Namco Bandai puts PAC-MAN and PAC-MAN CE DX for Windows Phone on sale

By Rich Edmonds
last updated

Namco Bandai has put two of its Xbox for Windows Phone titles on sale, PAC-MAN and PAC-MAN CE DX. As the name suggests, they're faithful ports of the vintage arcade game from the 80s where players control a character who enjoys eating yellow dots. The famous ghosts Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde attempt to prevent the dots from being gobbled up. The gameplay is both addictive and humorous and has been tried and tested as a definite purchase.

Both titles have been available on Windows Phone for some time now, but it's good to see them made more affordable.

We previously reviewed both PAC-MAN and PAC-MAN CE DX, but what's the difference between the two? The Championship Edition DX is an evolved version of the classic title, sporting the same gameplay but spicing up the formula slightly. The maze does not start out entirely filled with dots – each of its sides contains a smaller matching set. Eat all of the dots on either side and a fruit appears on the opposite side.

Chomping the fruit triggers the formation of a new, different pattern of dots. The game goes back and forth like that, with new paths constantly being created as Pac-Man clears sides of the screen. Instead of going on forever, each of DX’s game play modes is timed. It’s all about getting as many points as possible by finding the best paths between the dots.

Should you be an avid fan of the old games and wish to pick up a bargain, these two titles are well worth checking out. What's more is players also have the added bonus of collecting gamerscore through achievements. You can download PAC-MAN (was $4.99, now $2.99) and PAC-MAN CE DX (was $6.99, now $4.99) from the Windows Phone Store. Available for both Windows Phone 7.x and 8. via: WindowsPhoneItaly

QR: PAC-MAN

QR: PAC-MAN CE DX

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

42 Comments
  • bought and bought
     
  • returned and returned
  • Why?
  • Boring and sucks
  • Waka! Waka! Waka!
  • Still TOO EXPENSIVE!!!
  • ^^THIS
  • If you were a developer, you'd disagree with that comment.
    People need paying for the large investment to develop a game... on any platform.
     
    Games used to cost $50.  $2-3 is still a bargain.
  • yes, but good games. this are some small mobile games which should not be compared to 50$ REAL (not windows 8 games) games.
     
    the best game on market, angry birds costs only 0.99$
  • Angry Birds is neither a high-tech game, nor a great game, let alone the best. Games of its nature (simple controls, repetitive, 2-D levels) belong in the $1 range though, I agree. If Angry Birds is the best game that we have, then gaming is officially dead.
  • 100% agreed
  • +1000
  • Actually if I was a developer I would realize that if I priced my apps too high I would have less sales. I don't understand why people don't understand basic economics.
  • Pac man never cost $50.
  • Pac Man was an expensive proposition if you were pumping quarters into an arcade machine over the course of a summer. Imagine Pac Man on your phone costing 25 cents per game, regardless of how far you got.  
    Pac Man for the Atari 2600, which looked little like the arcade version, costs roughly $25 in today's dollars. So you're right, it didn't cost $50, but it was a far cry from the $3 - $5 of the current version. I will agree, on principle that Pac Man should cost $1. This is not a new game and it isn't like Namco really has development costs to recoup. This is little more than a port of a very old game.
  • Sure it did, on NES. And Ms. Pac-Man probably cost the same on Genesis and NES. The GameBoy ports were $30, as I recall.
  • This game is generating a constant revenue since the 90's I think a price drop isn't that much to ask. If it where a new developed game I would agree but not this, these pacman games come out on every os on every everything. So I think they earned enough on this concept.
  • Agreed, for a game like this its insane.. :-/
  • Agreed. Still too expensive.
  • Exactly! CE is a cool game but let's be real. Pfft!
  • Not getting and already completed :)
  • I believe Final Fantasy is also on sale for $4.99, down from $6.99.
  • Great find, thanks!
  • I've been waiting for it to go on sale and finally just bought it last week. 15 hours into, so it was worth full price. I'll tell my friends, thanks for find
  • Now this is worth $5!
  • Hell yeah!!!...Thanks jdelroyc!!!...Final Fantasy is one of THE best RPG's of all-time and it is worth my $5.00...unlike that yellow guy over there.......... :-)
  • Yeah, but I can't buy it here. Region lock
  • That's cool, um off topic just seen on terraria's Facebook page that its coming to mobile's?? Will it make it to wp??
  • I bought Pac Man CE when it was on sale for $0.99.  I haven't played the game much AT ALL, but feel as though I still got a deal given that the original price was $6.99. 
     
    I would definitely recommend 'Try' before you buy.
  • $3 & $5 is still ridiculous. There is a free pacman available in the store by the way, controls suck though.
  • That's not really a legal game and shouldn't have been published.
  • But it was, and unless it gets removed I would never pay for what I could get for free... Actually, I wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't free.
    WPC is one of the few paid apps I have.
  • Wish they would update the game
  • Yes, Final Fantasy is also on sale.
  • pacman ce dx is an excellent game and worth throwing money at! The game is well made, beautfil, fluid, and fun. My only complaint is it needs more modes. The original pac-man not so much. I do not like the controls, and unless it was .99 I will not buy it.
  • dondonpachi is .99
    Go get it! Saves you 2 dollars. Also final fantasy is 4.99, down 2
  • Bought - thanks! Shame it only works on WP7 though...
  • I don't understand why these ancient games are priced so high when A grade games are already much less. I would've bought Jumpman if it wasn't priced so high, and now it's been removed from the marketplace :/
  • Precisely.
  • Regardless of price, these games (especially CE DX) require precise controls that you simply cannot replecate with a touch screen.
  • CE DX is way easier than the original on WP... And controls better. IMO of course.
  • Played and finished CE DX. Such an awesome pacman game. One of the first windows phone games I played. Bandai!