Be a Ghost in Pac-Man Vs.

Pac-Man Vs. - Pac-Man's view

Pac-Man Vs. - Pink Ghost's view

Recently I received Namco Museum DS as a gift (thanks Pete!). While the retro game lineup is fairly solid, the real value is in Pac-Man Vs. It’s a multiplayer (up to 4 players) version of Pac-Man, where one player gets to play the normal-looking Pac-Man game, but the others play as the ghosts. Ghosts only get limited view of the board, and make their way through it in 3D corridors, rather than the flat Pac-Man retro style. When a ghost player catches Pac-Man, that player gets to be Pac-Man on next turn. The objective is to be the first to reach a point total, which is only really achievable when you’re playing as Pac-Man. There are a handful of maps to choose from that the players request before each match, to help change things up a bit.

Pac-Man Vs. plays off a single cartridge, so no need for all 4 players to have their own copies. I had a copy on the Gamecube years ago, and enjoyed playing it on several occasions. The DS version is just as good, and on a more convenient platform. Last night I played for almost 2 hours with a mixed group of casual and hardcore gamers, and the casuals were able to hold their own. Namco Museum DS has an average score of 67 on Metacritic and as of this posting goes for around $16 on Amazon.