Everyone’s favorite yellow sphere is back with a 3D adventure.
What Is It? Pac-Man World 2 is a 2002 3D platformer, Re-pac is a 2025 complete remake of this title. I have not played the original so I’m not sure of the exact differences in the remake, I will be discussing this new release as a standalone game.
An evil shadow knight spirit has taken over Pac Village and only Pac-Man can save the day. The game is played over six worlds, each with three levels followed by a boss fight. There is a post game here which adds very difficult remixes of the base game.
The levels are linear 3D affairs. Pac-Man is free to run wherever he wants, but he typically can’t go very far outside of the main path. The game is mostly standard platforming with the standard goal of reaching the end being enough to unlock the next level. Pac’s moveset consists of a kick, butt bump, flutter/float, dash move, and throwing pellets. Use these to defeat a variety of enemies as well as tackle the occasional chase section or underwater level to break up the standard format. Each level also contains at least one instance where classic Pac-Man ghosts show up and you can eat a power pellet to transform into a large, legless Pac-Man so you can consume them, a nice throwback to the series’ origins.
Boss fights mostly follow the pattern of having two phases with the second being a more difficult version of the first. They force you to learn the attack patterns so you can dodge a whole bunch of times before your opening to attack shows up.
As you play, you will likely unlock maze levels. Each world has two or three of these to find. The mazes are classic top-down Pac-Man levels but in the style of the world they were found in. The water world’s mazes will have sharks swimming around which can hit you, the volcano level will have fire spitting out of certain spots in the ground, and so on. Additionally, you will unlock classic Pac-Man arcade games as you clear worlds.
The Best Part: The depth. Each level has three goals to achieve. One of which will be to collect all of the fruit in the level, another will be to achieve the bronze medal on the time trial, with the third oscillating between defeating all enemies or breaking all boxes. This, on its own, is a lot of extra content for completionists. However, the depth really shows up with how insanely difficult some of these time trial gold medals are. There is a whole set of “secret” moves out there for those who dive in. Did you know that the longest possible jump is achieved by a perfectly timed butt bump where you immediately kick afterwards? I didn’t until I was scouring the internet trying to figure out why I couldn’t shave the last 15 seconds off of my best time in a particularly tough time trial level. There are also shortcuts in levels and many, many other optimizations you will need to learn if you want to fully conquer this game. This is all entirely unexpected from a family friendly 3D platformer.
The Worst Part: The difficulty. The downside of the depth is that a lot of it comes from a crazy level of difficulty. Beating the base game never gets too crazy. The bosses are consistently tough with the final boss being a true test, but nothing outrageous or controller-throwing. None of the levels get too bad, especially since you will likely stockpile 50+ lives in the first few worlds, but they do provide some challenge.
The real kicker comes in the post-game remix levels and bosses. I spent 90 minutes on the “final” boss (which unlocks another boss) and a decent chunk of time on a few others. Most of them boil down to being more patient than I prefer, but it shouldn’t be lost that this game was way more difficult than I expected. On top of all of this, the time trials can be brutal. Many of them, especially early on, are totally reasonable to achieve gold, but you will then run into one which requires absolute perfection. This all does feed into a lot of extra depth for those who really want to get into this game, but it can be a turn off for those who are expecting a light, fun 3D platformer.
The Verdict: Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is a fun 3D platformer. It boasts a simple moveset that works effectively with the level and enemy design. Tough, but fair and fun, bosses and the occasional chase level break up the format just enough. The entire base game, up to seeing the credits, can be completed in well under ten hours. You can take some time to play various Pac-Man arcade games, the maze levels, and have a really fun time. Given the game’s low price tag, this is a really solid game.
When you add in the post-game content along with the time trials and you have a really wild offering. I’m not sure who out there wants a brutally difficult 3D Pac-Man game. Needing to learn advanced movement tricks to shave fractions of sections off of your jumps to hit time trial goals is not something I expected here. The post-game levels and bosses are both quite difficult and could easily double, or more, your initial playtime. None of this optional difficulty is bad, it’s actually quite a bit of fun, but I did not expect it in a game like this and I wonder how many people it connects with.
I can spend a lot of time speculating on intent, expectations, or intended audience, but it would be just that; speculation. Instead, I can say that Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is a very strong 3D platformer. The controls are familiar but unique enough to provide a new experience. The level designs, specifically around the variety and enemies, hold up quite well. The visuals are nice and the variety of throwbacks to the yellow sphere’s origins are nice touches.
Sometimes it’s best not to overthink things; Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is a very good 3D platformer. We need more of those in the gaming world.
How to Play: PlayStation 4/5*, Switch 1/2, Xbox Series, PC
*console played on for this review
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