DESCRIPTION

After undergoing a 3D makeover for his 20th Anniversary in Pac-Man World, Pac-Man returns once again in this GameCube sequel, Pac-Man World 2. The setup for this platform title sees a group of evil ghosts stealing the golden fruit from a magical tree in the heart of Pac-Land. In doing so, they free Spooky the ghost, who orders his newfound underlings to hide the fruit from the villagers, damning their world in the process. Pac-Man's task is to traverse seven diverse worlds, retrieve the fruit and save all of Pac-Land. Standard jumping and running abilities aside, Pac-Man is able to dash, swim, skate, hang onto ledges, and even pilot vehicles — abilities which are put to the test in forest, snow, lava, and ocean worlds, to name but a few.

Littered throughout each world are rudimentary puzzles and traps that must be overcome using the yellow mascot's plethora of abilities. In typical platformer fashion, each world is concluded with a battle against a boss ghost; each with a specific weakness. In an obvious nod to Pac-Man's heritage, certain levels contain isometric maze-like portions that play almost identically to Pac-Man's previous arcade adventures. Unlike the PS2 version, where a ghost's touch would mean instant death for Pac-Man, the GameCube version makes things slightly easier by only removing one slice of health instead.

Sound effects too, are a throwback to Pac-Man's original arcade roots, with the requisite sounds played whenever dots are eaten or fruit is collected. During his quest, the spherical hero must collect fruit, dots, and tokens. The latter of which can be used to play emulated versions of past Pac-Man games in the arcade found in Pac-Village. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Attack, and Pac-Mania can all be found and enjoyed in the village arcade. ~ Gavin Frankle, All Game Guide