Pac-Man is getting old. He's been on the scene for over 25 years now and featured in a number of classic game compilations that's beyond reasonable count. And yet, his appeal is as strong as ever. The gameplay may be simple in design and yet there's people out there, transfixed by its addictiveness. Now the game has opened up for a brand new audience, as Namco has made it available for the Xbox Live Arcade service.

The gameplay is pretty much to the point. You play the yellow-colored hero as he makes his way through a series of countless mazes, eating up all the dots on the screen. However, four ghosts- Pinky, Blinky, Inky, and Clyde- have set out to stop Pac-Man from completing his task by devouring him first. But Pac-Man has an advantage with four power pellets sitting on the corners of the screen. If he eats these, the ghosts become temporarily vulnerable, allowing him to munch away and score big points. There's also fruit that sits in the middle of the screen that can be chowed down for a few points, ranging from cherries to apples to...keys. Yes, keys.

I won't lie to you; Namco followed the basic route in bringing this game to the Xbox 360. The graphics and sound are exactly the same as the arcade game, and that might disappoint those who are expecting revamped graphics and sound like Frogger has. The display sits in the center of the screen as little arcade cabinet graphics sit on the side, and you can modify this if you want a bit of a closer view. The sound is made up of Pac-Man's gobbling effects, a little intro music, and a siren that picks up in tempo as you clear the screen. That's about it. However, you can play your custom soundtrack in the background, and that makes the gameplay experience a bit more personalized.

As far as extras, I would have liked Namco to include a modified version of the game, like the one featured in their Namco Museum collection for Xbox. Instead, though, there are a couple of noteworthy features. First off, there's some Achievements to unlock, about twelve in all. Some can be unlocked rather easily, like certain fruits you eat or getting four ghosts eaten in one shot. Others, however, take a bit more effort, like reaching level 22. That brings about another great feature in the game- being able to save the highest level you've beaten and starting at that level, if you choose. This is a great feature for those who wanted to reach higher challenges in the game, but could never reach them in one shot. The game also supports an Xbox Live scoreboard, so you can keep up with other players..

The gameplay is fine, too, aside from some moments where your responsiveness is a little off. This might result in you running smack dab into a ghost from time to time. But it's a small learning curve that's easy to get over. So, unless you already own it in a previous Namco Museum collection, I'd say that Pac-Man is definitely worth the purchase. Little about it has changed, but it's still worth dropping $5 just to add it to your library, especially for the extra Achievements and scoreboard support. Besides, I can't think of anyone who doesn't like Pac-Man. Except maybe ghost lovers.

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