Pac-Attack

Developer: Namco, Now Production
Publisher: Namco
Release: 1993
Platform: Genesis, SNES, Game Gear, Game Boy (played), several late compilations
Genre: Puzzle


When Namco decided to reskin their arcade title Cosmo Gang the Puzzle and sell it as a multiplatform, worldwide Pac-Man release they weren’t just being lazy; they were being downright insidious. Milking started taking roots by the 90s and such releases could easily get away with it because consumers weren’t as aware as they are today—aren’t they?

There’s a game behind market decisions anyways, and that game is… well, average. But let me take the mediocre part out of the way before getting to the point.

Pac-Attack had a shot at finding the next Tetris Holy Grail, but it failed like everyone else since mid-80s. (Even master Alexey Pajitnov—Tetris’ father—himself wasn’t up to the task, but some of his’ breed were quirky enough and may appear at Magnificent 7s at some point.) Falling pieces here may come with ghosts or a Pac alongside the regular blocks, and that’s the twist: using it to clear ghosts and rack points down the way. Eventually a special bar fills up, a fairy purges the screen from enemies, and that’s it.

But things (good or bad) often come from where they’re less expected, and Pac-Attack is a 7 game due to some fortuitous production outcome. Whoever decided to raise the game’s value by crafting a Puzzle Mode has breathed life into it.

In Puzzle Mode a new mechanic (inexplicably absent from the main game) raises the strategy bar a good notch; the ability to change the direction Pac is facing before landing alone make up for smarter moves and optimizing pieces placement to work better. But the real deal lies within an area usually despised in puzzle games of this kind: level design.

These surprisingly elegant handcrafted creations offer a bit of everything: levels with room for improvising as strict, one-way-out ones; some have plenty of resources, some are airtight; overcoming hair-pulling levels often is rewarded with a few breezy, palate cleanser ones; and so on. The one hundred levels coupled with a simple password system lend the mode as much immediacy or depth as the player desires.

In times of procedural generation seizing level design for good—be it by the developer’s decision, be it for budget restraints—is nice to be reminded of how human brains can be put to decent use.