Pac-Man Kart Rally now live in the Marketplace

By George Ponder
published

We mentioned Pac-Man Kart Rally was heading to the Windows Phone Marketplace on May 2, 2012. Well... it arrived just a wee bit early.

The Windows Phone game from Namco Bandai went live just a little while ago and brings all the goodness of Wifi Multiplayer to your Windows Phone. Pac-Man Kart Rally is the first Xbox Live title with local Wifi multiplayer which allows two players to compete against each other in the same room using two phones connected to the same network and two copies of the game.

Pac-Man Kart Rally includes ten characters, thirteen tracks, and plenty of power-ups and upgrades. There is a trial version available with the full version of Pac-Man Kart Rally running $4.99. You can find Pac-Man Kart Rally here at the (opens in new tab) Windows Phone Marketplace. Keep tabs on the site and we'll have a full review up as soon as we can get Paul off the race track.

Thanks, Zebrasqual, for the tip!

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

44 Comments
  • Seems pretty awesome:D!
  • Terrible game imo. Seems like a rushed project...
  • Yea wish I had gotten the trial. It seems like an early beta to me. One sound track, choppy frame rate, hardly any sound effects. I am using a Titan BTW.
  • I thought that at first, but there is different music for each tournament.
  • Gotcha. Still needs more diversity IMO.
  • I'm gettn it thanx for letn us kno
  • It says "March" George
  • I just tryd it and its basicly Mario kart lol
  • Any tunneling software for mobile phones?
  • You can play against the same account if you have two phones
  • Blah...
  • I just got the 50 multiplayer races after 6 lol. Nvm grinding
  • $4.99? I thought Xbox Live games were going down in price. I guess that was just Microsoft Studios and not Namco Bandai.
  • Namco games were usually $6.99 (Katamari, Pac-Man CE DX, Puzzle Quest).
  • Even on other platforms they're a bit pricey
  • Knock this down to $0.99!!
  • Deal of the week is The Harvest for $4.99.
  • Thanks.  $5 is a lot to pay for a phone game, but I've heard good things about the Harvest.
  • Absolutely terrible game. Horrid performance, weak graphics, weak music and sound effects, poor menu. Sometimes the crap that comes out amazes me, and this is an Xbox Live game no less. Definitely try before you buy, or don't buy this one at all. Multiplayer does not make up for the rest of the game's weaknesses.
  • Not impressed at all by it.
  • it's not very good. not as polished as games like dodonpachi, istunt or zombies on teh ph0ne
  • But it is the 2nd of May today.
  • Not for me but Xbox live was on a roll with games for me.:)
  • It sounded so promising, but the demo feels like a really poor imitation of Mario Kart. I don't think it's worth the $4.99 price tag.
  • Wow, Nintendo could sue...yea, it's mario cart with Pac-Man and a really annoying soundtrack.
     
    I tried the full version, and uninstalled it. Not worth it... not worth $5, Mabye $0.99..
  • mario kart was never ever the first fun racer... i remember several (though not by name) that we played on old pcs before nintendo brougth its mario kart 64...
  • @MacAarburger Nintendo DID invent the kart racer genre on SNES with Super Mario Kart, way before Mario Kart 64.
  • This is correct. And the Mario kart series is the standard to which all other kart racers are compared. Obviously Pac-Man Kart Rally won't be as good - it's a mobile-exclusive product, not a big budget console release. Still, I think it captures the fun elements of the genre pretty well.
  • I don't expect it to be as good. But at least give us more than 1 sound track per cup. The framerate definitely needs improvement. The sound effects could be better. It just seems like something that didn't get a lot of time and polish.
  • I agree with those criticisms - already have 'em planned for incluson in my review. I wish we could at least adjust the balance of music and sound effects to make the SE louder. The game itself is light years better than Cro Mag Rally, at least.
  • Well, if you compare it to Cro Mag Rally its no contest. I couldn't stand to play fhat game for more than 2 minutes.
  • Let me point out the fact that you can't sue for making a similar racing game. You can, however, sue for using the same characters and racetracks.
  • Don't know if its the same for anyone else but it seems to have disappeared off the marketplace im in the UK btw
  • I'm in the UK too and it's showing for me (used the app link). Downloading the trial right now!
  • wow! $5 for a game? does it come with a 3 month xbox live gold subscription???
    ;)
  • Sorry man, everything can't be free. You and DavidCT complaining about prices never gets old though. :P
  • price and quality... ;)
    and i may even stop as soon as the quality increases to par with at least tentacles and the prices drop to free or 0.99 per title 8))
  • Buy a droid and pirate the games, like thousands of games for the free, don't even need to play them.
  • @SlayerSpecial Betrayal, hacker or toller?
  • It is true that this is no where near worth the price tag. 0.99 would be too much for this laggy, boring, beta game with terrible graphics and gameplay. The standard really needs to be raised
  • Don't know what you were expecting from the graphics, but they are fine except for the frame rate.
  • Agreed. Even the magic software engineering power of Windows Phone can only do so much with our current hardware limitations. If the graphics were any better, the frame rate might be a lot worse. It would probably run worse, not saying it's too bad.
  • Maybe its just me, but I like this game .. Lol
  • I'm with you.