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The spherical superstar bounces back in phase two of the Pac comeback tour. Actually, Pac-Panic (originated for the Megadrive by Philips, of all people) only pinches the character for a novel Tetris clone that tugs a forelock in the direction of the early Eighties arcade fave.

In an astonishingly inventive scenario, Pac-Panic sees blocks tumble out of the sky and land in a heap in a narrow well. It's up to you to manoeuvre the blocks while they're falling in order to get them to form as solid a heap as possible on the ground - complete 'lines' of blocks are eliminated, making your task to keep the screen as clear as possible a bit easier.

In the bit that is actually fairly inventive, Pac ghosts fall alongside, or instead of, the blocks. As well as manoeuvring the blocks, your task is to manoeuvre the tumbling ghosts so they form clear 'lines' within the blocks - this enables the occasional tumbling Pac-Man to gobble them up.

In Puzzle mode, the blocks and ghosts fall in pre-set and predictable patterns - the challenge arising from the fact that you only have a limited number of Pacs with which to gobble them up. You need to be extra careful about where the ghosts fall. In standard and versus modes, help is at hand in times of tower-building torment by the arrival of 'ghost fairy'. If you've amassed enough points (an indicator in the middle of the screen tells you know close you are) a fairy lands on your block sculpture, sprinkling magic dust which dissolves the spooks.

Although this has obviously got far more to do with Tetris than Pac-Man, the hungry honcho makes an ideal addition to spin a twist on an old fave. And even though this remixed Tetris isn't an entirely original concept, the addition of the ghost gobbler should make it attractive to kids, or nostalgia freaks like me.

Highlights incude the two player head-to-head, where you can offload a bunch of your ghosts onto your struggling opponent if you're clever.

This is an attractively priced and well-constructed puzzler, likely to keep you amused for quite a while.

The Pac returns. Again. But to add a little spice to the equatin, this time it's like Tetris. The main part of the gameplay here is fine, but, despite the price, I don't think many people are going to bother with this.

The graphics aren't brilliant, and are far too big. If they were smaller and more room was left for a wider area of play then it would have improved things. It's also a bit too slow to start with, although it does quicken up. OK for the price, but hardly jaw-dropping stuff.

Graphics 76%
Gratifyingly basic and clutter-free.

Animation 73%
Fairly cute when the 'ghost fairy' descends to dissolve the spooks.

Music 75%
An authentic-sounding "can-can", amongst other tunes.

Effects 70%
Sparse, simple and only when required.

Playability 81%
If you like Tetris, you'll definitely approve of the gameplay here.

Lastability 87%
A naturally addictive mix of two addictive games.

Overall 82%
A neat twist on two classic puzzle games. Basic, but well worth a look.