What is Pac-Man World 2 RePac?
During the early 2000s, many mascots threw their hats in the ring, trying to be the best 3D platformer, with Pac-Man throwing his power pellets into the fray. Starting with the Crash Bandicoot-inspired Pac-Man World, the series continued with a sequel, expanding its world into an exploration-focused 3D platforming adventure.
Pac-Man World 2 RePac continues Bandai-Namco’s efforts in remaking the Pac-Man World series for modern platforms, but does this hungry adventurer find the treasured fruit? Or does he munch on the wrong ghost? After finishing the adventure, I walked away eager to enjoy another course of 3D platforming fun.
Publisher/Developer: Bandai-Namco, Now Production
Platforms: Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC
Price: $29.99 for Base Version, $39.99 for Digital Deluxe Version
Release Date: September 25th, 2025
Reviewed On: PC (Steam)
PC Specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6000 Series
GPU: AMD Radeon 6850M XT
RAM: 32GB
Hungry for Adventure – Premise/Story of Pac-Man World 2 RePac
- Pac-Village is in danger when Pac-Man’s ghostly adversaries steal the Golden Fruit, awakening the dangerous Spooky.
- Pac-Man is well-acted by returning voice actor Martian Sherman from Pac-Man World 3 and gives the muncher an earnestly wholesome performance.
- The rest of the cast is enjoyable, and the overall narrative, while simple, gets the job done well.
While the citizens of Pac-Village are soundly asleep, ghosts steal the Golden Fruit. This frees the dangerous ghost king, Spooky. Pac-Man is then tasked with venturing across six worlds in Pac-Land to collect the Golden Fruit, defeat Spooky, and save the day.
It’s a simple narrative, but the biggest change from Pac-Man World 2 is how it’s presented. Pac-Man now talks, voiced by Martin Sherman from Pac-Man World 3 fame. He adds a jolly, grounded performance to the hungry hero, making him stand out among the Sonics and Mario’s of the world.
Other characters, like the Ghosts and the talking tree Wormwood, are standouts. The ghosts, specifically, are strong foils to Pac-Man. Each one features a unique voice, has charming dialogue, and conveys a sense of history with Pac-Man.
Overall, I walked away from this charming adventure, pleased to see the world of Pac-Man go beyond the simple mazes of the past.
Well-Rounded – Controls/Gameplay
- Pac-Man has a wide list of moves and abilities, giving his moveset depth similar to that of Mario or Sonic.
- He can grab on ledges, bounce on enemies, roll around, and so much more.
- Gameplay variations keep things fresh and engaging throughout the adventure.
Pac-Man World 2 RePac is a standard semi-linear 3D platformer, with the dot-muncher having a robust moveset. He can jump in the air, hover for a short while, and reach higher areas through butt-bouncing. By pressing the jump button twice, Pac-Man bounces off the ground. But when the circle beneath him flashes, he super butt-bounces. Nailing this timing is a tad tricky, but over the course of the adventure, it becomes second nature.
In addition, Pac-Man can channel his inner Sonic the Hedgehog and Rev-Roll. This ability allows him to charge a fast roll in any direction. Doing this near ramps can send you flying, or when on specific moving platforms, reach higher areas.
Pac-Man can also grab onto ledges and jump across them with ease. That, combined with mechanics like rail grinding and stage-specific abilities (swimming underwater, riding a pair of skates, etc), keeps things fresh and engaging.
Lastly, Pac-Man can attack by flip-kicking with the X button or by throwing a dot with the B button. Both moves are new to World 2 RePac, as the original game locked flip-kicking when you were in the air, and the dot-throw was a move from the original Pac-Man World.
A Different Kind of Maze – Level Design
- Level design is semi-linear, while also encouraging exploration and collecting every item you come across.
- Platforming is both fair and challenging, mainly due to improved camera and level design from the original World 2.
- Re-worked collectaton elements (missions to complete), ensuring levels are replayable and fully completing the game isn’t a daunting task.
Contrasting with the original Pac-Man World and its RePac remake, Pac-Man World 2 RePac is a more expansive platforming adventure.
Levels, while still linear, are more open and encourage exploration. Ranging from calm forests, a massive forest with massive trees, to underwater adventures, every level has plenty of discoveries to uncover. With his robust moveset, navigating these levels is a blast.
You can carefully jump from platform to platform, or you can consistently do Super Butt-Bounces to reach a higher area faster. Or use a Rev Roll at just the right angle, flying across a huge casam. The unlockable time trials (where you collect clocks to lower the overall time counter) highlight the depth some levels feature.
And like any great classic 3D platformer, collectables are important in World 2 RePac. Every stage has multiple fruits and other goodies to collect. The fruit is usually easy to collect, as it’s mostly on the main path. However, sometimes they are hidden in forks in the road or require you to do minor backtracking. Fully completing a level is fantastic, more so in World 2 RePac since you don’t need to collect every dot along the way.
Instead, there are now missions in each level, and when completing all three, Pac-Man can unlock a new cosmetic costume to wear. They don’t change anything mechanically, but they are cool to see. From iconic outfits from spin-off games to original ones, this hungry hero can look mightily stylish.
And unlike World 1 RePac, expanded level design is present in World 2 RePac. It smooths over some of the more frustrating challenges and physics issues from the original World 2. Overall, Pac-Man 2 World RePac utilizes the strong foundations of the original game and elevates it in smart, modern ways.
Chopping to Victory – Combat & Bosses
- Bosses are challenging and push you to memorize their patterns.
- The Final Boss was a particular highlight for its largely fair difficulty.
- The game supports a ‘Fairy Mode’ that can help you get through harder boss encounters.
While the game has basic combat encounters, using a mixture of simple enemies to defeat and ghost-munching rumbles, the biggest battles are with the bosses in each world.
Unlike the original Pac-Man World 2, which featured similar bosses in most worlds, World 2 RePac features original boss encounters. Fighting a giant frog, chasing down a polar bear mech on ice skates, and reflecting notes on a massive piano are some of the exciting encounters Pac-Man must overcome.
They are genuine challenges, with late-game bosses specifically demanding you master their patterns if you want to complete all the missions for unlockable costumes. If things get too challenging, the game offers a Fairy Mode, making Pac-Man invincible. You can even still earn achievements/trophies with this mode active.
I used this for the final boss encounter against the final bout against Spooky. This helped me learn his patterns more easily and allowed that rematch to be a manageable experience.
Up for Seconds? – Post-Game Campaign
- Sizable post-game that nearly doubles the overall game content.
- The remixed and redesigned stages are harder, offering a greater challenge.
After the adventure concludes, a series of events leads Pac-Man to visit a new slate of six worlds, each one a significantly harder remix of what he experienced before.
Taking the theming from the original six worlds but heavily remixing them in creative ways, it doubles the length of Pac-Man’s adventure. They push you into using mechanics that you might not have used often in the main campaign (like the Dot Throw combat move) and demand you master abilities like the Super Butt-Bounce.
While completing the main campaign is a great experience, tackling this harder adventure is a fantastic reward for those hungry for more Pac-Land adventures. And after completing all the worlds, Pac-Man might encounter a surprising villain from the past…
Gotta Roll Fast – Sonic X Pac-Man DLC
- Sonic DLC Collaboration is part of the Digital Deluxe Version. Features two levels and a boss encounter against Dr. Eggman, Sonic’s big bad.
- Levels are fun to play through, combining Sonic’s trademark speed and other design elements, while combining them with the core gameplay and level design framework of World 2 RePac.
- Eggman’s Boss fight is very challenging and somewhat conflicts with Pac-Man’s core moveset at points. It’s overall a fun encounter, though.
But wait, there’s more! Releasing in December 2025, the Sonic X Pac-Man collaboration pack came out. After Sonic gets wind of his buddy Pac-Man’s big birthday, he drops off some presents and speeds off. Leaving behind an arcade machine, Pac-Man can visit Sonic’s world.
The DLC pack consists of two levels and a multi-phase boss fight. The levels themselves take Sonic Adventure-like level design and combine it with the strong mechanics of Pac-Man World 2 RePac. Since Pac-Man has many Sonic-like moves already (the butt-bounce and Rev-Roll), it’s a surprisingly natural fit.
It’s not fast like a Sonic Adventure level, but aspects of the series are shown across various set-pieces, like rail-grinding sections and speedy boost pad areas. Those are enjoyable rewards after some tight platforming and hard-to-nail butt-bounces across Badniks. The DLC concludes with a challenging boss encounter against Dr. Eggman, who is one of the hardest bosses in the game.
The reason is that the game demands you have mastered the Rev-Roll ability by this point, which is needed to avoid incoming missile blasts. While the Ring mechanic from the Sonic series is carried over into the boss fight (alongside Sonic stages), it’s easy to run out of rings.
I overall enjoyed the DLC, and if you got the Digital Deluxe Edition, it’s a great bonus to an otherwise content-rich 3D platformer. But for the stand-alone price point of $11.99, it might not be worth it if you aren’t already a fan of the Blue Blur. However, as someone who loves the Sonic series, seeing elements and aspects of that bleed into the enjoyable platforming mechanics of World 2 RePac was a treat.
A Handsome Pac – Presentation in Pac-Man World 2 RePac
Remaking a fan-favorite is challenging when trying to honor the original’s look. Thankfully, Pac-Man World 2 RePac does so with minimal issues.
Pac-Man is very expressive, as are the various NPCs and enemies he comes across. Every world is popping with bright colors and stylized landmarks. I particularly enjoyed the Forest and Ghost Island stages, with the former’s massive trees creating a daunting platforming challenge, while the latter had a rightfully fitting spooky atmosphere.
This is further reflected in the post-game stages, with the theming mix-ups looking visually distinct from one another. If there is one negative, it would be that some of the visual identity from the original Pac-Man World 2 doesn’t translate.
Specifically, regarding Pac-Man’s face. He’s very emotive here, but he had more varied expressions and didn’t always default to his ‘happy’ expressions. I personally didn’t mind this at all, but fans of the original could have an issue with this minor design change.
Classic Tunes – Music
Pac-Man World 2 RePac‘s music is the best of both worlds, featuring a faithful musical score to the original World 2 while also including awesome remixes of every stage theme in the game’s post-game campaign. With the main game’s stages, every level does its best to include the main melody across multiple stages. This works very well, with every track matching the level theme it’s linked to, while also being catchy.
Out of all the music tracks from the main campaign, I loved the first level’s theme ‘The Bear Basics‘. It takes the main melody and uses softer instrumentation to ease you into the fun adventure ahead. It is also quite reflective of the jolly fellow that Pac-Man himself is, being a yellow ball of smiles hungry for his exciting journey.
Meanwhile, the post-game stages are more adventurous with their remixes, leveraging varied musical genres. This includes Sonic-like Rock, some striking techno pieces, and more. One standout from this batch of remixes is the track ‘Hot! Fire Trouble‘. It honors the original theme’s melody while weaving Crash Bandicoot-esque instrumentation, a funky beat, and a strong drumbeat.
Performance
Playing this on my Gaming Laptop, the game ran like a dream. It often ran at a locked 60 FPS at high settings while fully supporting higher frame-rate targets.
I also did not notice any major bugs, glitches, or crashes during my many hours with the game.
Closing Thoughts
As a seasoned fan of 3D Platformers, Pac-Man World 2 RePac was a game I was eagerly looking forward to after it was revealed. Pac-Man is a series that could be so much more than fun arcade adventures. Strong reworked level design, tight platforming controls, challenging boss encounters, and a shockingly long post-game, alongside strong visuals and music, make this one meal you want a second course of.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
Pros:
- Improved Controls and Gameplay over the original
- Updated Level Design that feels great to explore
- Collecting Everything Feels Rewarding and Fair
- Boss Encounters are challenging and engaging
- Visually clean and retains the charm of the original
- Lengthy post-game with a new campaign to play through
- The Sonic DLC Stages are a great inclusion
Cons:
- Sonic DLC Boss Encounter doesn’t completely mesh well with World 2’s gameplay
- Difficulty can sneak up on you at times for some stages, and boss encounters
- Some visual changes from the original World 2 could bother returning fans
