Following its reveal at the July 2025 Nintendo Direct, we got a chance to try out Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac, the remake of the 2002 Pac-Man 3D platformer for the PS2 era consoles.
For this remake, Now Production is back at the helm after handling development duties for the first Pac-Man World remake back in 2022. Much like the aforementioned remake, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac promises to deliver an experience that was rebuilt from the ground up, all while being true to the original game.
We’re big fans of fun 3D platformers, though we have to admit that we didn’t play the Pac-Man World games back when they were originally released. As such, our point of view is as players who mostly know Pac-Man as the arcade maze franchise.
Familiar Yet Playful Platforming
Our hands-on time with Re-Pac wasn’t particularly long. Thus, we can’t dive deep into all the game’s mechanics and systems. What we’re confident in saying is that the game has a playful and fun feel.
Even though there’s a “2” in the title, you don’t need to have played the first Re-Pac game to enjoy this. After all, platformers aren’t exactly story-driven experiences. Plus, it helps that the moves that Pac-Man can do in this new Re-Pac game should be familiar to anyone who has played a 3D platformer. In this game, Pac-Man can jump, do ground pounds, and attack, among other abilities.
This won’t be a proper franchise entry if Pac-Man can’t devour things. In Pac-Man World 2, Pac-Man can transform after getting power pellets, turning him into a huge, old-school Pac-Man (as he appears in the classic arcade game). While in this form, he can devour enemies in his path.
Again, we didn’t experience a big slice of the game, but our taste of the game was already quite a delectable one. From our time with this new Re-Pac game, this should promise to delight any platforming fan thanks to how playful the interactions between abilities and enemies are. It also helps that the levels we got to explore look great and are satisfying to jump across.
Along with jumping across obstacles and facing off against mobs, players will also eventually face bosses. In our hands-on, the bosses were a particular highlight.
Plenty of Potential
So, boss battles in this game are quite promising. That’s because the bosses that we faced in our time with the game were fun. Sure, how the boss worked in this game isn’t far from what you’d expect from a boss fight in other 3D platformers, but we did like that they can test a player’s puzzle-solving and mechanical skills. We can’t say yet if the rest of the game’s bosses will live up to our expectations, but we are definitely interested in facing off against more of them.
One thing we are keen on finding out more about is the feel of the game when you play it for longer. Having great movement is key in any 3D platformer, enough that it can make or break games in the genre. We noticed that controlling Pac-Man here can feel a bit floaty, but this wasn’t an issue for our hands-on, as the movement still feels responsive. We’ll only know for certain when we get to experience more of the game’s later stages.
We’ve talked mostly about how the game feels, but as a remake, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac also has revamped visuals. As this is built to also run on the older Nintendo Switch, you shouldn’t expect this to be a graphic showcase. Still, the game looks quite nice, and the bright visuals enhance the fun feel of the gameplay experience.
Visuals aside, we were also surprised by the voice acting. As we’re more casual fans of Pac-Man, hearing him talk is quite a trip, and we think that it adds some extra charm to the game.
As for the rest of the game, we’re curious to see the rest of the improvements, especially the various collectibles and customization options. Plus, the game will have a 2-player mode – always a plus for any platformer. After all, platforming is one of the few genres that pretty much anyone can enjoy, even younger players and more casual gamers.
Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac Initial Impressions
We only really scratched the surface of the Pac-Man World 2 remake, but we do think it has plenty of potential thanks to its fun mechanics and abilities. While it may not become a genre-defining 3D platformer, it does promise to provide a fun time for all sorts of players.
Of course, while we’re pretty positive about the game, it still remains to be seen if no issues pop up during the latter parts of Re-Pac. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait too long to find out.
Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac will launch on September 26 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2, and PC.