »

Very nice.

Reminds me of when my grandfather figured out the ghosts routes on the Atari 2600 and could literally play it indefinitely.

That brings up an interesting difference between the two games: in Pac-Man:CE since the level is constantly changing, the ghosts don't really have any set routes like they did in the original. However, they do have AI that you can learn with experience. Their basic AI is as follows:

Red - The rusher, this ghost just goes straight at you. One useful thing is that it tends to prioritize horizontal movement over vertical movement if you're diagonal from it which can be used to coax it through the warp paths on the sides.

Pink - This is the smartest AI of the lot. It'll chase you, but it also tries to ambush you as well. More than any other ghost, I try to always be aware of where pink is on the board.

Orange - The random ghost. If it looks like you're trapped, Orange is your best best for escape since it's the most likely to switch directions away from you.

Blue - The confusing ghost. One theory is that this ghost has AI that rotates between the different ghost types. It's random, but not as random as orange.

I'm almost certain that's the way the ghosts acted in regular old Pac-Man. If not the original, DEFINITELY in Ms. Pac-Man.

RainbowDespair

So I'm reviving this thread because Pac-Man: Championship Edition has just come out on the iPhone. Early reviews are very positive:

http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/pac-man-championship-edition-review
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9012929

From the sound of things, there's a ton more content here than there was on the XBox 360 version. On the downside, there are no global leaderboards.

Also, Pac-Man: CE was announced as a PSP Mini a while back so I'm guessing the PSP version will be similar in content to the iPhone version (hopefully, there'll be leaderboards there).

Cantido

I haven't beaten my score in over a year. I'll never hit 400k.

This game needs more non-gimmicky maps. Name a fun-buck price.

RainbowDespair

I beat my Extra Mode 2 score by a nice bit just a few days ago putting in my #2 on the leaderboard there. I got a nice new opening start that works for me well so I think I might be able to nab #1 with a little luck.

I'd really like to play the iPhone version but no iPhone for me. I do own a PSP though so I'm hoping it shows up on PSP Minis in time for Christmas.

Lunker

RainbowDespair just bumped his thread to puff up his e-peen a little more. And rightfully so, because that shit is amazing to behold!

The iPhone version is adequate, but definitely not a replacement for the XBLA version. As an on-the-go fix, it's great, though—right now I think it's still $2.99, and they say it's a temporary sale price just for a few days after launch, but I would be surprised if it ever goes for more than $3.99. Because then they want to sell you the DLC pack, which is $3.99 on top of the base game, but the base game is plenty for me right now.

For reference, the XBLA version, at $10, included six different Championship boards. The iPhone base game includes 5 Championship boards (which are similar but not exactly the same as the XBLA modes; the maze spawns are slightly different), and 20 different Mission boards, which seem to be both a tutorial and bite-sized missions, like "eat four fruits in 90 seconds" and such. I've only toyed with missions for a few minutes, but they seem to range from 15 to 90 seconds. The expansion pack unlocks an additional 10 Championship boards, 100 (!) Mission boards and some number of Challenge boards, the last of which I have no idea what they are, but rest assured the base pack is roughly equivalent to the XBLA version in terms of value and content.

The main sticking point is the controls—obviously not as precise as an analog stick, but it includes four different types of controls. I actually like Control 2 the best, which is four big-ass D-pad buttons on the bottom of the screen. I would wager that this would play worlds better on the PSP with its D-pad, but as far as iPhone games go the controls on Pac-Man CE are pretty solid.

The iPhone version has gotten me back into tinkering around with the XBLA version, but I still can't best my old score of 330k in the main Championship mode. Still the greatest XBLA game of '07, and now one of my favorite iPhone games of '09.

SilentCoconut

Pac-Man: Championship Edition and Space Invaders Infinity Gene are stunning examples of how to make classic arcade games relevant again, and I really wish modern attempts at reimagining games like Galaga had gone as well. If those two were actual arcade units, you can bet I'd blow a ton of quarters in them. Might actually be able to get my friends to give them a try that way, too.

(Space Invaders Extreme was pretty good too, but Infinity Gene blows it out of the water.)

LBD_Nytetrayn

I wish Midway might have taken the Pac-Man: CE/Galaga Legions approach to some of their old games, like Joust. And maybe Spy Hunter.

In the meantime, Namco should make something else in the mold. What kind of mileage can we get out of Dig Dug, do you think?

Lunker

SilentCoconut wrote: »

Pac-Man: Championship Edition and Space Invaders Infinity Gene are stunning examples of how to make classic arcade games relevant again, and I really wish modern attempts at reimagining games like Galaga had gone as well. If those two were actual arcade units, you can bet I'd blow a ton of quarters in them. Might actually be able to get my friends to give them a try that way, too.

(Space Invaders Extreme was pretty good too, but Infinity Gene blows it out of the water.)

Infinity Gene is so brilliant. <3 It killed any interest I had in Extreme 2, and at a quarter of the price to boot.

I didn't dislike Galaga Legions, but something about it just didn't click with me—it became a much more strategic-placement kind of game, though I suppose when you think about it the original Galaga was also all about memorizing enemy wave patterns and anticipating them.

Bartholamue

LBD_Nytetrayn wrote: »

I wish Midway might have taken the Pac-Man: CE/Galaga Legions approach to some of their old games, like Joust. And maybe Spy Hunter.

In the meantime, Namco should make something else in the mold. What kind of mileage can we get out of Dig Dug, do you think?

Is Midway even around anymore? I thought they went bankrupt.

LBD_Nytetrayn

Bought by Warner Bros., got renamed as part of their Interactive division. Guess they really liked MK vs. DC Universe.

Anyway, I was referring to a past tense, before everything went down in smoke and flames. Despite where they went in later years, I have a soft, sentimental spot for their earlier works. I still want to get the GameCube versions of Arcade Treasures Volumes 2 and 3.

UnbreakableVow

I love this game. Seeing this on the front page spurred me to play it last night.

I'll never get anywhere even close to those kinds of scores, but I got all the Achievements so for now, beating my own scores is good enough for me!

I feel like I should play Space Invaders Extreme, but I'm wondering if the update would be lost on me, as I've never played Space Invaders.

Rex Dart

Okay, I had been planning to purchase Space Invaders Extreme, until I saw that Extreme Space Invaders 2 had been released. Which was better? Which was more extreme? I resolved to look into it and buy the game later.

Now I check this topic and hear something about an Infinity Gene? That also sounds pretty extreme. I now realize I'm in over my head.

Could anyone give me a quick rundown on where I can purchase the most extreme of Space Invaders?

cloudeagle

Rex Dart wrote: »

Okay, I had been planning to purchase Space Invaders Extreme, until I saw that Extreme Space Invaders 2 had been released. Which was better? Which was more extreme? I resolved to look into it and buy the game later.

Now I check this topic and hear something about an Infinity Gene? That also sounds pretty extreme. I now realize I'm in over my head.

Could anyone give me a quick rundown on where I can purchase the most extreme of Space Invaders?

Both the Extremes are okay, but Infinity Gene will absolutely blow your mind. There's no question which one you should get.

Lunker

Rex Dart wrote: »

Okay, I had been planning to purchase Space Invaders Extreme, until I saw that Extreme Space Invaders 2 had been released. Which was better? Which was more extreme? I resolved to look into it and buy the game later.

Now I check this topic and hear something about an Infinity Gene? That also sounds pretty extreme. I now realize I'm in over my head.

Could anyone give me a quick rundown on where I can purchase the most extreme of Space Invaders?

Infinity Gene is an iPhone game; Extreme is on DS, PSP and XBLA; Extreme 2 is ... I want to say DS only, but I'm not sure on that. So it'll depend on what platforms you have available. I looooove Infinity Gene, mostly because you can use your own music to create custom levels. It's also way more frantic and bullet hell-ish of a shmup, whereas Extreme is almost Rez-like with its sounds and music synchronization.

Allforce

Whats your guys take on Galaga Legions? I felt like Legions was just as good an "update" to Galaga as CE was to PacMan. It gets so hard but I have a buddy who can almost Zen those boards, barely moving and just using his remotes to wipe out entire waves before they even get fully on the screen.

Never really hear many people praise it but it's one of my favorite XBLA games along with Pac Man CE.

Now give me a Q-Bert update like CE or Legions! You know it'd be awesome.

RainbowDespair

I've enjoyed what I've played of Legions, but it had the misfortune of coming out during the first Summer of XBLA so I was so busy playing Geo Wars 2, Castle Crashers, and Braid. By the time I had finished those games, Galaga Legions had lost that new game air and so I never really got back to it.

LBD_Nytetrayn

Galaga Legions made me a Galaga fan.

UnbreakableVow

RainbowDespair, I just added you on Xbox Live. It was easy to find you!

I went into Extra Mode 3 and got my highest score ever on it: 605130

#2830 in the rankings, which strangely makes me feel pretty confident.

Lave II

[delurks]

This is on sale on the iPhone store for 59p ($0.99?)

I'm getting an iPhone for chrimbus so I'll be mining some threads for recommendations.

Lunker

Lave II wrote: »

[delurks]

This is on sale on the iPhone store for 59p ($0.99?)

I'm getting an iPhone for chrimbus so I'll be mining some threads for recommendations.

Motherfucker, on sale already? It's totally worth a buck. I like the game enough that I don't mind buying it at $3, but a third of that is even better.

cloudeagle

Rise from your grave!

So Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX is coming out this fall to the 360 and PS3. Why should you give a shit? Behold:



Dozens, even hundreds of ghosts, along with loads of other tweaks. From IGN:

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/111/1119045p1.html

Pac-Man: Championship Edition is pretty much the perfect Xbox Live Arcade game. It took one of the most iconic videogame characters, changed his formula just enough to feel modern and exciting, and made for some terrific competition on the Xbox Live leaderboards. This fall, Namco will release a deluxe version called Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. We got to check it out recently and the takeaway was that it may provide one of the most satisfying gaming experiences this year.

The most significant change to Pac-Man Championship Edition is the number of ghosts onscreen. Whereas you previously only had to worry about the core four (Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde), DX throws dozens, maybe hundreds of ghosts at you. As you make your way through the maze sleeping ghosts will randomly appear. Pass by one and it will wake up and begin to chase you. Your aggressors will accumulate until you have a long conga line of ghosts trailing behind Pac-Man. Then, when you eat a Power Pellet, you can chomp through the entire line at once.

I've started another paragraph here because I want you to understand this: eating a conga line of ghosts in Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is amazing. The entire IGN editorial crew gathered around my desk during my demo and we all were sold as soon as we saw Pac-Man devour a hundred ghosts at once. We can't wait for this game.

That's the biggest new addition to Pac-Man Championship Edition. Other than a few tweaks here and there, you'll find a similar experience. Instead of trying to survive as long as you can by eating all the dots on a maze, as you did in 1980 Pac-Man, the object here is to rack up as high a score as you can before time runs out and then compare with your friends on the leaderboards. Even though there is no multiplayer mode, it feels like a multiplayer game because of the heated leaderboard competition.

Apparently, some players found Pac-Man Championship Edition too difficult. Namco is giving us a couple new tools that should give us a leg up on those ghosts. You now have bombs that can be detonated in order to send all the ghosts back to their ghost house, but doing so will halve your score multiplier. You'll want to use these sparingly. The other bone the developers are throwing us is a slowdown feature when Pac-Man is about to get his ass taken out by a ghost. Get too close for comfort to one of the apparitions and the game will slow to a crawl for a moment while the camera will zoom into the collision about to happen, giving you a brief moment to save yourself.

Fun bonus options are being added like the ability to choose sprites from all of Pac-Man's various games and looks. Want to play as the 3D Pac-Man from Pac-Mania? You can do that.

Welp, I'm sold. As long as we can play as Bad Box Art Jogger Pac-Man:

UnbreakableVow

Why aren't more people posting about this

This may have just become my most anticipated game of 2010