StarTopic PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ |ST| Featuring Legally Distinct Pac-Ma'am

[VolcanicDynamo]

Release Date: May 27, 2022
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S (Day 1 on Xbox Game Pass), PC (Steam)
Price: $19.99 (digital, PS4/Xbox physical), $29.99 (Nintendo Switch physical)
Number of Players: Single System (1-4)
Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Developer: Now Production
Genre: Party, Arcade, Action, Puzzle
Game File Size: 1.1 GB
Supported Languages: Japanese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English

PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ is the latest collection of PAC-MAN games, following up on 2014’s PAC-MAN MUSEUM. This release includes classic titles, modern hits, and a few games that previously have not been re-released or have not been re-released in some time.

• PAC-MAN*
• SUPER PAC-MAN*
• PAC & PAL*
• PAC-LAND*
• PAC-MANIA*
• PAC-ATTACK (SNES ver.)
• PAC-IN-TIME (SNES ver.)*
• PAC-MAN ARRANGEMENT (Arcade ver.)*
• PAC-MAN ARRANGEMENT (Console ver.)
• PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION
• PAC Motos
• PAC’N ROLL REMIX
• PAC-MAN BATTLE ROYALE
• PAC-MAN 256

Games listed in bold were not included in the now-delisted PAC-MAN MUSEUM. Games listed in italics have simultaneous local multiplayer - up to two players for PAC-ATTACK and arcade PAC-MAN ARRANGEMENT and up to four players for PAC Motos, PAC-MAN BATTLE ROYALE, and PAC-MAN 256. High score games have online leaderboards, but no online multiplayer is present. Games with an * next to them support pause-saving, letting you quit out of a game and resume your progress at a later point.

Each game features a menu where you may view the controls, adjust display options, check out in-game missions, or quit to either the title screen or to the arcade. Supported games have a CRT Filter, Screen Size, and/or Translation Subtitle options, depending on the game.

Some of the games are locked from the start. To unlock the game, you need to play another game in the collection two times. The locked games and their unlock requirements are listed below:

• SUPER PAC-MAN: Play PAC-MAN 2 times
• PAC & PAL: Play PAC-LAND 2 times
• PAC-ATTACK (SNES ver.): Play PAC-IN-TIME 2 times
• PAC-MAN ARRANGEMENT (Arcade ver.): Play PAC-MANIA 2 times
• PAC-MAN ARRANGEMENT (Console ver.): Play PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION 2 times
• PAC Motos: Play PAC’N ROLL REMIX 2 times

A major feature that sets this compilation apart from previous PAC-MAN collections is the customizable arcade, which serves as the central hub. Players navigate PAC-MAN through the arcade to play the games on arcade cabinets. Additional items for the arcade can be obtained by clearing missions for each game or by spending coins, which are earned by playing the games. These include arcade cabinets, new wallpaper and flooring options, and a variety of decorations. Some items are directly purchasable, while others, namely character figures, are obtained via an in-game Gashapon system.

Once you have your items, you can decorate your arcade as you see fit. You can even choose music from the games in the collection to play in your arcade from the jukebox. Feel free to share shots of your custom arcades in the thread!

By purchasing the game within the first 30 days of launch, you can receive a launch bonus of special gold and silver character figures:

• PAC-MAN D (Silver)
• PAC-MAN D (Gold)
• PAC-MAN E (Silver)
• IZIKE (Silver)
• PAC-MOM (Silver)

Coins have an additional purpose in PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ - they are used as credits for the arcade games, meaning that you need at least one coin to play the arcade-original games. Credits that you put into a machine persist after you quit a game, allowing you to load up a machine with credits and use them later. The console-original games do not use a credits system - the original arcade games have their own cabinets, based on their real-life counterparts, while the console games share a Free Game Cabinet.

When you start PAC-MAN MUSEUM+, you are given 500 coins to spend as you see fit on games or decorations, and additional coins are earned through playing any of the games - arcade or console. The better you play, the more coins you earn, whether it's through earning high scores or achieving fast clear times depending on the game. Coins are only awarded for completed rounds, which means clearing a level for the stage-based console games or clearing/getting a game over on the arcade/score based games. Quitting a game early or suspending a game to play later earns no coins for the round you ended early, though since you are in the middle of a game when you resume, it does not take a new credit to keep playing.

If you can manage to clear the gargantuan task of completing every mission in all 14 games, you are awarded with Free Play, where credits do not require a coin to be used.

Note that coins are purely an in-game currency. PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ does not feature microtransactions, and thus coins cannot be purchased with real-world money.

The most notable omission from this compilation is Ms. PAC-MAN, a former staple of Namco compilations and a DLC inclusion for the original PAC-MAN MUSEUM. For those who are unaware, Ms. PAC-MAN was not developed internally by Namco - it was developed first as a hack of PAC-MAN by General Computer Corporation (GCC) before being retooled into a sequel and published by PAC-MAN’s western distributor, Midway. While Namco would eventually gain full rights to the Ms. PAC-MAN character from Midway, GCC would still earn royalties for the game. In 2008, Bandai Namco and GCC made a new royalty deal (as discussed by GCC designer Steve Golson at a 2016 GDC talk) leading to Ms. PAC-MAN being re-released only in very specific circumstances. These royalty rights would be purchased by AtGames in 2019, allegedly right when Bandai Namco was trying to negotiate to buy the royalty rights outright. After an attempted lawsuit by Bandai Namco which the two parties reportedly settled, the royalty rights still are held by AtGames.

The royalties dispute would explain why the Ms. PAC-MAN game is absent, but it seems to have further effects on the PAC-MAN franchise. Among the character figures in PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ is a new character, PAC-MOM, as well as a redesigned and renamed Baby Pac-Man (now "Pac-Sis") and Jr. Pac-Man (now "Pac-Boy"). The Ms. PAC-MAN character is nowhere to be seen in the compilation. While Ms. PAC-MAN did make appearances in some of games in the compilation, Bandai Namco has instead elected to replace her and the original Pac-Children with the PAC-MOM character and the redesigned Pac-Children. This was first shown in the Arcade Archives re-release of PAC-LAND, and it has continued into PAC-MAN MUSEUM+:



While this does not affect the gameplay of these titles, it should be noted that PAC-LAND and PAC-IN-TIME have been edited from their original sources.

OpenCritic: 77
NOTE: There was not enough reviews on Metacritic to form an average.













And lastly, a special shoutout to @CyberWolfJV for coming up with the StarTopic title!

 

[CyberWolfBia]

Great job on the thread! I'm looking forward to get this physical as soon I can! And still curious to see impressions on the thread ~

 

[Tye]

Getting this pretty much entirely so that I can finally have PAC-MAN Battle Royale on a Nintendo system. I’ve been waiting for so many years!! Still upset that the Wii U version of PAC-MAN Museum was cancelled…

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

Great job on the thread! I'm looking forward to get this physical as soon I can! And still curious to see impressions on the thread ~

Thank you! I'm looking to pick up a physical copy on Friday. Looking forward to having all that "Paction" on the go.

Getting this pretty much entirely so that I can finally have PAC-MAN Battle Royal on a Nintendo system. I’ve been waiting for so many years!! Still upset that the Wii U version of PAC-MAN Museum was cancelled…

I remember being bummed about that back in the day, too. I was ready to get the collection, too. Guess in the end it was a good thing, since this has more games, and a few of my favorites. Love me some Pac-Man Arrangement. Ms. Pac will be sorely missed, though.

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

I'm going to update the OP with the full situation, but here it is - Ms. Pac-Man has been replaced by Pac-Mom in all of her appearances in the collection. Baby Pac-Man (now "Pac-Baby") and Jr. Pac-Man (now "Pac-Boy") have also been updated in design, matching the statues as shown in-game. Which I suppose could be argued as also just being replaced with "new" characters, depending on how you look at it.

 

[CyberWolfBia]

I'm going to update the OP with the full situation, but here it is - Ms. Pac-Man has been replaced by Pac-Mom in all of her appearances in the collection. Baby Pac-Man (now "Pac-Baby") and Jr. Pac-Man (now "Pac-Boy") have also been updated in design, matching the statues as shown in-game. Which I suppose could be argued as also just being replaced with "new" characters, depending on how you look at it.

Welp, I guess this indeed farewell to Ms. Pac-Man.. I suppose if Pac himself returns in the next installment of Smash, they'll change the Pac-Land stage as well

Really weird that this and Sonic Dash of all places were the last games Ms. would ever appear in official capacity...

I have nothing against the design of Pac-Mom.. (aside maybe the eyes not matching every other Pac-Person lol), but it's such a shame that first lady of video games has to go through all this...

Well, hope the collection holds up regardless of changes!

 

[Brock Reiher]

good riddance imo I never liked Ms pacman and Pacmom has a new hat

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

To give my two cents on the Pac-Mom character, I like how she looks in the sprite art way more than the 3D figure. They did too much to make her look feminine, with the different eyes and the lack of a nose. With the edited Ms. Pac-Man sprites, she looks a lot more in-line with Pac-Man and I can appreciate the hat, even if I prefer the old long boots to the heels.

The name "Pac-Mom" fucking sucks. Moving away from associating the character with her marital status and giving her more of her own identity is a solid move, but then having her new identity just be...the mom of Pac-Man's kids? No "Pac-Woman" or "Pac-Lady"? Sure, those are "gendered" names, but with the rest of the family moving away from being called "Pac-Man" (see Pac-Sis, Pac-Boy, and Professor Pac), it would now only be as gendered as Pac-Man himself.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

Mine (Switch and PS4) are out for delivery.

 

[lmog]

Wonder if Bandai Namco will ever re-release the Pac-Man World games

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

Wonder if Bandai Namco will ever re-release the Pac-Man World games

As long as this Ms. Pac-Man licensing mess is going on? I have my doubts sadly. Wouldn't stop remakes that use the new designs/characters, of course, but they'd surely drop the Ms. Pac-Man unlockable game from World 2.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Now wait a second, in 2022 they’re still doing the Switch tax? And a HUGE tax that is. Please tell there’s a reason for this besides “cartridge costs more than BR”.

Not that I give a crap about physical for these kind of releases, I’m digital all the way, but still, unacceptable.

 

[7threst]

Can't find a physical version online here in Europe anywhere

 

[neil]

I kind of love that customisable arcade idea. It's like Pac-Man mixed with Animal Crossing with.

 

[Arbitrary Function]

Barring terrible reviews, there’s simply no way I will be able to resist the temptation of getting this on day one

 

[SeafoamGaming]

Import impressions indicate no Tate or Dip options, so… damn it, guess it’s a game pass game for me

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

There's an extremely gorgeous launch trailer using the new pixel art from the other trailers and JP website.




More importantly, we got gameplay footage that confirms a lot of information we didn't already know.




I'll be updating OP with what's found here, but a few notes I observed:

• Arcade games require coins to add credits. No coins, no arcade games.
• Half of the games (all the arcade games besides Battle Royale plus PAC-IN-TIME) let you suspend your progress and play them later. Since the game you are currently playing has not ended, you do not need to insert another credit.
• Coins are only earned by playing the games. They are not tied to the achievement system, which provides separate unlocks; instead, you gain more or less coins based on how you perform. Both the arcade and free games earn you coins, so you are never in a position where you cannot earn coins. If you suspend an arcade game or quit out of a game early, no coins are earned - you need to finish the game, either reach the end or lose - to register a play and earn your coins. I don't know how PAC-IN-TIME and Pac'N ROLL REMIX handle this mechanic, since those are level based games. Maybe you earn coins for finishing levels?
• Half of the games are locked from the start, bizarrely enough. To unlock the others, you need to play each of the base games twice, under the same conditions listed above to earn coins from a game. It's not hard to play each game twice, but this seems like a needless addition to pad out the game.
• WHERE IS BABY PAC-MAN'S - ahem, sorry, I mean WHERE IS PAC-SIS'S NOSE????

 

[Brock Reiher]

What happens if you run out of coins completely?

 

[totofogo]

To give my two cents on the Pac-Mom character, I like how she looks in the sprite art way more than the 3D figure. They did too much to make her look feminine, with the different eyes and the lack of a nose. With the edited Ms. Pac-Man sprites, she looks a lot more in-line with Pac-Man and I can appreciate the hat, even if I prefer the old long boots to the heels.

The name "Pac-Mom" fucking sucks. Moving away from associating the character with her marital status and giving her more of her own identity is a solid move, but then having her new identity just be...the mom of Pac-Man's kids? No "Pac-Woman" or "Pac-Lady"? Sure, those are "gendered" names, but with the rest of the family moving away from being called "Pac-Man" (see Pac-Baby, Pac-Boy, and Professor Pac), it would now only be as gendered as Pac-Man himself.

Well said. The 3D design and name are just... clearly such compromises to get around the legal issue that I don't think 1/10 folks would ever pick as opposed to Ms. Pac man. I wish they had stuck with the Pac Marie type design (something actually marketable to kids) and went with Pac Lady. A win to remove her primary identifier being a relationship too.

There's an extremely gorgeous launch trailer using the new pixel art from the other trailers and JP website.

well now I need a game in this style

 

[Dash Kappei]

Import impressions indicate no Tate or Dip options, so… damn it, guess it’s a game pass game for me

WHAT IN THE FLYING FUCK ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!! NO TATE??? I’m so fucking disappointed when even Namco’s collection let you even play yoko games as TATE’d if you wanted

Seriously I’m so fucking pissed. Now they expect me to buy the Arcade Archives releases? But even those don’t support TATE for high-score runs… bleargh. This sucks.

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

What happens if you run out of coins completely?

As the game puts it, if you run out of coins, get more by playing games. There is never a situation where you cannot earn coins - even if you cannot access an arcade game, the free play console games will still be available and you will earn coins through playing them. And realistically you'll earn more than one coin just for playing and making it a little bit through a game. It's not the best situation, and I think the coins should have just been for the cosmetics, but you can consistently earn coins.

Well said. The 3D design and name are just... clearly such compromises to get around the legal issue that I don't think 1/10 folks would ever pick as opposed to Ms. Pac man. I wish they had stuck with the Pac Marie type design (something actually marketable to kids) and went with Pac Lady. A win to remove her primary identifier being a relationship too.

I'm okay with a compromise, I just don't want a compromise that sucks. And Pac-Mom's 3D look and name are not good. A shame Pac-Sis in 3D shares a lot of the design ethos as Pac-Mom. She's cuter than Pac-Mom, but I still don't like how she sticks out from the standard Pac-Man look in such a gender-marked way.

 

[SeafoamGaming]

WHAT IN THE FLYING FUCK ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!! NO TATE??? I’m so fucking disappointed when even Namco’s collection let you even play yoko games as TATE’d if you wanted

Seriously I’m so fucking pissed. Now they expect me to buy the Arcade Archives releases? But even those don’t support TATE for high-score runs… bleargh. This sucks.

no it's a basic compilation that seems even more limited than OG Museum, sadly

kinda disappointing, ACA is the vastly superior method imo. No vertical in hi-score/caravan sucks but Hamster usually notes they only really do big feature additions when they have the means/budget to and I'm guessing they don't do vertical options for the bonus modes because it'd be more work for a seldom used component (especially outside of Switch, since these are multiplat on PS4 too and I assure you nobody on PS4 really rotates their screen. I want to, but I dont know of any TVs that let me!)

Nintendo games probably only have them because Nintendo was notoriously strict with emulation quality and feature sets and that's why their ACA games took so ass long (And probably stopped, since Taito/Namco are the new hotness). I'd love to play Valkyrie Caravan with vertical mode, but I'd also rather they fix their local score bugs first so local scores in the normal mode get saved every time instead of only when you upload to the online leaderboards. (That's an edge this compilation has, it saves your scores locally, unlike Space Invaders invincible Collection which killed it for me)

 

[edamame]

The name "Pac-Mom" makes me think she's Pac-Man's mom. It's really hard to move away from the name Ms. Pac-Man, it's ingrained in the culture. None of the alternatives sound as good.

I wonder if there's no TATE mode because the other platforms can't take advantage of it in the way that Switch can, as the average person isn't going to turn their TV/monitor on its side just for this collection. Still, that's disappointing. I hope TATE gets patched in sometime in the future.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

What happens if you run out of coins completely?

You start with 500 coins, and it costs one to play the games that do need them. Even an absolute garbage playthrough of original Pacman - not even completing the second maze - netted me four coins. So unless you go overboard with buying things to customize the arcade, you're unlikely even to get close to running out. Anyway, not every game needs them.

 

[neil]

I just bought the game

Looking forward to trying Battle Royale with the kids later

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

Just got my physical copy. The outer case is lovely, the cartridge is super cute, and the inner sleeve...is nothing. Can't win them all.

Once I play more, I'll deliver first impressions.

EDIT: Love the Switch icon, too!!

 

[BombChorizo]

Just learning about this game now. It's weird that Ms Pac-Man isn't included (I had no idea there was a corporate divide there). And no Championship Edition DX is a bummer (that's my fav Pac-Man game). But it's on GamePass so I might as well check this out.

good riddance imo I never liked Ms pacman and Pacmom has a new hat

I always thought Ms Pac-Man was conisidered one of the best games in the series. I'm not expert though...

 

[Dash Kappei]

Bought it. happy that it was pretty cheap on the Polisj eShop because this compilation is shitty honestly, I’m disappointed. The games are great, but fuck spending production money on all the wrong things and then missing basic options and the worst CRT filter EVER. Visually it sucks.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Btw, how do the online leaderboards work? I have them on ON and yet my scores (which are as high as top 10 for some of the games) do not appear to be uploading at all.

 

[Brock Reiher]

Just learning about this game now. It's weird that Ms Pac-Man isn't included (I had no idea there was a corporate divide there). And no Championship Edition DX is a bummer (that's my fav Pac-Man game). But it's on GamePass so I might as well check this out.


I always thought Ms Pac-Man was conisidered one of the best games in the series. I'm not expert though...

It is! I just meant the character. Personally don't like the game at all either.

 

[Barely Able]

Do I need the hundredth version of pac-man? The answer is probably yes. Bummed about no tate mode though. Hopefully some more arcades are adds post launch (doubtful though).

Now Bamco needs to make a Dig-Dug/Mr Driller/Baraduke Museum with all the family relationship stuff made into some sort of interactive narrative.

 

[Stopdoor]

Reading on Era some games in this have some bad input lag on Xbox at least - I wonder if it's just the platform or the compilation itself?

 

[SeafoamGaming]

Reading on Era some games in this have some bad input lag on Xbox at least - I wonder if it's just the platform or the compilation itself?

The OG museum had rocky input lag when turning corners so if that’s still here then uhhhhh sadly i think it’s the same issues from 8 years ago

 

[neil]

Just played some 4-player BR, very fun.

There might be some lag, or the Pro sticks might just be crap for this game, or I might just be bad at it

Edit - Pac-Land sucks

 

[KingOnion]

Was fairly interested in this but some of these impressions make it seem a bit sketch. Also, I watched a bit of gameplay which seems to show publisher logos appearing when booting some of the games in the collection - seems unnecessary but what do I know.

 

[Brock Reiher]

really glad they went all in on the design your arcade and achievement stuff. with games like this that are available in so many places, it really gives value to the collection.

 

[BassForever]

Honestly I kinda hate the coin and customizable arcade gimmick, just give me no hassle list I can pick my games from. At least the "you need a coin to play" seems like a non issue, especially if you don't bother buying any cosmetics. As long as you have a pulse you'll end up positive on coins for any of the arcade games you play.

 

[sagadego20]

found this on reddit for what it's worth

 

[totofogo]

What a delightful collection and clear labor of love. I have it free on game pass but am considering buying on Switch just to have there too.

The text in pac mania is hilarious - “nice clearance!” “See ya!”. Felt some input lag for sure on Xbox though, that’s a bummer.

I love the additions of deep cuts like pac n roll. Of course I wish we had the pac man world games too, but ah well.

Honestly I kinda hate the coin and customizable arcade gimmick, just give me no hassle list I can pick my games from. At least the "you need a coin to play" seems like a non issue, especially if you don't bother buying any cosmetics. As long as you have a pulse you'll end up positive on coins for any of the arcade games you play.

Hey well the good thing is that you have that too! It’s easy to press start and just ignore the arcade if you prefer. On the other hand, the addition of it is what seriously have me interested in this collection. I like that it ties everything together and gives it a sense of place – otherwise I can play these games elsewhere for the most part.

 

[neil]

I was playing some CE last night and it’s still brilliant.

I liked the idea of the custom arcade and I like it in practice. I’m grouping my games into favourite multiplayer, favourite single player, and tat I dislike.

Recommend the game if you like Pac-Man

 

[BassForever]

What a delightful collection and clear labor of love. I have it free on game pass but am considering buying on Switch just to have there too.

The text in pac mania is hilarious - “nice clearance!” “See ya!”. Felt some input lag for sure on Xbox though, that’s a bummer.

I love the additions of deep cuts like pac n roll. Of course I wish we had the pac man world games too, but ah well.


Hey well the good thing is that you have that too! It’s easy to press start and just ignore the arcade if you prefer. On the other hand, the addition of it is what seriously have me interested in this collection. I like that it ties everything together and gives it a sense of place – otherwise I can play these games elsewhere for the most part.

I know you can hit + and select from a list, but there's still a weird, slow jankyness to it since Pac Man has to teleport to where the cabinet is in the arcade.

 

[Beard]

Input lag seems…fine? At least on Switch. Though I tend to only notice input delay when it’s really egregious, so perhaps it won’t be acceptable to some.

Neat collection, I’m enjoying it a fair bit.

 

[KingOnion]

Alright I bit. It’s a fun way to package these games, and I would love to see other Namco arcade games come in the future. I’d fill my arcade entirely with Mappy cabinets.

Super Pac-Man though, woof what a clunker.

 

[sagadego20]

Input lag seems…fine? At least on Switch. Though I tend to only notice input delay when it’s really egregious, so perhaps it won’t be acceptable to some.

Neat collection, I’m enjoying it a fair bit.

docked or handheld?

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

I'll give my thoughts on more of the games soon, but while struggling through Pac-Land, I found an interesting...exploit? Trick? For the games that use pause-saving, at least.

Pac-Man Museum+ creates a pause-save at the beginning of a round. A new one isn't created until the start of the next round, and if you close the game out, the pause-save isn't erased. So if a particular round goes badly? Quit to the home menu and reload the game, and it'll be like the round just started. Could be really useful for those "play X rounds in a game" challenges.

 

[Tye]

This collection is pretty neat! I really like the presentation compared to other Namco/PAC-MAN compilations.

It’s really making me wish that we could get PAC-MAN Tilt on Switch in a compilation like this, though. I loved that game on 3DS and I’m worried that it’s never gonna get rereleased…

 

[Dash Kappei]

I feel like I’m going crazy… the game won’t put my scores online even tho option is ticked off, when I click on friends I see my score on the bottom like it was local-only while I guess I should be on top with the golden crown? I have the best score on every game in the collection yet my scores is always only at the bottom, same for worldwide leaderboards. Help?

Input lag seems…fine? At least on Switch. Though I tend to only notice input delay when it’s really egregious, so perhaps it won’t be acceptable to some.

Neat collection, I’m enjoying it a fair bit.

Input lag is terrible only on Xbox. It’s fine on NSW both docked and portable, tho I hear that Arrangment has some sort of frameskip in docked mode, but haven’t tried it myself as I only play portable.

Anyway, this Collection is really shitty feature-wise. Hopefully Arrangement and Pac-Mania come to Arcade Archives soonish. Still, at least this was reasonably cheap on the Polish eShop.

 

[Beard]

docked or handheld?

Docked

 

[Josh5890]

Finally touched the game tonight. No input lag that I noticed. I kind of wish I was playing with some sort of an arcade stick though...

 

[bixente]

Pacman 256 looks really cool.