Playlist magazine has posted a review of Pac-Man for iPod, one of the recently released games for the hand held multimedia device. This version of the game stays true to the original title, even including all 256 levels. Due to difficulties with the click wheel control scheme Playlist gave Pac-Man a score of 2.5 out of 5.

From the review:

What’s of key difference in this version of Pac-Mac is the control—instead of using a joystick, like in the arcades, you’re using a virtual joystick, if you will, by gently touching the cardinal directions of the click wheel. You don’t need to actually press the buttons—moving your thumb over the Menu, play/pause, rewind, and fast forward keys is enough to get the on-screen joystick to respond. It takes a little getting used to, and it’s more difficult than it should be—Pac-Man really requires lightning reflexes, and the iPod’s click wheel just doesn’t feel that precise.

The other major difference is the screen, and that’s something I found myself less adaptable to. Maybe it’s just old age creeping up on me. In the arcades, Pac-Man is rendered on a computer screen set sideways, so it’s higher than it is wider. The iPod takes the opposite approach, a more conventional aspect ratio. Without any way of rendering Pac-Man sideways, Namco ended up just using part of the display—the entire maze is barely larger than a postage stamp, with the right side showing your score and a representation of the virtual joystick, so you can see which direction you’re telling Pac-Man to go.

Playlist: Pac-Man Review

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