Updates of bewhiskered classics seem to be the main fare on offer to Arc gamesters since companies started releasing games at all for the machine. So after Orion and Fireball, homages to the glories that were Defender and Breakout, I didn't have great hopes for Pac-Mania - an updated Snapper. But I was wrong!

When I loaded up the disc I was instantly hooked by the cutesy tableaux which introduce each level. But Pac-Mania doesn't just add a few fancy screens and sprites to the original; it adds a whole new dimension.

A sloping, fenced maze viewed from the side, ghosts you can jump over rather than just run away from, and best of all a jolly, bouncing Smiley Pac-man. If only the soundtrack were acid house... it's actually very acceptable disco stuff.

Pacman gulps very satisfyingly when eating any of the strawberries or stranger things which pop up. The rest of the time I can't work out whether he's mumbling 'Whip me' or 'Whitney', though I'm sure it's not important.

The game is faithful to its arcade origins. After three goes you must install more credits. A high score immortality can be achieved at the expense of lots of tedium with the up/down keys, and the demo screen says 'Game Over'.

My only complaint is that it's too easy; after only a few games I'd seen all four levels in their various coloured guises. Eventually you see them again and again in different colours and with more devious ghosts. And more levels would have been better, though that will probably be rectified by a Pac-Mania II.