Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

[The Sports Guy]

I agree. It's a bad review. So much of it is spent complaining that the game is something it's not. Pac-Man 2 is a solid, innovative text-adventure.

From the Review Manifest:

All games are rated on a scale from one to ten and are strictly the opinion of the writer (so save your hate mail for them).

We can all agree to disagree then. I think the game is bland and could have had a much better system of communication between the player and Pac Man is very irritating. The idea was cool, but I just felt like the game was way too hard for both its intended audience and its style of play. The ghosts didnt even really have to be in this game either, and who was that ghost leader thing? Maybe it was in the cartoon or something.

Idea= Could have worked very well, but the execution was just not solid, and I didnt like it.

Im sorry if you didn't like my review, but I feel as if I got it exactly right in my opinion.

Oh, The Pac-Man and Pac-Jr. games are actually pretty good, but obviously they arent as good as if they were their own cartridge. Makes it worth playing, because it is certainly better than the original Ms. Pac Man cart that was released earlier on.

[Benjamin]

Im sorry if you didn't like my review, but I feel as if I got it exactly right in my opinion.*

I don't think anyone here said you have to like the game. You're right that you're entitled to your opinion, but people still retain the ability to comment on reviews they disagree with (such as the Super Thunder Blade review that gets bashed so much here ).

My issue with the review is that you are expecting it to be another Pac-Man maze game. It's not. Yet, you never really appear to move on from that, letting the disappointment in your expectations of what you hoped it would be taint your view of what it actually is.

From the review:

The main problem I have in this game is that it's not a Pac-Man game, really.

Would a review of, say, Tecmo Cup Soccer be fair if the reviewer expected a typical soccer game going in and, upset to seeing it's an RPG, gave it a poor review based on those initial expectations? That's why I consider it a bad review. It's well written and a great read, but I think your mindset is completely wrong to judge the game objectively.

God I hate typing on Macs.

[Melf]

(such as the Super Thunder Blade review that gets bashed so much here ).

Now why did you have to go and bring that up?

Seriously, I have half a mind to write a review for STB and replace the one we have.

[Aqua Hedgehog]

And this is why you don't want game bashers writing reviews. And what with the comparison to an overrated, mediocre X-Box game? 2 generations apart? I do believe it's the writer's opinion if he bashes it by review, but he doesn't have to treat a classic game like crap just because it's got no fancy graphics or mp3 quality music. I was merely replying to the hate-mail and doing my view on this issue.

[Aarzak]

Now why did you have to go and bring that up?

Seriously, I have half a mind to write a review for STB and replace the one we have.

Holy CRAP!!! I just noticed that STB review right now. As the most vocal hater of this "Muuu Yuji"-developed tripe-in-a-cart here on Sega-16, I Melf, politely DEMAND that something be done with that bass-ackward review!!!

The game was absolutely trashed back in '89 by EGM, back when the coin-op was still fresh and state-in-the-art........what gives? I own the "Sega Genesis Collection" for PS2 and one of the main reasons why I'm going off to GameStop to trade it tomorrow is because STB sticks out like a sore, pus-infected thumb amongst the already mediocre line-up.

As I sit typing this, the STB demo mode is running on my 25' CRT. as I'm convincing myself once again why I HATE this game. You guys see the grainy-ass screen-shot in the title screen??? Sometimes I like to picture that that helicopter is making a B-line to the residences of whoever owns a copy of STB........and that its gonna crash right through their living rooms!!!.......all while that hokey title screen music is playing.

*takes deep breath*...................gawd that felt good. My hate for STB is akin to Zebbe's hate for most sports games......but much more.

[Duane Dibbley]

Your story of how you got this game reminds me of when I rented Spot for the NES. I liked the character of Spot, so naturally, a game with him should be fun and action packed, right? I was incredibly disappointed to find out that rather than being an action-packed platformer, Spot was a slow-paced board game. Thankfully, years later, Cool Spot would help heal that wound.

For all I know, Spot might have been a good game, but since it was so clearly not the kind of game I was expecting Spot to be in, that didn't matter. I suspect the same applies if you are expecting Pac-Man 2 to be anything like a Pac-Man game.

[jerry coeurl]

This game is a turd. I gave it every opportunity to change my mind but you have to fight with Pac-Man way too goddamn much for it to be even remotely fun for me.

[PHANTOM2040]

Great review. I have been working out a lot lately and I had to hold my abdominal region while watching this because I was afraid of getting a hernia. Granted if you haven't played the game you will not understand the frustration of the reviewer:

[LinkueiBR]

Pacman 2 is a great adventure game for the Genesis and SNES!

8/10

[Jeckidy]

I love this game. Yes it's frustrating at times if you don't know what you're doing, but its clever. The only other games similar to it are the Wonder Project J series. And while WPJ had a ton more content, it was actually more frustrating in training your character than Pac-Man 2 was meaning PM2 is more accessible.

[LinkueiBR]

Updated my score to 8/10 after i discovered recently that exist a password to to play the Original Pac-man and Pac-Jr. without found these 2 games in the Arcade on the Adventure Game:

[profholt82]

That's awesome, LinkuieBR. I had no idea you could do that in the game, thanks for sharing.

[LinkueiBR]

That's awesome, LinkuieBR. I had no idea you could do that in the game, thanks for sharing.

Glad to see you liked!

It's interesting because "Pac-Jr" is an exclusive and new game for the Genesis version* and has nothing to do with the arcade game "Jr. Pacman"
*Snes version have Ms. Pacman

[Tripredacus]

Your variation information for Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures. This game has FIVE releases in the US. There are 3 plastic case versions and 2 cardboard versions. Because there are 3 releases of the plastic case type, and it is very similar, you are likely to end up with the wrong parts mixed together if you buy it on the secondary market. It is also possible that my own determination on the version differences is incorrect, due to how my research is done. I have looked at many photos on Ebay to come up with this information, and have determined the correct combinations based on the amount of times they appear together boxed. Other combinations are likely to be piecemealed together after the fact. As in my previous posts, we can't know for sure unless someone busts open some sealed examples.

I first discovered there was a variation here in a different way than usual. I have been paying attention lately to the stampings on the backs of cartridges because I have found this to be true:
- all carts stamped with Mexico indicate a Ballistic release or a cardboard box release.
Ballistic released games in both a cardboard box as well as plastic case, but in all instances the packaging will have the Ballistic logo on them.
However in this case, I found what I thought to be a "field repair" or a peacemeal as this Namco game had an Acclaim shell. I'm sure there is a story behind this that I haven't taken a look at yet (I'm not in the habit of writing documentaries) but this seems to be normal for this game.

As stated above, we cannot be 100% certain what the correct combinations are unless someone opens some sealed versions. Rest assured, we know these types of items exist:

Plastic cases:
- Namco with small cart holder
- Acclaim with small cart holder
- Acclaim with large cart holder

Cardboard boxes:
- Cardboard box
- Cardboard slip-cover box with Distributed by Ballistic label

Plastic Case inserts:
- Made in Japan
- Assembled in Mexico with Distributed by Ballistic label

Carts:
- Sega, Assembled in Mexico (printed in 1 line)
- Sega, Assembled in Mexico (printed in 2 lines)
- Acclaim, Assembled in Mexico
- Namco, Made in Japan

Manuals:
- color (comes in the plastic case versions)
- black and white (comes in the cardboard version)

Here are the five releases of this game on Genesis:
1. Namco plastic case with "coupon" offer on front, includes lenticular insert, Namco cart
2. Acclaim plastic case with large cart holder, Acclaim cart, Ballistic label
3. Acclaim plastic case with small cart holder, Sega Cart (1 line), Ballistic label
4. Cardboard box with Sega Cart (2 lines)
5. Cardboard slipcover box with Sega Cart (2 lines), Ballistic label

Images of all the important parts have been put into this Imgur gallery. All images were found on Ebay.
http://imgur.com/gallery/egeWo

[j_factor]

It's interesting because "Pac-Jr" is an exclusive and new game for the Genesis version* and has nothing to do with the arcade game "Jr. Pacman"
*Snes version have Ms. Pacman

This deserves more attention. It's nothing huge but as far as I know, it remains completely exclusive to Pac-Man 2 on the Genesis. I believe Namco doesn't have the rights to Jr. Pac-Man.