Pac-Man: Special Color Edition

Pac-Man: Special Color Edition brings the classic maze chase to Game Boy Color in color, enriched with several new game modes that Namco created specifically for this version. Alongside the traditional maze from the arcade original, the game also offers a variant with a more open map and additional modes focused on collecting points or escaping the ghosts under altered conditions, giving players of the time a reason to come back even after mastering the base game. There's also a high-score leaderboard and the ability to compete against your own previous results, which makes the game perfect for short, repeated play sessions. Rising difficulty and an increasing number of ghosts in later rounds keep the tension going even after many rounds played, so the game works well as a long-term challenge to improve your own performance.

The color treatment of the individual mazes helps with orientation — walls, dots, and ghosts are distinguishable at a glance even at the GBC display's low resolution, and Pac-Man's smooth movement remains as precise as in the arcade original. The music and sound effects draw on the series' recognizable themes and accompany the game with a lightness that matches its relentless but never frustrating pace. The controls stay faithful to the original, so players used to the arcade cabinet will feel at home on the GBC version almost instantly.

Reviews at the time of release praised above all the fidelity to the original gameplay and the added value of the new modes, which made this one of the most complete ports of Pac-Man to a handheld of its era. It remains a game that fans of the arcade classic recommend as one of the best ways to play Pac-Man on the go without losing the essence of the original. The simplicity of the rules combined with careful execution makes it a title that works just as well for a quick bit of fun as for a long chase after a high score.

Why play it: Thanks to its fidelity to the original arcade gameplay and its rich selection of game modes, it's one of the best ways to play Pac-Man on the go without losing the essence of the original.