Pac-Man Starts Kart
You knew it was bound to happen...
Published: October 24, 2005
You haven’t made it in this industry until you’ve seen your prize mascots turned into kart racing fodder. Considering how long Namco’s been around, a kart racing update is long overdue, but luckily the American wing isn’t shy about taking Pac-Man out of the mazes and plopping him firmly into the races. Behold, the Pac-Man World Rally.
Developed by Salt Lake City-based Smart Bomb Interactive, the racer actually makes the lofty claim of being the “fastest kart racer ever,” which is something we’ve seen and could very easily buy given that the game isn’t coming out until Summer of next year. Plenty of time to make it fast enough to make your eyes bleed. Y’know, in a good way.
“Pac-Man World Rally delivers the most complete kart racing experience yet with incredible speed across outrageous and vibrant courses from well known Namco games,” exclaimed Namco Hometek business unit director Jeff Lujan. “The refined power sliding mechanics allows for tremendous handling in any situation, while a roster of more than 15 classic characters ensures that every race is memorable for players of all ages.”
15 characters over 14 courses, truth be told, and the “refined power sliding mechanics” our good buddy Jeff was talking about actually refer to using slides to store up boost in boost bottles for use later. It is a Pac-Man game, though, so the obligatory power pellet and ghost chasing escapades will factor into the actual races.
With such a long stretch to go before the game’s release, it’s safe to say you’ll be seeing plenty of coverage in the coming months. We managed to get a couple screenshots of not only the PS2 version, but the impressively, uh, green PSP version as well. Do check them out, won’t you?
Developed by Salt Lake City-based Smart Bomb Interactive, the racer actually makes the lofty claim of being the “fastest kart racer ever,” which is something we’ve seen and could very easily buy given that the game isn’t coming out until Summer of next year. Plenty of time to make it fast enough to make your eyes bleed. Y’know, in a good way.
“Pac-Man World Rally delivers the most complete kart racing experience yet with incredible speed across outrageous and vibrant courses from well known Namco games,” exclaimed Namco Hometek business unit director Jeff Lujan. “The refined power sliding mechanics allows for tremendous handling in any situation, while a roster of more than 15 classic characters ensures that every race is memorable for players of all ages.”
15 characters over 14 courses, truth be told, and the “refined power sliding mechanics” our good buddy Jeff was talking about actually refer to using slides to store up boost in boost bottles for use later. It is a Pac-Man game, though, so the obligatory power pellet and ghost chasing escapades will factor into the actual races.
With such a long stretch to go before the game’s release, it’s safe to say you’ll be seeing plenty of coverage in the coming months. We managed to get a couple screenshots of not only the PS2 version, but the impressively, uh, green PSP version as well. Do check them out, won’t you?