Pac-Man World Rally

Pac-Man World Rally
North American PlayStation 2 cover art
Developer(s)	Smart Bomb Interactive
Publisher(s)	Bandai Namco Games Electronic Arts (Europe)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2 PlayStation Portable GameCube Microsoft Windows
Release	August 22, 2006 PlayStation 2 PSP GameCube Windows
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Pac-Man World Rally, known in Europe as Pac-Man Rally, is a kart racing game in the Pac-Man series. It is developed by Bandai Namco Games, and released in August 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows. An Xbox version of the game was cancelled, even though there is a preview of it included in Pac-Man World 3. An Xbox version was also cancelled.

The game has 15 race tracks and a battle mode similar to other kart racing games. In addition, there are four battle arenas for multiplayer action. You will also be able to collect power-ups to attack opponents or gain an edge in the race, as well as Pac-Man's signature fruit pickups, which in Pac-Man World Rally unlock secret shortcuts. There are 16 characters for the player to choose from.

Critics gave the game mixed reviews. IGN has a score of 5.7 for the GameCube version. One of the reviewers from GameSpot said that it was a "Mario Kart rip-off".

Gameplay

Pac-Man World Rally contains gameplay that is standard to kart racing games. It also contains a 4-player multiplayer mode where you can access characters from both the Pac-Man world and many other Bandai Namco games. Pac-boxes are available on the track and allow the player the gift of one item. Pac-dots are also available on the racetrack. Each Pac-dot collected helps the player's meter go up. Once it is full, the player can press the specified button and turn into Pac-Man, and all the other players turn into blue (vulnerable) ghosts. If the Pac-Man eats any of the blue ghosts, the blue ghosts will stop for a while and get a major disadvantage on the track. This event only lasts eight seconds. A fruit activation button is on the racetrack. When the player runs over the button, fruit is scattered around the racetrack. When you run over the fruit, it allows the shortcut that corresponds with the fruit to become open for you.

Music

The music in the game was created by Tommy Tallarico, Dweezil Zappa, Mike Rubino, Rod Abernethy and Charlie Malone. The scores are all based on the mood of each level but also contain hints of the original Pac-Man music cleverly woven throughout. The main theme song (played on the title screen and in Retro Maze) is a remixed song containing many samples from the original Pac-Man arcade themes including Pac-Man, and Ms. Pac-Man.

Reception

Review aggregator MetaCritic gave the game a 57 for the Nintendo GameCube version, a 54 for the PlayStation 2 version, and a 51 for the PSP version, all of which indicate "Generally mixed reviews."

Pac-Man Kart Rally

In 2010, there was a similar game released on mobile phones called Pac-Man Kart Rally. The character Ichigo-chan from Katamari Damacy has been added to the character roster. This was ported to Android in 2012.