$19.99  Atari Classics 10 In 1 TV Games - Toy |
$14.99  Color FX II Classic Arcade Games: Mr. PacMan - Toy |
$12.99  Classic Football Game 2 - Toy |
$9.99  Pocket Tetris Game - Toy |
$19.99  Namco TV Games - Toy |
 [Larger view] | Color FX II Classic Arcade Games: Ms. PacMan
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Average user rating:  | |
| Mini-Muncher | |
| Feeling a little nostalgic-- and looking to add a little something to my already-overflowing repertoire of hand-held LCD/LED video games-- I snapped MCA's hand-held full-color Pac-Man game up and gave it a whirl. While I found it fairly fun and reasonably challenging, the not-too-responsive controls were a bit of a pain. There were some occasions where I really had to lean into the joypad (top left control just below the screen in the product picture) to get Mister Munchies to turn in the direction I wanted him to go-- which can be especially frustrating if you're trying to maneuver him around corners. Fortunately, you don't need to keep the directional control mashed down to get Pac-Man going; one tap towards the way you want him to go, and he'll keep going 'til he hits a wall, or gets noshed by a ghost monster. Another frustration I encountered was the LED display, which is very hard to see in well-lit places, especially in medium to heavy sunlight. I made this unfortunate discovery while waiting in line at the local DMV (fortunately, I had a backup time-killer: a paperback novel I'd been meaning to get to. I managed to get 1/3 of the way through it while I was in line, so you KNOW I had a pretty long wait!). One weird thing about this rendition of the arcade classic is the layout of the maze itself. Due to the small size of the screen, only 1/8th of the maze can be shown at one time. While there's an indicator at the top of the screen that tells you which part of the course you're presently in-- and whether or not all the dots in that sector have been consumed-- you're not given any warnings about where or when a ghost monster might be entering from off-screen. Both of these strange twists could be seen as either a frustrating pain, or as an added challenge that makes the game play a bit more interesting. Or (like myself) they can be seen as a little bit of both. Aside from the aforementioned 'quirks', this game plays pretty much like the arcade rendition, albeit not as fast-paced. There's a Power Pellet in each corner of the maze, and you get a 1-Up for every5000 points racked up. The score for each consecutive ghost monster you chomp on per power pellet goes up from 100 to 200 to 400 to 800 to 1000. There are two "cherry" bonuses per level, which-- unlike the arcade version-- stay in the same place on the maze, and don't disappear after a certain period of time. You'll need to collect both bonuses to advance to the next level. Other features include a 2-player option and six levels of difficulty. You can start at the ground floor and try to chomp your way to level six, or you can choose the place you want to start at (so far, I've only gotten past the first level on a few occasions, and have yet to get through number two). Finally, there's the 'Sound On/Off' button, which is a real boon for those nights when you're playing this game in your bed and you want the 'rents to think you've gone to sleep... 'Late | |
| AM I BLIND?? | |
| This game would be fun IF you could SEE it! You have to play this practically in the dark to see it. It is lit so lightly that in daylight, (like in the car) you can barely see what you are doing. NEW BATTERIES TOO! Otherwise it can be fun, but it is hard to get past the first level, because you cannot see where you are going. | |
| save batteries | |
| THIS GAME IS VERY FUN BUT IN MY PERSPECTIVE IT USES TOO MANY BATTERIES. I WISH IT COULD USE AN AC ADAPTER WHEN I AM PLAYING IT AT HOME. |
