is a 1999 platform game developed and published by Namco Hometek for the PlayStation. Controlling Pac-Man, the player must complete each of the game's six worlds by collecting keys to free his captive family members, and reaching the end of each stage. The plot follows Pac-Man on a journey to Ghost Island, where his family is being held hostage by someone claiming to be the real Pac-Man.
The game originally began as an open-world adventure game titled Pac-Man Ghost Zone, with development headed by director Bill Anderson and designer Scott Rogers. After being unhappy with the game's quality, Namco scrapped the game and fired nearly the entire team aside from Rogers and a few others. The development team focused on making the game live up to the "flavor and feel" of the original Pac-Man, and to successfully bring the character into an enjoyable 3D adventure game.
Pac-Man World was a critical and commercial success, selling over 1.25 million copies in North America alone. Reviewers praised the game's originality, colorful graphics, gameplay mechanics, and soundtrack, although some criticized the gameplay for being repetitive due to its constant use of backtracking. A Game Boy Advance version was developed by Full Fat and released in 2004, while the PlayStation version was digitally re-released for the PlayStation Network in 2013 under the PSone Classics brand. It was followed by two sequels, Pac-Man World 2 (2002) and Pac-Man World 3 (2005), and a racing spin-off, Pac-Man World Rally (2006). A remake developed by Now Production and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, titled Pac-Man World Re-Pac, was released in August 2022.
Gameplay
thumb|left|In-game screenshot taken from the game's first level, Buccaneer Beach. The player's health and amount of pellets collected are respectively shown at the top left and top right.
Pac-Man World is a 3D platform video game. Controlling Pac-Man, the player must complete each of the game's six worlds to rescue his family and friends, who are held captive by the ghosts in their homeland of Ghost Island.
Levels contain fruit that can be eaten for bonus points, alongside letters that spell out "PACMAN". Collecting all of these letters in a level will unlock a secret bonus stage. Headed by Namco Hometek director Bill Anderson, the game followed a teenager being sucked into a Pac-Man arcade cabinet by the ghosts and their leader the Ghost Lord, and transforming into Pac-Man. Namco also pushed the release date back to 1998 to allow the game to be reworked. The team decided to revamp the project with a new gameplay engine.
Rogers, who had previously worked on localization for Namco's own Soul Edge and Xevious 3D/G, became the head designer of the project and created many of the enemies and stage layouts. The game was released in North America on October 15, 1999, to coincide with the original release of Pac-Man in the United States. The advertisements notably featured Mr. T and Verne Troyer as neighbors in Beverly Hills who are shocked to see Pac-Man move into and renovate the house across the street from them. It was later released in Japan on November 2, 1999 and in Europe on February 28, 2000. A Game Boy Advance version was developed by Full Fat and released in 2004. The PlayStation version was digitally re-released on the PlayStation Network in 2013, part of the PSone Classics brand.