Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac Feels Like a Passable Platforming Remake

Playing Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac gave me that overly familiar nostalgic hit, which is frankly wild considering I've never played the original game.

I've been playing platformers all my life, going back to my earliest experiences in the late '90s. Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Sonic Adventure set me down this path, paved even further as a teenager by acclaimed hits like Super Mario Sunshine and lesser-known adventures such as Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Somehow, the Pac-Man World trilogy completely went past me until recently, yet this doesn't stop the second entry's remake from feeling surprisingly familiar.

It's exactly the sort of premise you'd expect from that mid-2000s era of games, taking the famous mascot on a new 3D adventure while retaining the more iconic elements of the Pac-Man series. With the ghosts stealing all the golden fruit from Pac-Village, it's our job to recover what's been taken across this lighthearted, level-based campaign.

My recent 20-minute demo at Gamescom involved playing through two levels across the vibrant Paradise Meadows world. Alongside your usual array of platforming abilities like running, jumping, and so on, each level is stacked with collectible pellets and elusive fruit to earn more points. Grabbing Power Pellets to eat all the ghosts is a fun addition, and Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is doing its best to fit in with the series.

It's completely passable platforming that controls well, and I've not yet encountered anything that would need precise movements to advance. Bandai Namco has also delivered a pleasingly colourful visual upgrade for modern platforms here, adding some welcome modernizations that (so far) faithfully match the original game without being anything drastic.

However, this isn't a clean sweep right now. Given how far 3D platformers have come in the past two decades, that leaves Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac feeling noticeably dated by comparison. What's here is entertaining yet would be rather unremarkable if not for its protagonist. This might evolve further as the campaigns progresses but what I've seen feels completely safe. Harmless fun that's easy to understand without ever pushing the boat out.

My demo ended with a boss fight against everyone's favourite orange ghost, Clyde, who's piloting a giant mechanical frog to stop you from claiming back the golden fruit. This might have felt creative back in 2004, but dodging easy attacks across an arena while aiming for the obvious weak spot or getting it to eat explosive barrels lacks any real difficulty.

If you're after a straightforward platforming game that's also kid-friendly, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac might be a good choice if you missed out on the original release. Though it's not particularly deep and rarely challenges with its easier difficulty, its demo shows a perfectly passable game, and anyone who enjoys Pac-Man will likely get a kick out of it.

Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is coming to PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Switch 2 on September 25.