Have You Played... Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+?
Who knew Pac-Man could be tense?
Can you honestly say with a straight face that Pac-Man has seen the same success he once saw 40 years ago? He's been rebooted an embarrassing number of times; I still have nightmares about his "Ghostly Adventures". However, I'd argue that Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ (or Pac-Man DX+ for short) was one of the two times that Bandai Namco were onto something great.
Pac-Man DX+ takes what worked in the classic 80s arcade classic, namely the pellet gorging and ghost dodging, and amps it up by having a yellow face feasting to some fist-pumping dance music. Pac-Man's noisy guzzling will wake up sleeping ghosts who will begin chasing after him. The regular four ghosts will eventually appear and do a good job of getting in your way, but you can always use a bomb to yeet all the ghosts around you to the centre of the board.
While you're being chased around by the spectral horde, it can be quite a tense time. Yet all Pac-Man can do is eat, and eat, and eat, until a power pellet appears. Suddenly the relentlessly pursuing ghosts become Pac-Man's next meal and there's no greater feeling than munching your way through a conga line of ghosts, as you shatter the high score.
Pac-Man DX+ has 14 boards, each with several different modes. It's not a game you'll be playing for especially long, but if you have a quick few minutes spare in your day and you're looking for something exciting, then Pac-Man DX+ is still a thrilling and modern arcade experience.