Common Sense Media Review
By Christopher Healy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
A classic arcade game, faithfully adapted for mobile play.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Ms. PAC-MAN
What's It About?
First, choose from one of three control schemes (tilting the device, using an on-screen joystick, or swiping). Then start moving the little yellow Ms. Pac-Man around the maze, gobbling up dots and fruit and avoiding or eating ghosts and earning points. For all intents and purposes, the game on this app plays the same as the MS. PAC-MAN that many parents will remember from the early days of video games, with a few additional options and no real-life joystick.
Is It Any Good?
This mobile version of MS PAC-MAN is almost exactly the same as the old-school stand-up version you remember from arcades past. Sure, you don't have that visceral joystick control, but the new touchscreen controls work just great (well, two of the three do). This is the kind of game that feels right at home on a mobile device (as many classic arcade games now do). It's basically the same task over and over, with increasing difficulty each time -- a description which is most definitely not meant as an insult. Kids today will look at Ms. Pac-Man as both a curious artifact from their parents' generation and an entertaining timekiller no different from many of the other app games they're likely to play. Our only gripe: Why does it cost the relatively steep five dollars?
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Pricing structure :
- Release date : November 7, 2010
- Genre : Arcade Games
- Publisher : Namco Networks America Inc. Games
- Version : 2.1.2
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 3.1.3 or later; Android 1.0 and up
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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