We live in an era of nonstop remasters, remakes, and re-releases for stone-cold classics, but the true greats make up a pretty small section of gaming history. What of our nostalgia for those 7/10 PS2 platformers we played through on lazy weekend rentals? Well, Bandai Namco had a treat for us during today’s Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase with the reveal of Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac.
Yes, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac is a remake – and yes, the devs are quite particular about this being a ground-up rebuild – of the 2002 original. It’s got full voice acting across the cast, a landing target to help you aim your jumps, a seemingly Mario Odyssey-inspired co-op mode where player two controls a helpful drone, and optional mission objectives that’ll reward you with items to customize your look.
It seems to be a very full-featured remake for a game that might well have been confined to the bargain bin of history. The original was broadly regarded as a decent if fairly unremarkable platformer whose PS2 edition earned a 73 Metacritic. That’s a better score than many of the dozens upon dozens of platformers released in the era got, but this is still more Billy Hatcher than Jak and Daxter.
And yet there’s something nice about a game like this getting the full remake treatment. In the wake of games like Glover, Croc, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, and yes, the first Pac-Man World getting their moment in an arguably undeserved spotlight, I’m just happy that old platformers like Pac-Man World 2 are still getting to shine. (Even if I’d probably prefer to dig up a $10 copy of the PS2 original over this $30 remake.)
Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac launches across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch 1, and PC via Steam on September 26.
Sometimes, a much lesser game still scratches an itch that the best Mario games can’t satisfy.