Deluxe Pacman

Pacman has been a firm favourite for gamers since it first appeared as an arcade game in Japan in 1980. Today, it's older than many of those who play it, but remains as cool as ever and this deluxe version takes things to a new level.

Part of Pacman's appeal is its simplicity. In age of multi-player games with complex stories and tasks, Pacman looks very easy but its descriptively difficult as those pesky ghosts (known as Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) are faster than they look and getting around to maze to eat up all the dots takes a great deal of dexterity.

The days of having to purchase the game on a tape or cartridge are now long gone as it can be downloaded directly to your computer and be played again and again.

This Deluxe edition was developed by Neil Roy and is really an homage to the original format as it was not produced by Pacman's creators Namco. It does build on the classic, however, and features a few visual improvements.

To begin with, the mazes have been made smaller while both Pacman and the ghosts have been given a makeover and three dimensional look. Sound is also different with a new background theme and a 'meeow' esque sound when the ghosts are eaten.

As you move through the levels, the maze layouts will alter to make things more challenging, while the ghosts will also becoming faster.

The latest version features fixes for those playing on Windows 7 and Vista operating systems, it has a new and improved options menu, includes the facility to alter sound levels, and automatically detects your computer's resolution and changes its settings accordingly.

Deluxe Pacman is quite simply old school cool with a modern twist. Can you beat your friends and get a score over 50,000 points?

Pros

• Fixes for older operating systems
• 3D visuals
• Will make you feel nostalgic

Cons

• Basic by modern standards, but this is to expected