"This following Review will discuss and judge this game as a Remake, If you want more thorough thoughts of the core experience then refer to my review of the Original , as I believe that the core experience is maintained here that I have already discussed before"
As a another part of the modern video games remakes renaissance, World Re-Pac doesn't do much to stand towards either other remakes nor the original game, the budget release asking price might sound more enticing than other fully priced remakes but it also highlights how much this remake thought over and tried to rework some ofthe original's flaws right down from the presentation, while I appreciate the remake use of in-game assets for cutscenes over classic FMVs, I do feel that resulted in the characters being far less expressive in their motions compared to the original, similarly the replacement of voice acting for Banjo Kazooie-esque gibberish is also another step-backwards, The original FMVs might have been cheesy but at the very least were charming for what they were going for, Characters designs were properly updated and they look nice enough, I do have personal beef with Toc-Man's more slicker and refined new look over the original's uncanny, built together by scraps with weird eyebrows but I wouldn't claim it's change that's for the worse, specially addition for jet-pack would make sense later on.
The gameplay is strongly maintained with few proper tweaks and setbacks, for one; the feature to remapping buttons is welcome addition that definitely smooths out the experience for your own preference instead of being stuck with single setting like an the original, Boss battles have been either tweaked or overhauled completely, some for the better or worse, but starting with positives: Windbag, Anubis Rex and King Galaxian receive fine treatment that strives to greatly re-balance them while maintaining the challenge by letting them have more readable attack patterns compared to the original where it often feels like their attacks are tad randomized,
Unfortunately that where my praise ends, whiles the larger flaws that have been expressed by fans like control scheme and boss battles have been thought out and addressed, I wouldn't say same for more subtle stuff that keeps building up while playing, starting off I expressed in my Original review that many of Pac-man moveset feeling un-utilized outside of them being of a situational use, the remake sadly carries that here too, and I would have liked to see some features from the sequels be perhaps implemented here, like the smooth transitions between the rev-roll and jumping mechanic as an example, The likely response to me might be that "they perhaps didn't want to introduce mechanics that potentially breaks the original game design" and while I would 100% agree with that, the developers however already shown willingness to introduce new mechanics with the "hang in Mid-Air" ("HiMA" for short ) mechanic that lets you hover briefly after a jump to land more safely on a platform, however the issue with this mechanic is that it is useless and highlights how it doesn't meshes well with the original design, for one the platforms and hazards were designed and timed to respond to normal jumps, the "HiMA" not only often kills your momentum mid-air but also makes you more vulnerable towards tighter platforms and hazards, you're better off not using it since the game wasn't even re-designed with it in mind,
Backtracking back to the boss battles while I already mentioned improved once, others not as much, Clown Prix, Krome keeper and Toc-Man were overhauled with odd results, Clown Prix perspective change doesn't help all that much in terms of actually controlling a very stiff karts imo, kroome keeper now is rearranged with more obstacles and hazards although difficulty is maintained despite having more space now and finally Toc-Man doesn't exactly utilize your entire moveset like before in the original, the family members replenishing your health bar animation have been relegated to inescapable dialogue cutscenes instead of being another simultaneous element of the battle, which is major annoyance of mine, why wasn't this cool element from 2 decades ago maintained? very unfortunate,
the game even offer an Easy Mode which I haven't enabled but considering the game lack of challenge not sure what lower bar it has to sink to be properly enjoyed.
The soundtrack is nicely intact although I wouldn't have minded some remixes here and there, Although visually the game looks nice, there's an issue with the Lighting, which is an element I also praised the original game for presenting dark and atmospheric areas, with that gone, the temple, industrial and ghost island stages looking more lite then they perhaps should, Pac-man Inconsistent shadow animation can be also problem while jumping in tight spots since it can create depth perception problems which was more apparent during Ghost island stages.
I have definitely complained alot but that strongly comes with how some minor/subtle flaws that should have perhaps rethought off been not placed much into consideration when remaking this classic as I mentioned, and certain elements feeling like steps backwards compared to a game from 20+ years ago, at end of the day, Re-Pac perhaps is worth recommending towards curious fans who wished to revisit the original with new code of paint or maybe platformer enthusiasts, I although I would still side with the original and definitely earns more of my recommendation considering unlike the remake, the original developers were still adapting to new 3d realm and didn't have the original material as blueprint, so I hope you also take the time to appreciate the beauty from both worlds.
As a another part of the modern video games remakes renaissance, World Re-Pac doesn't do much to stand towards either other remakes nor the original game, the budget release asking price might sound more enticing than other fully priced remakes but it also highlights how much this remake thought over and tried to rework some ofthe original's flaws right down from the presentation, while I appreciate the remake use of in-game assets for cutscenes over classic FMVs, I do feel that resulted in the characters being far less expressive in their motions compared to the original, similarly the replacement of voice acting for Banjo Kazooie-esque gibberish is also another step-backwards, The original FMVs might have been cheesy but at the very least were charming for what they were going for, Characters designs were properly updated and they look nice enough, I do have personal beef with Toc-Man's more slicker and refined new look over the original's uncanny, built together by scraps with weird eyebrows but I wouldn't claim it's change that's for the worse, specially addition for jet-pack would make sense later on.
The gameplay is strongly maintained with few proper tweaks and setbacks, for one; the feature to remapping buttons is welcome addition that definitely smooths out the experience for your own preference instead of being stuck with single setting like an the original, Boss battles have been either tweaked or overhauled completely, some for the better or worse, but starting with positives: Windbag, Anubis Rex and King Galaxian receive fine treatment that strives to greatly re-balance them while maintaining the challenge by letting them have more readable attack patterns compared to the original where it often feels like their attacks are tad randomized,
Unfortunately that where my praise ends, whiles the larger flaws that have been expressed by fans like control scheme and boss battles have been thought out and addressed, I wouldn't say same for more subtle stuff that keeps building up while playing, starting off I expressed in my Original review that many of Pac-man moveset feeling un-utilized outside of them being of a situational use, the remake sadly carries that here too, and I would have liked to see some features from the sequels be perhaps implemented here, like the smooth transitions between the rev-roll and jumping mechanic as an example, The likely response to me might be that "they perhaps didn't want to introduce mechanics that potentially breaks the original game design" and while I would 100% agree with that, the developers however already shown willingness to introduce new mechanics with the "hang in Mid-Air" ("HiMA" for short ) mechanic that lets you hover briefly after a jump to land more safely on a platform, however the issue with this mechanic is that it is useless and highlights how it doesn't meshes well with the original design, for one the platforms and hazards were designed and timed to respond to normal jumps, the "HiMA" not only often kills your momentum mid-air but also makes you more vulnerable towards tighter platforms and hazards, you're better off not using it since the game wasn't even re-designed with it in mind,
Backtracking back to the boss battles while I already mentioned improved once, others not as much, Clown Prix, Krome keeper and Toc-Man were overhauled with odd results, Clown Prix perspective change doesn't help all that much in terms of actually controlling a very stiff karts imo, kroome keeper now is rearranged with more obstacles and hazards although difficulty is maintained despite having more space now and finally Toc-Man doesn't exactly utilize your entire moveset like before in the original, the family members replenishing your health bar animation have been relegated to inescapable dialogue cutscenes instead of being another simultaneous element of the battle, which is major annoyance of mine, why wasn't this cool element from 2 decades ago maintained? very unfortunate,
the game even offer an Easy Mode which I haven't enabled but considering the game lack of challenge not sure what lower bar it has to sink to be properly enjoyed.
The soundtrack is nicely intact although I wouldn't have minded some remixes here and there, Although visually the game looks nice, there's an issue with the Lighting, which is an element I also praised the original game for presenting dark and atmospheric areas, with that gone, the temple, industrial and ghost island stages looking more lite then they perhaps should, Pac-man Inconsistent shadow animation can be also problem while jumping in tight spots since it can create depth perception problems which was more apparent during Ghost island stages.
I have definitely complained alot but that strongly comes with how some minor/subtle flaws that should have perhaps rethought off been not placed much into consideration when remaking this classic as I mentioned, and certain elements feeling like steps backwards compared to a game from 20+ years ago, at end of the day, Re-Pac perhaps is worth recommending towards curious fans who wished to revisit the original with new code of paint or maybe platformer enthusiasts, I although I would still side with the original and definitely earns more of my recommendation considering unlike the remake, the original developers were still adapting to new 3d realm and didn't have the original material as blueprint, so I hope you also take the time to appreciate the beauty from both worlds.