47
Mini meme
PAC TO
THE
FUTURE
As Pac-Man turns 40 (see p98), we
round-up his greatest current games
on mobile – plus a couple of similar
titles that Pac-Fans will lovePac-Man CE DX
At some point, Pac-Man’s
original creator stuck a rocket
up his creation’s bottom and
slathered everything in neon;
thus, Championship Edition wa s
born. Pac-Man in fast-forward,
the DX take has you clear half
a maze, eat a bonus and then
clear the other half. All the while,
you wake ghosts that angrily
chase you like a spooky conga
line. Flip back and forth until your
thumb begs for mercy.
£2.79 / Android O £2.99 / iOS
Pac-Man
This is the original classic on
your phone, complete with
iffy AI that lets you hide in one
specific corner like a coward. It
works nicely on the touchscreen,
having you swipe to set up the
next turn and stay ahead of the
ghosts. And that’s not all – you
get missions, other mazes to
unlock, and tournaments. Oh,
and IAPs, but ignore those (and
nuke the ads during one of the
regular 99p sales).
£free (IAPs) / Android, iOS
Pac-Man 256
Due to a programming cock-up,
the original Pac-Man goes all
squiffy on level 256 – half the
screen turns into an unnavigable
glitch. In Pac-Man 256, said
glitch relentlessly pursues
you in a kind of Pac-purgatory
comprising an endless maze
packed full of ghosts. On the
plus side, Pac-Man can grab
power-ups to burn the ghosts’
faces off with laser breath. Bet
they weren’t expecting that.
£free / Android, iOSEVAC
There’s plenty of dot-munching
in EVAC, but you also have to
battle a self-proclaimed evil
genius who’s packed the mazes
with traps. So along with darting
around and being all stealthy,
hiding in gaps until meanies have
passed, you’ll sometimes shove
blocks around soko-ban style,
and zoom through corridors
full of chomping spiked ‘teeth’.
Pac-Man never had to deal with
that, the lucky swine.
£free / Android O £1.99 / iOSPac-Man Party Royale
Four Pac-Men enter... only one
Pac-Man leaves! OK, with its
bright colours and bouncy
demeanour, this isn’t quite in
Mad Max territory; but you still
need to be a bit ruthless as you
munch dots to gather speed,
nab a super pellet and eat all
your friends. And if you’ve no
friends and need to play solo,
computer opponents become
adorable Pac-Bots, wearing little
metal hats with springy aerials.
£4.99/m (Arcade sub) / iOSForget-Me-Not
If you wish you could obliterate
Pac-Man’s maze, that can
be granted in Forget-Me-Not.
Its ‘neon dunjun’ is no place for
the faint-hearted, as beasties
roam, ripping chunks out of
the scenery – and each other
(some will also go for you,
but most are perfectly happy
blowing up whatever’s nearby).
This original title feels like a lost
1980s arcade classic.
£1.79 / Android
£4.99/m (GameClub sub) / iOSAPPS