Ms. Pac Man Maze Madness

Plot

Professor Pac learns that the evil forces have taken control of the Enchanted Castle, using black magic. The princess has vanished, and a witch named Mesmerelda is planning on stealing all four Gems of Virtue (Generosity, Truth, Wisdom, and Courage) to control the "four wonders" (areas of Pac-Land). These four areas each have enemies in them, and are blocked by mysterious force fields. Professor Pac creates a device called the Pactrometer, which allows Ms. Pac-Man to go to these areas to recover the gems before Mesmerelda can get them first. However, as the Professor is telling Ms. Pac-Man this, he gets sucked into a mirror by the witch, leaving Ms. Pac-Man with the Pactrometer. As she journeys through the areas, she is helped by video messages that the Professor placed in the Pactrometer, and by holograms of Professor Pac.

As Ms. Pac-Man gathers the last of the gems, they are stolen by Mesmerelda. A battle ensues and the witch is defeated and runs away, leaving behind a key. Without the key, Mesmerelda is unable to get into the castle to reach her crystal ball, and thus cannot use the gems.

Ms. Pac-Man returns to fight for the gems, and this time wins, regaining the gems. With them and the Pactrometer, the witch's spell is broken, and Mesmerelda returns to her true form as the princess. Professor Pac, Ms. Pac Man, and the princess proceed to celebrate their victory.

Gameplay

The player must navigate a series of mazes with Ms. Pac-Man. Along the way, she encounters such obstacles as moving blocks, exploding boxes, and locked doors. To help her, there is 'Pac-Dot Radar' to locate missing dots the player will need before being allowed to reach the next section of a level. Placed about the maze are such devices as spring tiles (to jump over the walls of the maze, and sometimes on top of them); switches, keys, hearts to regain her health, and 'Power Pellets' used to allow Ms. Pac-Man to eat all the enemies in the area for a limited time.

As the player progresses, they must eat yellow dots scattered about each area, once they have eaten enough of these, a door will open, allowing them to reach a new section of that area. Each area has its own amount of dots, as well as snacks such as fruit and pretzels. If the player can get all of these, as well as reaching the exit of the areas, they are rewarded with a 'Gold Star'. Once an area is beaten, the player can also play it again for a Time Trial, 'Gold Star', and 'Gold Clock'. Earning enough stars will unlock various features such as 'Bouns Rounds' between some levels, and a 'Movie Player' to watch the game's animated scenes.

Each enemy and item that the player eats gives them more points, which can earn them additional lives, as well as allow them to unlock other features. After beating the two in-game bosses (the green 'Gobblin' and the final boss 'Mesmerelda'), the player receives the 'Witch's Key' which allows them to unlock various locations in the earlier areas. However, the game requires the player to beat the bosses twice in order to see the game's ending.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer mode allows up to 4 people to play simultaneously (although a player can play solo, verse three computer-controlled characters).

There are three different multiplayer modes:

Classic Ms. Pac-Man

The original arcade version of Ms. Pac-Man is freely playable as an option on the main menu, similar to how the original Pac-Man arcade game was freely available on the main menu of the 20th Anniversary Pac-Man World game. This was not included in the Game Boy Advance version.

Reception

The reception for Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness was mainly positive. IGN stated on the Nintendo 64 review "The simple gameplay of Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness makes it an ideal choice for young kids", and also adds "However, solid gameplay and some great extras will interest [we] "older kids as well". GameSpot gave this game a rating of 65% for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance, 68% for the Nintendo 64, and 69% for the Dreamcast, saying that "While Maze Madness may be overly easy for experienced gamers, the younger crowd and inexperienced gamers should have loads of fun with the game." The multiplayer mode received less favorable Nintendo Power, stated "The multiplayer mode stumbles," while N64 Magazine gave it a much harsher description: "The Multiplayer mazes are viewed from three-quarters angle — and the blurry visuals make it all but impossible to see what's going on." They also continue comparing the tag games as being "ruined by the fact that the chasers move twice as fast as the other players." Their final comment on the 'Multiplayer' mode is simply "Terrible."

Cancelled sequel

There was originally supposed to be a sequel to this game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube called Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness 2, which was to be developed by TKO Software and to be released in 2005, but it was quietly cancelled due to the saturated market of the maze game genre.