Hands On Pac-Man Party

Namco Bandai is filling the Mario Party void with Pac-Man Party. Pac-Man and ghosts – Blink, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde join up with newcomers like Woofa. He looked like a snowman, so I started my mini-game adventure with Woofa.

Even dice rolling in Pac-Man Party is a mini-game. Players spin slot machine reels and throw darts to determine how many squares they move on the game board.

Once you land on a square you can take it over, similar to Monopoly. If another player stops on your square you have to defend it by playing a mini-game. During my demo, I played a fishing game where you pull the remote out when a fish catches your line and a funny pizza twirling game. Namco Bandai released screenshots of Pac-Man bowling, catching falling ice cream, and in a Wipeout-like level. These are some of the other mini-games that I didn’t get a chance to check out.

Pac-Man Party has over 45 mini-games to play. One interesting twist in Pac-Man Party is you can give your character an edge in any competition by chomping down on a power cookie. This is supposed to be used as a comeback move, but in my demo I used power cookies to steal another player’s land.

Pac-Man Party also includes a few Namco classics. You get Pac-Man, Dig-Dug and Galaga too. Pac-Man Party is scheduled for release this fall in North America,