The original, arcade version of Pac-Man is such a simple game that most attempts to reinvent it just end up becoming entirely different experiences. The best Pac-Man follow-ups, like Ms. Pac-Man or the recent Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, make small, smart tweaks instead of massive, misguided changes. Today's iPhone and iPad gaming landscape is a lot like the arcade scene in the 1980s, so sooner or later Pac-Man had to make an appearance. Fortunately, Pac-Man 256's great, less-is-more approach delivers a modern, mobile evolution of the classic Pac-Man formula. It's an Editors' Choice for mobile games.  

Pac-Man Crosses the Road
Pac-Man 256 takes inspiration from the original Pac-Man, as well as last year's smash hit mobile game Crossy Road. The game is essentially a fusion of Pac-Man's maze-running, dot-munching, and ghost-evading and Crossy Road's endless structure and retro 3D style. But don't worry, this isn't outright theft. Crossy Road and Pac-Man 256 were both made by developer Hipster Whale.

Grafting Crossy Road's ideas onto Pac-Man may have started as nothing more than an  attempt to exploit the value of both properties, but the end result is so harmonious it doesn't matter. You're still navigating mazes and trying to earn high scores by eating dots, ghosts, and fruit. But the infinite nature of each run totally changes your approach to typical Pac-Man scenarios. No longer are you concerned with sweeping over every inch of the map to make sure no dot gets left uneaten. And you can't memorize routes since they are constantly, randomly changing. These twists are exciting and refreshing.

In the original Pac-Man, if you reached level 256, a "kill screen," the game would glitch out and crash. In Pac-Man 256, if you're not constantly moving forward, that same glitch will swallow you alive. But at least it's a beautiful death. The glitch, rendered as a restless mass of colorful numbers, is the most visually impressive part of the game's already outstanding chunky, 3D, neon, isometric aesthetic. It's a gorgeous dream of the 1980s only possible on 2010s technology, like the iPad Air 2 I used for testing.

Insert Coin
There are a few moments when Pac-Man 256's dueling influences don't entirely mesh. Being forced to think on your feet as you only get partial glimpses of your next possible path forward is thrilling. However, this also leads to deaths that feel cheaper than those in the original Pac-Man. This frustration is compounded by the game's free-to-play features. You can play Pac-Man 256 as often as you like without spending a cent. But to play the full version of the game, you must spend a credit, which is just cute arcade slang for using currency that costs real money or waiting until the next day. If you die, you can also burn a credit to continue without resetting your run. You get six free credits per day and a pack of 12 costs one dollar.

What the full version of the game adds that the free version lacks are a host of fun power-ups that introduce even more strategies into the mix. You ever wanted to see Pac-Man freeze a whole gang of ghosts or shoot a giant laser out of his mouth? Now you can.

The free-to-play model consistently annoys me, but Pac-Man 256's free version is good enough that I am totally satisfied mostly playing that mode. I also understand what the game is going for by putting some features behind a paywall. It sort of replicates the familiar arcade tension of putting real money on the line to rack up the highest score possible. Thankfully, you can also just pay $8 up front and unlock the entire game, an option that's shamefully rare among free-to-play games. I'm looking at you Angry Birds 2 and Plants vs. Zombies 2! 

Pac-Man Fever
Over the years, Pac-Man has struggled to reclaim the dominant position he once had in the gaming industry. But Pac-Man 256 is the right game on the right platform to remind us all why this character and this gameplay deserve their permanent spots in gaming's shared consciousness. It's an Editors' Choice and a must-download for anyone even casually interested in mobile gaming.