Aside from the first level, the game is surprisingly open, allowing you to jump between multiple areas, with two to three being open to explore at any given time. Ghost Island is comprised of six distinct areas, each featuring three to four levels and a boss battle. PAC-MAN immediately heads to Ghost Island to rescue his family and take down TOC-MAN. PAC-MAN returns home to find that his family has been taken captive by a bunch of bumbling ghosts who meant to kidnap PAC-MAN himself, on the orders of the nefarious TOC-MAN, who obviously has a few issues with PAC-MAN that he needs to work out. The story is, unsurprisingly, rather basic but works well enough to get the adventure started. While not on par with the greats of the platforming genre, I was still pleasantly surprised by the creativity on display in this charming, albeit short, adventure. As such, I can look at PAC-MAN World Re-Pac without nostalgia potentially blinding me, and I must say – I’m rather impressed. Somehow, I missed that the game even existed despite PS1 being my system of choice during my formative years. I have no nostalgia for the original PAC-MAN World.
