Thanks to Hamada for helping with edits.
When you’re a kid, you can’t get every game you want. I mostly stuck with a handful of familiar franchises, though a number of other titles did catch my eye. One of them was 2000’s Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, whose commercial always enchanted me. Everything looked vibrant. Seeing a giant, green Pac-Man-esque monster chase the star was impressive and amusingly ironic. Even the ad’s narrator was appealing, reminding me of a fun character. Plus, I had spent a lot of time and quarters playing Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man at arcades; I’m a fan. Over two decades later, the legal quagmire that’s trapping Maze‘s title character has finally inspired me to answer my childhood curiosity and purchase it.
Maze Madness hit the PlayStation (the platform I played it on), Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast. A handheld approximation also graced the Game Boy Advance. (Image: Bandai Namco)
A few opening cinematics explain the game’s premise: a princess is missing and an evil witch is scouring Pac-Land’s four corners for four magical gems, so Professor Pac hires the heroine to resolve both problems. That witch, Mesmerelda, then abruptly abducts the Professor, starting the unflappable icon’s quest. A few other cutscenes punctuate important moments, with one near the midway point revealing Mesmerelda is letting her nemesis nab each crystal—and once they’ve been gathered, she’ll swoop in and snag them. Will Ms. Pac-Man survive this trap, defeat the evildoer, and save the day?
Unsurprisingly, Ms. Pac-Man’s second starring gig whisks her through a bevy of mazes, ones slower and more methodical than those seen before or since. Structurally, most stages are a collection of compartmentalized mazes strung together by linear walkways. Occasional diversions emerge, usually leading to fruits—of which every stage houses seven—or extra lives. Gates periodically block your progress, only opening after a certain number of pellets are eaten (a radar helps players locate nearby pellets). Naturally, Power Pellets let Ms. Pac-Man devour enemies for a brief spell, and checkpoints are generously spread across levels. Springs and various surfaces that alter movement speed dot Pac-Land, and brainteasers incorporate them, movable boxes, and levers, often under a time limit. Gradually, Maze ramps up the difficulty, even if few puzzles are particularly, well, puzzling. Still, if you make a mistake, a switch is always nearby that’ll reset everything; there’s little pressure.
Ghosts regenerate shortly after being eaten; consuming many in succession yields bonus points and either health or extra lives. Any enemies that are required to solve a puzzle also respawn. (Image: Bandai Namco)
This break from Pac-Man‘s frenetic nature yields several tweaks to its formula. Ms. Pac-Man is considerably sturdier, now sporting a health bar (though certain hazards, like lava, kill her instantly). That’s necessary, since the camera and scenery can obscure oncoming obstacles. Though you can zoom the camera out, you never see enough of your surroundings to feel fully secure. That shortcoming is especially problematic during time trial runs, where getting hit shaves valuable seconds off the clock.
Another disappointment is the lobotomization of Ms. Pac-Man‘s ghosts: Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Sue. Unfortunately, that was unavoidable; since your view is limited, planning ahead and anticipating four unique foes simply isn’t possible, so now they just lumber after you identically (in a charming detail, though, they dress differently for each world). On one stage, Pac Crackle Pop, they also drop gunpowder behind them while roaming. A small gathering of new foes complement the ghouls, some of whom have unique abilities. The most interesting enemies are probably the fire-breathing Chinese Dragons. Any gunpowder caught in their crosshair explodes, potentially breaking obtrusive crates; carefully manipulating enemies becomes essential.
Each stage tracks your score—this is Pac-Man, after all—though gaining extra lives is really the only reason to care. You’ll probably finish Madness with a surplus of them. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Maze Madness is often considered the companion game to Pac-Man World. They do share some connective tissue; both feature their respective stars’ arcade debuts as bonuses and are very rough. Frustratingly, Maze Madness facilitates replay value by forcing you to replay stages, potentially three or more times. Each standard stage—of which there are sixteen—rewards up to four stars, which are earned by finishing it, collecting every dot, collecting every fruit, and clearing its dot-free time trial variant. Additionally, certain stages tuck fruit away in areas that cannot be accessed until after your first fight against Mesmerelda, which occurs late in the game.
Unfortunately, nothing in Maze Madness is worth replaying. This isn’t a Sonic or Mario platformer, where mastery of their abilities and tools can yield novel ways to traverse stages. Here, Ms. Pac-Man can only jog and nudge things; there’s no way to reinterrogate a level. Aggravating this further is how Maze Madness frowns upon backtracking; earlier chunks of a stage will become inaccessible, so if you miss a collectible, you’ll probably need to start over. And though I welcome its inclusion as an extra, time trial’s timer is too strict to make for an enjoyable challenge.
Altogether, Maze Madness has seventy stars to collect. At least fifty are required to beat it. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Maze Madness experiments with off-beat mechanics. The first of three optional bonus stages is a bobsled race the game’s grid-based movement is ill-equipped for. During the second, the Misses mans a boat and sails across the ocean. Charging forward is done automatically, but you can steer left or right. Some ghosts ride atop shootable ships, and others sit on rocks and lunge at her. The third is a Frogger-esque trek across conveyor belts that, mercifully, retains Maze’s normal control setup.
Finally, Mesmerelda encounters Ms. Pac-Man twice. Both matches start with her pet, Gobblin, chasing you while she shoots fireballs. Evading them—particularly during the rematch—demands a high level of precision; one mistake can prove fatal, a harsh whiplash from Maze’s otherwise forgiving pace. Afterwards, Mesmerelda directly confronts Ms. Pac-Man, who must retaliate by using conveniently placed machines. Their duels are fine, nothing too engaging nor irritating. Still, Maze meanders after their first match. Basically, the villain unintentionally trades her key—which opens those secret areas plus one new, mandatory stage per world—with Ms. Pac-Man’s jewels. Watching Mesmerelda unable to open her front door, rendering the stolen artifacts useless, causes any tension that was building to dissipate—especially if you wind up needing to grind for stars again.
Since Ms. Pac-Man is defenseless on her own, vanquishing Mesmerelda requires dodging her projectiles while triggering these gizmos. Some toss her fireballs back at her. (Image: Bandai Namco)
Although I am critical of Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, I should stress that I do like it. Jon Holland’s score suits it swimmingly. Considering the hardware limitations of the era, the game’s visuals hold up well. There are worse time killers than its multiplayer mode. But more than anything, I applaud Maze Madness’s boldness, its attempt to evolve the franchise. Countless Pac-Man games offer unique spins on its formula. Some of them are great, others are lousy, but there’s only one Maze Madness. This marriage between frantic dot-munching and methodical puzzle-solving is commendable, and though I’m unsure how compatible they are, this is an avenue I hope Pac-Man tries exploring again someday.
Maze Madness may never score a re-release. If you see a copy for a reasonable price and want to experience a nifty Pac-Man experiment, it’s worth a shot. (Image: Bandai Namco)
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