Pac-Man 256

In my ongoing and likely futile effort to write a Steam review for every game in my library (#485 out of 639)... it's time for PAC-MAN 256.
It's Pac-Man, arguably the most famous and iconic arcade game of all time! Much like Tetris, it's a game so simple and refined and timeless that one can scarcely imagine a world where a modern iteration like 256 could be inferior to the original thirty-year-old game cabinets. But here we are.
Ostensibly, PAC-MAN 256 takes the core, classic PAC-MAN game, updates its visuals to fit our current HD era, and offers several dozen different skins. The idea being, I believe, that with so many different choices of aesthetic, players can enjoy the same, beloved PAC-MAN gameplay as the arcade original with so many unique and varied skins that the experience will feel fresh and modern. It's the classic old game you know and love, 256 insists, but with a fresh new coat of paint slathered on top.
Only PAC-MAN 256 is not the same game, not quite. With Classic PAC-MAN, you maneuver the titular character through a simple maze, consuming pellets and avoiding different-colored ghosts, each of whom exhibits different behavior. In addition to the aesthetic choices, 256 adds more enemy variation and power-ups to make traversing the maze a more dynamic experience. Sounds pretty good so far, right? And it would be, if not for one small change that (accidentally, I assume) makes 256 inferior to the original.
It's all down to the maze. In classic PAC-MAN, the entire maze is represented in the screen at once. You can clearly see every possible route and dead end that you might travel down, or that enemies might use to reach you. Literally all of the information you need to know about a level is presented immediately. 256, instead of relying on a single square maze, uses a long, vertically-oriented maze that scrolls up as you play. The amount of the maze you see on-screen at any one moment is thus very limited, with new routes and enemies constantly appearing at the top of the screen as the scrolling proceeds. This effectively eliminates your ability to plan movements ahead of time, hides enemies from your sight, and gives you fewer options to explore as the visible maze is much smaller by comparison. And because the maze is always scrolling upward, tarrying too long in one area near the bottom can result in your becoming trapped, thus adding a wholly unnecessary timing element to the game.
By itself, PAC-MAN 256 is a solid, competently-executed game, and the multiple aesthetic options make it very appealing for fans of the game. But the only thing I want from a PAC-MAN game from the 21st century is an experience as good or better than the original, and 256 does not qualify. So consider this a very tepid endorsement: PAC-MAN 256 is flashy and modern-looking, and can easily provide a few moments' diversion, but fails to meaningfully add onto or even fully adapt the original 1980 game.

It's a mobile game on steam without microtransactions. I got it with humble bundle and since it was basically free I think it's alright.

I don't know how I feel about this game. On one hand, it's Pac-man with upgrades. Some of them are pretty cool but I don't think Pac-man really needs lazers and tornadoes helping him. Worse yet, you spend in-game currency trying upgrade them. It just feels off. Like, if you want a highscore, you have to grind your powerup of choice. I guess that's cool but it's not really a pure arcade experience and it makes me wish there was a pure mode wiithout all of that nonsense.
What's left is a strange, endless runner version of Pac-man I guess works. It's fun and I still like it. I really hope to try out the multiplayer some day. That looks reallly fun too and probably well worth the price of admission.
And I guess that's what I want to say. As a single player experience, I guess it's ok but if you have friends, definitely go for it as I think this is the only multiplayer Pac on steam right now.

Highly addictive! Well worth the absurdly low price.

Love this game, been playing this every single day at school with a friend of mine, currently trying to break the world record. Would love to see more updates for this game as it can definitely become more big! I want to see some sort of a ranking system with several divisions where you can play against players (whoever scores the most amount of points wins) and maybe some sort of tournaments in the future when its more updated, could be really fun and something people would enjoy!

A lot of fun!

Pros
Fun Game once you learn the ghosts and power up systems.
I have played tons of different PAC-Man games and this one is one of the best.
I got it on sale
Cons
the game could have more settings in menu.
no online multi-player combat.
At first your points add up slowly
overall
As a PAC-MAN fan 9/10