The recent Nintendo Direct Mini surprised many communities with new games and ports from their favorite franchises. One particularly surprising appearance was Pac-Man World: Re-Pac, a remake of Pac-Man World for all current systems. While Pac-Man is known for his unique style of action-puzzle mazes, he also had a brief stint with 3D platformers over the course of several years. The first of these titles was simply called Pac-Man World, and was released for the PlayStation in 1999. In it, Pac-Man needs to go on an adventure to rescue his family and friends from Ghost Island.
While it's difficult to hold any of the Pac-Man World games to the same pedigree as a Mario platformer, the Pac-Man World trilogy has a generally positive reputation among those who have played them. Despite their rough spots and difficulty spikes, they are good translations of Pac-Man's identity into 3D form, and their mechanics allow for some creativity across the hours of platforming action. The third title is less beloved due to an overemphasis on combat, but its writing and voice acting managed to win it some fans. Pac-Man World alone has gone on to sell 1.5 million units worldwide, and the hype around Pac-Man World Re-Pac could push it to even greater heights. The only problem right now is that remakes of Pac-Man World 2 and 3 are conspicuously absent.
Pac-Man World Deserves to be Brought Back
Remaking older titles is all the rage right now. While it's unclear if its efforts will continue, Activision has released some of the best remake packages in recent memory. The Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 are all fantastic modernizations of classic titles. It's not hard to argue that they help set a golden standard for multi-game remakes, as they preserve what made the originals special while bringing the visuals and audio in line with modern standards.
It would be great to see other companies get in on this style of remake, and Bandai Namco has the chance. It's already done one instance of it with the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series remakes of Klonoa 1 and 2, and it could have done it again with Pac-Man World: Re-Pac. It's not clear why Pac-Man World 2 and 3 aren't included in a full Re-Pac collection. It may owe to the gameplay differences between the three titles, particularly the translation from the first game’s 2D/3D hybrid levels to the more open spaces of later entries. Pac-Man World 3 adds a lot of combat arenas to the mix, although its core is still close to the second game.
The Remake Treatment Would Be Good for Pac-Man World 2 and 3
There is still a chance that Pac-Man World 2 and 3 could be remade together as they share many gameplay systems like the aforementioned bundled remakes. An overhaul-and-package deal would work wonders for these titles, especially the controversial Pac-Man World 3. This title took some missteps with its design, and it lacks the polish of the prior entries. Coming in alongside the more popular Pac-Man World 2 would increase the chances of it being purchased over the two games being sold separately. Its cut content could be finished to make the game less repetitive, and the pace-halting Spectral Monster portals could be phased out.
Remakes of Pac-Man World 2 and 3 would benefit from the same upgrades Pac-Man World: Re-Pac is getting. Cutscenes and visuals would be redone, but more importantly the gameplay would receive another pass to ensure that it is not frustrating for a modern audience. The Pac-Man World trilogy were solid 3D platformers, but they definitely had room to improve. Pac-Man World is a subseries worth bringing back, and Bandai Namco should ensure that Pac-Man World: Re-Pac is only the beginning.
Pac-Man World: Re-Pac will launch on August 26th for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.