Pac-Man Rally review (PlayStation 2)

Some games out there carry a sort of patriarchal air about them. Those of you who have played Mario Kart should hopefully know what I mean. You know, game series that hold a defining aura about them, cementing the title as the top of its genre; one that’s as polished and perfected as you’d expect, regardless of how many title are churned out.

Then there are some game companies who bottle this matter for themselves and let it loose among their development team. Sort of like having your wallet nicked and having all the cash spent. Pac-Man Rally is one of those games. Its just one example in a long line that follows a number of companies’ attempts to successful re-create the Mario Kart magic, though where others have failed miserable, Pac-Man actually succeeds in standing among the “pac”, simply because it shamelessly doesn’t attempt to tinker with much at all. And, surprisingly, it isn’t actually all that bad.

Pac Up Your Troubles

Pac-Man Rally is as cut and dry as it sounds – members of the Pac-Man family (that’s heroes, villains and a couple of others that nobody remembers) compete in a series of kart-based racing antics almost totally indiscernible to the Mario Kart mould, minus the fact its Pac-Man characters driving the vehicles. Everything you’d expect from such a game is here, right down to the identical control scheme, complete with obligatory power sliding.

The game is set across various cups, which are in turn divided up among four courses, with more unlockable as you progress. Each course is based on a particular theme, taking you across multiple locations, each one with various hazards and other nasties thrown your way based on the nature of each track. A good example is the rather dastardly haunted house course, which throws all sorts of tricks and traps your way, including phantoms, giant spiders and other ghoulish tactics.

Collision Course

While some tracks are pretty generic in the way they play out, most of them are actually quite unique, and ultimately pretty varied. On the flip side, some are horribly short, something of which isn’t really compensated by the number of laps on offer. Naturally, its not just natural hazards you have to be on the look out for – there’s a nifty bunch of weapons for you to batter each other with, too. These come in all shapes and sizes, most of which try to shamelessly fabricate the success of Mario Kart’s homing weapons (this time, coming in the bizarre form of the homing strawberry) Unlike Mario, however, locking on with Pac-Man Rally is just a countdown to destruction, as there’s little you can do to avoid them, if nothing. No swift movements and last-minute turns here, I’m afraid. In fact, half of the times you won’t even know what hit you, nor will you really get any kind of warning.

Subsequently, things can feel rather scripted at times. A nice addition, though, is the inclusion of short cuts, unlocked by driving over various cherries dotted throughout each stage. Using these items, you can then decide to unlock a short cut located somewhere on the track, opening up a few decision making aspects, and ultimately freshening things up a little. They are especially effective during the multiplayer mode.

Pac-Attack

Fortunately, Pac-Man Rally has also inherited Mario Kart’s superb control mechanism, as mentioned, right down to the power sliding technique. Guiding your crazy kart around couldn’t be simpler, and it’s certainly not as intimidating as it looks considering the state of the karts you’ll be driving. Again, the power sliding works flawlessly, and tackling those nasty corners couldn’t be easier. Each kart has its own particular attributes; some are better at turning, some better at speed, acceleration, and so on. Despite this, these factors aren’t all that apparent when you take them on the course, but you aren’t honestly given all that time to notice unless you happen to be participating in anything other than Time Attack.

However, one area that Pac-Man does attempt to extricate itself from Mario’s firm influence is the use of special abilities in the form of the ‘Pac Attack’. In this, players have to collect a certain number of power pills to fill their meter power, which when full, transforms your kart into the old-school Pac-Man aesthetics, allowing you to chomp down on your fellow racers. It doesn’t last for long, but it’s useful, amusing to watch, and bottom line, it’s something new.

The visual Pac-age

Visually, the game is pretty standard of what you’d expect from latter-era PS2 games. The animation is bright and colourful, although most of the characters and environments look rather muddy up close. Pac-Man and his companions are pretty spirited and are exaggerated to the usual caricature proportions you’d expect from a comical kart outing. Audio wise, the soundtrack is a fairly average bag of quirky, comical-inspired nonsense, with the rest of the sound effects being rather predictable, but do their job. It certainly won’t win any awards for originality.

Concluding, in all seriousness, Pac-Man Rally is fundamentally Mario Kart in a different guise. Usually such blatant rip-offs are recipe for disaster, but Rally is apparently the one exception where it manages to pull off a half decent attempt. It doesn’t even try to deviate from the core elements (aside from some minor instances in the Pac Attack etc), and for what its worth, it’s actually quite entertaining, especially if you intend to play with a few mates. Still, like its predecessors, it’ll always be a mere pale imitator, and will never carry that defining aura that Mario firmly has surrounding his portly figure.