Over the years we’ve seen quite a few Namco Museums and even specifically Pac-Man collections appear on various platforms. The Switch itself is home to four different releases of Pac-Man—seven if we count the three different Namco Museum releases. And yet among all of those, the cult classic, 3D platforming spin off, Pac-Man World has been oddly absent. This trilogy of games spanning the second half of 3D platforming’s golden age are rarely thought of as the peak of the genre, but they are fondly remembered by many who think back on that period. Now, 23 years since its initial release on the original Playstation, the first Pac-Man World returns in a remastered form as Pac-Man World Re-Pac, and brings a spark of hope for those itching to revisit the rest of the trilogy down the road.

Before we get too far, a PSA for those looking to pick this up on Switch: As has previously been announced, the Switch version targets 30 frames-per-second as opposed to other platforms' target of 60. By default the game outputs at a full 1080p resolution which, while it looks great in terms of raw image quality, causes the framerate to fall well short of its target. However, hidden at the very bottom of the options menu is a toggle for resolution and performance modes. Switching to performance mode drops the resolution very slightly and smooths out performance significantly. The loss in image quality is so minor, especially when playing handheld, that I’m baffled as to why this isn’t the default display mode.

With that out of the way, we can get onto the actual game. Pac-Man World is a 3D platformer that falls somewhere between Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64 in terms of perspective. The camera is entirely scripted and receives no input from the player. However, unlike Crash Bandicoot, you’re never limited in terms of movement axis. You’re always free to move in any direction even when takes on a side scrolling perspective. A more modern comparison would be something like Super Mario 3D World. Pac-Man himself runs and jumps through levels picking up collectibles, defeating enemies, and saving his family who have been kidnapped by the evil Toc-Man and his ghosts. Pac-Man’s primary attack is his butt bounce which both defeats weaker enemies and allows Pac-Man to bounce slightly higher into the air than his regular jump. Pellets, picked up throughout levels, can be thrown at enemies as a secondary attack. Pac-Man can also charge up a Sonic-like rolling dash to plow through enemies and launch off ramps. Levels also contain a variety of fruits which serve as keys for locked doors, along with a Galaxian which can unlock classic style Pac-Man mazes.

Levels are spread across a variety of areas with a few levels and a boss fight in each one. From the start several different areas can be taken on in any order. After completing each of these, another round of areas will open up. Gameplay is straightforward, with a strong focus on exploration and collectibles. Occasionally some of the 1999 Playstation stiffness can be felt in the controls, though it's hard to judge them too harshly for being largely accurate to the original. As mentioned earlier, the camera system feels similar to that of Crash Bandicoot which unfortunately means it also suffers from the same depth perception problems. I had multiple instances in which I’d jump to a platform to my left or right, only to realize it was in fact farther into the background than I’d realized. However, this is not an exact 1:1 remake. For example, rather than using two separate buttons to swim up or down while in the water, Pac-Man now sinks by default and a button must be pushed to swim back up. Levels mostly line up with their PS1 counterparts but occasionally a button will be in a slightly different place, or other elements of the scene will be lightly re-arranged. Finally, the cutscenes, which have all been excellently re-worked from scratch, now feature no actual spoken dialogue. Rather, characters speak in mumbles with subtitles doing the heavy lifting. It is presumably a change to allow them to freely re-time the cutscenes and not have to provide fresh voice acting for each region, but it's a little disappointing nonetheless.

Visually, Pac-Man World Re-Pac looks very nice. It's not as ambitious as other recent Playstation era remasters such as the Crash N’Sane Trilogy or the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, but as a result it looks much better on Switch. The art is clean and simple and it rarely relies on complex shaders. I could see some saying it looks low budget, but given the clear amount of effort put into it when compared to the original release, it's hard not to appreciate what has been done here. The art looks fairly consistent with both the original, and the direction the visuals would take as the series went on. As alluded to at the start you’ll want to swap over to performance mode, but once you do Pac-Man World Re-Pac offers a very enjoyable ride.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a solid effort to bring back a cult classic. It clearly doesn’t have the money behind some other remaster projects but that has worked to its benefit in some ways, specifically on Switch. The new art looks excellent and the gameplay largely holds up, save for some limitations of the time hitchhiking their way into this new version. The choice to make resolution mode the default display option on Switch is baffling when the game runs so much better in performance mode with a minimal hit to resolution, but this can be quickly fixed with a visit to the options menu. Pac-Man World has never been one of the best 3D platformers of all time, but it is a classic well worth playing today. Let’s hope that Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a sign of more Pac-Man World to come.