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I'd like to think that we could have all grown up with Pac-man to some degree, whether in the arcades, the Atari VCS (a.k.a 2600), its various ports, etc, but even if you didn't, it still deserves your respect. The "Pac-Man World" games showed us that Namco was willing to take series in new directions, and their first Pac-effort on DS was no exception. "Pac-Pix", while considered to be nothing more than a fancy tech demo to many, was very unique and enjoyable in small bursts at the very least. Pac 'n Roll takes off in completely different direction this time around, and I can't say that I'm displeased with where it's going.

Pac 'n Roll is much more of an interesting twist on the original "Pac-Man" and "Mrs. Pac-Man" games than it is a whole new game concept. The game is similar to the Super Monkey Ball series in that the idea is to roll a ball around 3D levels, collecting items and reaching the goal, but their two game concepts are actually pretty different. In fact, the one thing I kept thinking throughout the game, and I have not heard this said before, is that this feels a lot like what you'd get if Classic Pac-Man and Sonic Adventure were to have a love child, which I'll explain later. It's essentially a 3D platformer where you use your stylus to roll Pac-man through a series of colorfully designed worlds and boss battles. The concept of the game itself is not revolutionary by any stretch, but the game certainly pulls it off quite effectively. The goal, as with most Pac-Man games, is to collect the Pac-dots and power pellets. Your main character is directed about the levels using exclusively the touch screen, which is used as though it were a track ball. Think of the bowling game you'd see at the arcade where you spin the ball with your hand as quick as you can, as straight as it can be. Only in Pac 'n Roll, your constantly navigating Pac-man through the mazes, tunnels, hills, roads, etc.

The worlds created in the game are bright, colorful and all 3D. The main portion of the game takes place on the top screen, where you see Pac-man rolling about the map, doing his "thing". The bottom portion contains a super-sized Pac-man on which you use for rolling purposes. While the levels aren't beautiful, or highly detailed in anyway, they are well designed, quite functional, and certainly worthy of the DS, especially considering the fact that both the top and bottom screens are rendered in 3D, which is relatively unique among most DS games.

Often times you'll have sections of levels split up by long rolling downhill "tracks" of sort, where your Pac-man rolls at blistering speeds around twisty-curvy roads, hillsides and speed boosting pads. Again, this is immediately reminiscent of Sonic Adventure and his speedy out of control ways from the Dreamcast days (or its Gamecube ports). While these portions are not a major part of the game play of Pac 'n Roll, they are frequent and great fun when you need a breather from dodging ghosts or searching for Pac-dots.

For added challenge, the Ghosts make an appearance as well, though they really have nothing to do with the story line (as forgettable as it may be). As you roll your character about the levels, you must avoid the ghosts or risk getting "caught" by them, at which point you must tap them away from your Pac-Man as they harass him on the bottom screen. The longer it takes you to tap them away, the more health bars they take from you. Generally if you're quick enough, getting caught three times by ghosts will end your life. How you actually destroy the ghosts is pretty straight-forward, find a power pellet and turn on the ghosts within the time limit to end their miserable lives.

The game also makes use of some puzzle elements in its level design. At certain points in the level, you may be required to have a certain number of Pac-dots to proceed, forcing you to go back in search of more at times, you that you pull off special moves in order to roll off a ramp to the other side of a large expanse, etc. Pac-Man also has the ability to wear two types of "costumes" that alter how he moves in the game. A suit of armor slows him down a bit, as he is heavier, but it also allows him to smash through stronger blocks or sink in water when necessary. The "winged" suit makes him much lighter, allowing him to fly or float for a short while when rolling off a ramp or cliff edge. Think Mario 64 and his metal cap and wing cap. This actually expands greatly on the game play, allowing for many different types of situations for Pac-Man to be thrown into, especially boss battles.

The controls are actually quite intuitive. I imagined that vigorously moving the stylus back in forth in various directions would become repetitive, tiring and quite frankly, silly. While there is plenty of action, there isn't so much of it that you can't slow down a bit at times to relax your hand or stop to wait for a moving platform. Controlling Pac-Man takes a bit of time to get a hang of, and there are a few special moves that are taught during the first world, but once you get the hang of it, the rest is a snap.

That leads to my first concern about the game. Experienced gamers could very well find this game to be on the simple side, as I found it quite easy to breeze through the first half of the game with no trouble at all, and even the later stages only present minor challenges. Not to say that those levels and worlds were not fun to advance through, they were, but I would have liked a bit more of a challenge, or maybe some difficulty level settings to please hardcore and casual gamers alike. This also sets it up for a second problem. The very fact that the game is relatively simple and easy to advance through makes the game rather short. When I first picked up the game, I beat the first quarter of the game in one 45 minute sitting. The later stages certainly took longer, but it's still a good 4-6 hour game, tops.

This game seems to be perfect for those who want a really fun, quirky little game that can be picked up and played for 15-30 minutes at a time, then setting it down for awhile to rest your hand. A multiplayer mode of some kind (however simple or quirky) could have added some extra value to the package, but it's not a glaring omission of any sort. The main game itself is on the short and simple side yes, but it really isn't all that important when you consider that what is provided to you is varied enough to give it some replay value. Additionally, once you do complete the game you are treated to an unlockable time trial and challenge modes that modify existing levels to play differently. So in reality, beating the whole game could take some time.

It really warms my heart to finally see a solid stream of quality DS software that actually makes use of the handheld's unique capabilities in ways that really add to the game play and not just as a menu or map window. It seems that as time goes on, more and more developers are beginning to see how the Nintendo DS hardware was meant to be used, and Pac 'n Roll, while no instant classic, is yet another great example among a line of recent good examples of what Nintendo DS software is meant to be. Chalk this up as another good but not quite perfect addition the DS library, which is always a welcome thing.

Graphics: B

Sound: C

First Play: C+

Last Play: B-

Gameplay: B-

Overall: 78% C+