Jr. Pac-Man

Third in the Pac-Man series and the first Pac-Man game not converted to PC by Atari. Jr. Pac-Man stars the Pac Junior, the baby Pac who first appears in several intermission screens in Ms. Pac-Man, which stars his mother (sigh).

The game at least sports several improvements from the earlier two Pac-Man games. For starters, the game is much more difficult, with large mazes that won't fit on a single screen. The monsters are much tougher to kill: even with two extra power pellets, they are very hard to avoid, especially since there are no escape tunnels at the edge of the screen like the first two games.

As if making Pac-Man have a family isn't enough, the game also introduces Yum-Yum, a monster Pac Jr. falls in love with. In the intermissions, we see them run away from their parents, who don't approve of the forbidden love. It's all quite cute, if not ridiculous.

With 5 different maze layouts in the game and challenging gameplay, even Pac-Man veterans will have a hard time finishing this one. Recommended, but not for the reflexes impaired (like yours truly).

Review By HOTUD