"Mmmmm, Pac Pellets"

Namco has not been hiding the fact it is the 25th anniversary of Pac-Man this year. They have been celebrating it big time with the release of several titles this year like Pac ‘n Roll, Pac Pix and the first ever kart racer featuring our pizza-inspired hero called Pac-Man Rally. The most successful genre spin off of Pac-Man has been the platformer-based Pac-Man World series. It just wouldn't be a 25th anniversary without another entry in that series as Pac-Man World 3 (PMW3) makes its way to the PSP.

All is not well in Pac-Land. The Pac-Man family is actually celebrating Mr. Pac's 25th birthday when he is somehow teleported into another realm. It turns out one of Pac's old ghost rivals Orson teleported him there, but he has changed his ways and is now there to help Pac fight his way out of the realm and against a new evil named Erwin. The story for PMW3 obviously isn't the most groundbreaking, but it is surprisingly told so well with well-produced cut-scenes it kept me glued to my PSP trying to discover what would happen next.

PMW3 isn't doing anything unconventional for the 3D platformer genre, so don't expect anything to light the world on fire. Expect lots of staples of the genre here, like bonus item collecting, puzzle solving and baddie-bashing, but with a cute Pac-Man style of humor. Aside from the series trademark ghosts, PMW3's enemies reminded me a lot of the foes from Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie. I actually had a little bit of fun doing Pac's patented butt-splash on top of foes.

I usually am not a fan of tedious item collecting either, but seeing a plethora of the memorable Pac-Pellets and fruit icons scattered about all the stages added a certain retro charm to PMW3. There is even a power-up that allows you to play an updated 3D version of Pac-Man mazes for bonus points. It is ways like these that Namco successfully incorporated all the elements from the Pac-Man franchise that transformed what would have been another mediocre platformer into something a little more fun because of the charm of the franchise and all my classic memories of its games.

Namco made sure to throw in a lot of extra goodies to please the fans too. There is a Pac-Man museum that has a text-based history of the franchise, the complete arcade original version of Pac-Man, a video interview with the creator along with a few other perks. There is also WiFi support for up to four players in a variety of maze puzzles. Die-hard Pac fans should be ecstatic with the inclusion of all these extras.

However, the Pac-Man charm can only carry a game so far. PMW3 doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything as I did find a lot of levels getting repetitive and monotonous towards the ends. The questionable camera didn't help matters much either as rotating it with the L and R buttons proved to be a somewhat tricky task as the camera doesn't really follow Pac at the most preferable angles.

Despite these flaws I was still compelled to play the game because of how well PMW3 was presented. Namco did a terrific job porting this to the PSP. Sure, there are some noticeable jagged visuals and toned down textures here and there, but the stages and character models look good and are animated well, especially Pac's hilarious facial expressions. The aforementioned cut-scenes also look great, and are complemented with some shockingly good voice acting. The whole cast sounds superb and delivers their lines with such aplomb they made the clichéd storyline worth playing through. Mix in some retro sound effects and fitting background music, and we got a very satisfying audio and visual experience.

The PSP doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of good platformers. PMW3 won't go down as one of the best of all time, but I will give it props for being one of the few that nails down the storytelling that makes it that much fun to play through. All the extras thrown in from Namco are also appreciated and will help the game's longevity. So if you're looking for a pretty decent platformer for the PSP, or looking for something to crave your Pac fix, then make sure to pick up Pac-Man World 3.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/30/05