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Whaddaya mean you've never heard of Pac-Man? For those of you can't even remember when Sonic the Hedgehog was first conceived, this rotund yellow chap was possibly the biggest videogame star in the world when he made his debut back in the arcades of the early eighties. His continuing mission to shoot around psychedelic mazes fleeing from Technicolor spooks and eating everything in his path sent arcade fans all over the world Pac-Man bonkers and screaming for more. In those days you needed an arcade machine the size of a small car to play - this time you hold a perfect full colour version, plus a second game, in the palm of your hand!

With the Game Boy Color debut of Pac-Man, you get two great little arcade games: the original Pac-Man adventure and Pac Attac, which is another arcade classic, Tetris, with a twist. The former is inevitably nothing special. The point of buying this cart is simply to own a legendary arcade classic in miniature. The latter game is playable both as original arcade mode and the more tricky and long-lasting puzzle addition, as you build up your blocks of ghosts to ensure that the falling pac-men will gobble them up in the right way.

Just like the original Tetris, this starts laughably easy before it infuriates you, urging you to play again and again.

Don't buy this cart if you want to make full use of your Game Boy Color, but rush out and get it right now if you have any interest in old videogames. Or if you actually prefer to spend your time twiddling away with an old nostalgic maze adventure rather than experiencing all the latest Game Boy releases. They don't make 'em like they used to!

The graphics are a perfect rendition of the trusty old original, as is, unfortunately, the music. The tunes are so bleepy, they will drive you utterly insane unless you have the common sense to turn it right down. Otherwise, both old Pac-Man lags and the new kids on the block will no doubt be smitten!

It's nearly two decades since the little round yellow one first chomped his way into the affections of the arcade-playing universe. In Japan, where, like so many other luminaries of videogame celebrity, he was born, he was named Punk-Man, but the West decided that this name gave out the wrong signals to kids, and henceforth, Pac-Man, the pill-popping, fruit chewing ghostie grabbing freak lived.

When Namco first introduced the game to arcades in 1980, people decided that they couldn't get enough of him, and so the Pac family grew, introducing Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Jr and even Grandpa Pac-Man, all of whom had their very own games built around them.

The whole family then appeared in their own cartoon, Pac-Land. The games have appeared on nearly every games platform possible, from Atari to N64, and the ZX Spectrum to... Game Boy Color! However, fanatical player Billy Mitchell of the USA never reached the highest possible score of 3,333,360 until earlier this year.

Anyone old enough to remember Pac-Man shouldn't be reading this magazine... well, okay you can, but you can't start talking about 'the war'.

Sadly, I am old enough to remember the original Pac-Man games, but that does make me qualified to tell you that this new handheld version is perfect in every way. There's something about the music and sound effects of a Pac-Man game that gets me all emotional. Needless to say, this game is one that I'll keep in my Game Boy Color for a long time!

Graphics 40%
Just like the original!

Sound 40%
Bleep, bleep... bleep.

Playability 80%
It did become a classic game!

Lastability 60%
Plenty of ghost-slaying depth.

Overall 82%
Your chance to own a piece of history.