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Pac32k

Pac32k

Arcade

Overview

Pac32k delivers a compact Pac-Man experience that divides players with its unconventional twists on classic formula. While the 32kb package impresses with its visual polish, gameplay changes like multi-bite dots and respawning pellets prove polarizing. The game's seven-level progression offers escalating challenges that some find rewarding while others consider its ghost behavior and collision quirks frustrating. This tiny arcade tribute shines technically but stumbles in execution, creating a love-it-or-hate-it dynamic among Pac-Man purists.

Visuals Defying Expectations

The most universally praised aspect emerges in Pac32k's surprising graphical fidelity. Despite its microscopic 32kb footprint, the game delivers vibrant, modernized visuals that honor the arcade original while adding contemporary flair. Character designs pop with clean lines and smooth animations, while maze layouts maintain the classic Pac-Man aesthetic with just enough freshness to feel updated rather than recycled. The technical achievement of packing this visual quality into such a constrained package stands as the game's clearest triumph.

The graphics are really nice though, so I would love to see the person who created this working with other projects.

Jennie Lamond

Gameplay That Divides

Pac32k's core deviation - requiring multiple passes to clear certain dots - fundamentally alters the Pac-Man rhythm. Some appreciate this added complexity in later levels, where the mechanic combines with new hazards like flame-throwers to create legitimate challenge. However, others find this innovation more frustrating than fun, arguing it disrupts the satisfying flow of dot consumption without meaningfully enhancing strategy. The dots' full respawn upon death further compounds this irritation, forcing repetitive grinding that tests patience more than skill.

Ghost behavior proves equally contentious. Their predictable, easily avoidable patterns in early levels create a snooze-inducing experience, yet become disproportionately deadly when players gain power pellets. The collision detection - while reportedly improved in version 1.4 - still manifests occasional "phantom hits" where near-misses register as deaths. This inconsistency between ghost threat levels and hitbox accuracy leaves many feeling the challenge stems from technical imperfection rather than thoughtful design.

It isn't a hard task to avoid the ghosts, although annoyingly the occasional times that they do manage to catch you, the collision detection seems to be a little off kilter.

Moshboy

Technical Execution

The game's 32kb compression represents both its greatest strength and weakness. While the visual accomplishment astonishes, the audio implementation suffers noticeably. Only title screen music accompanies the experience, with gameplay limited to sound effects that grow repetitive during extended sessions. The tiny download size makes Pac32k effortlessly accessible - a mere "couple seconds" even on dated connections - but this convenience can't compensate for the absent in-game soundtrack that would elevate the atmosphere.

Level design shows thoughtful progression across seven distinct stages, with later mazes introducing environmental hazards that demand genuine skill. However, the inconsistent difficulty curve creates jarring transitions between breezy early levels and suddenly punishing later stages. This uneven pacing leaves players either bored by the simplicity or frustrated by the spike, rarely finding that satisfying Goldilocks zone of balanced challenge.

Verdict

Polarizing Pac-Man remake with impressive technical constraints

STRENGTHS

40%
Visual Quality90%
Small File Size85%
Level Variety70%
Technical Achievement95%

WEAKNESSES

60%
Dot Mechanic85%
Ghost AI75%
Collision Detection65%
Audio Implementation60%
Difficulty Balance70%

Community Reviews

3 reviews
Moshboy
Moshboy
Trusted

There are a truckload of Pacman clones floating around the big old World Wide Web and there really isn't much to set this one apart from the rest, aside from its small size. Anyone not played Pacman? I would hope not but I'll explain how to play anyways. You control an odd yellow creature that likes to eat dots. The aim of each level is to clear the screen of dots, all the while avoiding the enemy ghosts that wander the passageways of each level. The graphics and sound are actually surprisingly decent considering the tiny size of the game - it really is amazing what you can fit into 32kb when you try. That isn't too say that they stand up to most other games mind you. The only real difference between the game play in this game and the original Pacman is that some dots are required to be eaten more than once to disappear. Presumably this is to make the game more challenging but it doesn't seem to effect the difficulty very much. It isn't a hard task to avoid the ghosts, although annoyingly the occasional times that they do manage to catch you, the collision detection seems to be a little off kilter. Try it out if your bored - if not try something else.

I am a Pacman fan from long back and I must say that this is the most annoying version I have ever played. The ghosts are extremely easy to avoid, and difficult to catch when you can eat them. Furthermore, the differences like dots requiring to be eaten more then once, fruit appearing in different places and the worst of all: all the dots reappearing when you die, do not add to the excitement of the game at all. The graphics are really nice though, so I would love to see the person who created this working with other projects in the future.

Strenholme.usenet

Strenholme.usenet

Excellent little Pacman-type game. This isn’t quite the Pacman from the early 1980s; instead of there being one level you play over and over (or four in the case of Ms. Pac-man), this game has seven different levels of increasing challenge. While the early levels are easy, the game is quite challenging by the fourth level. The game features other things the Pac-man of old didn’t have, such as modern graphics, dots you need to eat multiple times, and, in later levels, flame-throwers you must avoid. The latest version (1.4) is available at the Code99 web site; make sure you download version 1.4, since some bugs with glitchy collision detection have been fixed in newer versions. This game only takes a couple of seconds to download (even on a 14.4 modem), and is well worth it. I’m giving it a 9 instead of a 10 because, while there is title screen music, there is no music (only sound effects) during the actual game.

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