Let the Good Times Roll
Within the first year of the Nintendo DS' launch, Namco had two unique Pac-Man titles for the system already released. The first was a proof of concept turned game in Pac-Pix, while the other, the subject of this review, was Pac 'n Roll, a game that fans of Super Monkey Ball or Marble Madness will find a lot to love about. As for everyone else, Pac 'n Roll will allow its players to have a ball.
The story of Pac 'n Roll has Pac-Man and his friends turned into spheres by a galactic ghost with a craving for rock 'n roll, Golvis. Capturing every Pac-Person besides Pac-Man, our hero is helped by a fairy that watches over Pac-Land to escape from Golvis' grip, allowing him to come with a plan to rescue his friends and make Golvis' plan end on a sour note.


Challenge comes in the form of hazards, both environmental and from enemies. Obviously, falling off a level is a hazard onto itself, but there's also enemies to worry about, each taking off a sliver of Pac-Man's health when tangled up by them. These enemies are the tried and true ghosts that Pac-Man knows all too well. However, in Pac 'n Roll, once these ghosts have been eaten, through consuming a power pellet, they don't reappear until you leave the level. The only exception to that rule is with the game's boss battles, each having you take on Golvis in a different venue. These battles require Pac-Man to eat three power pellets to make Golvis vulnerable, allowing our hero to run into the boss and damage him. This takes three times for every battle save for the final encounter.


Pac 'n Roll features a unique control scheme that is not only creative but quite intuitive, too. The top screen displays the game world while the bottom shows a closeup version of Pac-Man. Through swipes of the touch screen over the enlarged ghost devour-er, you control which direction Pac-Man rolls through the game's levels. Faster swipes mean a faster Pac-Man. Sure, all of this could be done with a trackball, but what kind of handheld system these days would have such a device?
Sometimes Pac will need to get up steep inclines or bust through blocks. By holding the stylus on one edge of the touch screen and then quickly drawing a line to the opposite edge, Pac-Man will perform a speedy charged boost in the direction of the swipe. All this combined with the ability to manually rotate the camera with the directional pad, and moving Pac-Man around the game's levels is a usually simple task.

The biggest issue with Pac 'n Roll is that the main story can be completed in less than three hours. That's going through all six worlds, but to be fair, the sixth is simply a series of encounters against Golvis. Collecting gems and dots on every level opens challenge levels to try to overcome, but nowadays a game so short would not pass in the retail space. Pac 'n Roll feels perfectly suited as a downloadable game rather than a full retail release.

For those looking for a fun way to pass the time and those that enjoy titles like Super Monkey Ball, Marble Madness, or Kororinpa: Marble Mania, Pac 'n Roll seems like an obvious pick to add to one's DS collection. It works on Nintendo 3DS systems, after all. Whether you want to play in short bursts, which is possible as the game saves after every level, or long, extended gaming sessions, Pac 'n Roll is a great demo turned full game that makes great use of the Nintendo DS's unique hardware. The game runs (or is it rolls?) a bit on the short side, but the experience is entertaining enough to play through multiple times.
[SPC Says: 7.0/10]
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