'Pac-Man Championship Edition' Coming to iPhone
posted August 5th, 2009 12:16 PM EDT by Blake Patterson in Maze, Retro, Upcoming Games, iPhone games, iPod touch games
With Pac-Man Remix [link] fresh in the App Store, iPhone gamers in a love affair with that little yellow dot-chomper are busy getting their retro maze munch on. But don't fill up too much, because a dose of Pac-Man goodness that should far exceed Remix will soon be making its way to the App Store. G4tv has gotten word that Namco Bandai will be releasing the highly acclaimed Xbox Live Arcade title Pac-Man Championship Edition for the iPhone and iPod touch later this year.
What many have called the first "real" update to Pac-Man in 29 years, Pac-Man Championship Edition contains major differences from the 1980 original. The Xbox Live version, aside from supporting on-line leaderboards and high-definition graphics, is a race against the clock in every game mode. There are several different play lengths to choose from for each electric-looking maze, and the goal is simply to score as many points as possible in the relatively short time limit. The more points you score, the faster the pace of the game. Each maze is divided into two halves. Eating all the dots in one half causes a bonus fruit to appear in the other. Eating that fruit causes a new maze (that may differ in layout from the previous) to appear in the other half. It's back and forth, back and forth. And enormously fun.
We've got no information at present as to how the iPhone version will differ from the Xbox Live original, but will keep you updated as details come our way. But, if it's anything like the Xbox Live version, Pac-Man Championship Edition for the iPhone is going to bring some serious addiction to the platform.
See a video of the Xbox Live version to get a feel for the game.
Never played this on the 360, looks great!
Might have to but this for both platforms.
So happy about this. PAC-MAN Championship Edition is the only XBLA game I've bought. It's a little bit of magic.
That looks like all kinds of awesome!
YEAH! I knew it was coming, just like Infinity Gene. I just needed patience.
CE is Tōru Iwatani's last game before retirement so I refused to believe that Namco wouldn't put it on other platforms
Hmm…I have this on my 360 and it's fun. Pointless to pay for it again for my phone imo just like paying for the PC version of Peggle.
I've been playing this game every day ever since I got my 360 for Christmas 2008. As a result, I still haven't (needed to) put a single disc in my Xbox.
Damn, I should have waited with my Remix purchase!
Wanted ONE Pac-Man. Thought, the new one will make it.
And then this article comes along. ARGH. This looks hot.
I got a demo of Pac Man CE with that Xbox magazine, I never got around to buying the game, but I may just get it off the App Store now.
The game looks great, but there's no way you can change directions that fast on an iPhone. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't see that happening in such a twitch heavy game.
Swipe is instant…as long as they calibrate it not to require a long distance. The distance for swiping need not be any longer that the distance of moving a 360 joystick or moving your thumb across a 360 D-pad.
But they'd have to let you swipe anywhere–so finding the "center" would not be an issue.
Not sure if you've played Pacman CE before but I thought I would point this out.
Pinky has altered AI so she now tries to intercept you by going to wear she thinks you are headed.
To balance that Pacman can now move and corner faster by shooting sparks. So lets say you are in a tunnel where movement is limited to only left and right. Pressing up in any other pacman game would do nothing as up is invalid until you exit the tunnel. However in pacman CE holding up will cause you to move and take the corner faster.
Also the swipe controls on the original Pacman for iphone held up really well for me. even in the ridiculously fast stages later on.
Pacman CE is great, but it gets VERY fast and touch screen controls could really be a major issue.
hopefully taito will use a control style similar to infinity gene… where movement of the character icon will be available by touching anywhere on the screen.
i was waiting for this news ever since i seen pacman on iphone……this is the best modern version and should be fricken awesome to have on the go. I can't wait!!!
Another Pac-Man? Awesome! I can't wait for Pac-Man Infinity Gene.
I hope that the controls are just as good. But knowing it's on the iPhone/iPod Touch, I say not.
dont screw up the control on iphone, will ya?
Now THIS makes sense. Pac-Man Remix did not.
Finally, a Pac-Man game I know I want. Too bad it doesn't include the other versions — I'd pay ten bucks if they included Remix as well. I will not buy Remix on its own.
PAC-man Is awesome, can't wait.
Cool I love Pac-Man, can't wait. Will be strange though without a mouse or a control pin…
When is this scheduled for release?
Do want!