Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Pac-Man and his friends bite into a mediocre platformer.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2
What's It About?
The Pac is back. Following on the heels of Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, PAC-MAN AND THE GHOSTLY ADVENTURES 2 again focuses on the giant yellow hero, who uses his chomping powers to eat ghosts, collect power pellets and power-ups, and save the innocent PacWorld from the evil Lord Betrayus and his loyal minions. Along with friends Spiral and Cylindria -- who also appear in the animated Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures TV series on Disney XD -- Pac-Man travels to various worlds, outer space, and back in time to the dinosaur era to defeat his nemesis.
Is It Any Good?
Those who liked the first game will appreciate the familiar controls and characters and will enjoy the variety in game worlds, platforming puzzles, and new enemies created for this game. Berries that transform Pac-Man into temporary fighting machines -- including Fire Pac, Pac-Kong, and PacZilla -- also are a nice touch, as is tapping his friends Spiral and Cyli to control vehicles.
But don't expect a long or deep experience. Although there's a good selection of worlds to visit, the gameplay is more or less the same among them all. It's not horrible -- younger kids and fans of the show will find a few good hours in this value-priced adventure -- but it's certainly nothing special compared to other video games available today.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether the fantasy violence in games such as Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 is OK. Is violence that's clearly fantasy-based -- such as a giant, round, yellow cartoon character who chomps ghosts -- more acceptable than more realistic violence?
How important is it to help solve a friend's problem? Are there moments when helping can actually make things worse?
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo 3DS , Nintendo Wii U , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Namco Bandai
- Release date : October 14, 2014
- Genre : Arcade
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Fantasy , Robots
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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