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Amazon.com Players journey back in time to the '80s and beyond in Pac-Man: Adventures in Time. The ghosts have stolen a magical power pellet, smashed it, and scattered the pieces across his planet. With the help of Professor Pac-Man, players will travel to five time periods and from Egypt to the Wild West. There are 45 3-D mazes featuring different elevations and terrains, and designs such as spheres and cylinders. With the exception of Pac-Man's ability to jump, gameplay has remained faithful to the arcade version--he can only move in four directions and does not use objects. Don't go crazy with the jumping, however; when the jump meter runs out, Pac-Man is stuck on the ground. There are 16 playable sublevels containing hidden games that link the mazes, and there are bonus items like pretzels and doughnuts. Players can compete via a LAN or over the Internet. Review When the original Pac-Man hit arcades well over a decade ago, it was an instant hit because of its distinctive graphics and simple yet challenging and addicting gameplay. Since then, there have been a number of games featuring the jovial pellet-eating hero, all of which tried to capitalize on his fame. In most cases, these attempts proved unsuccessful, which has caused the Pac-Man license to lose much of the popularity it accumulated in its early arcade days. The latest effort, Pac-Man: Adventures in Time, is an attempt to bring Pac-Man back to his roots, but with surprisingly solid 3D graphics, good level design, and a few new gameplay features. The most impressive aspect of Pac-Man: Adventures in Time is the graphics. The colorful 3D graphics and the overhead perspective do a great job of giving Adventures in Time a brand-new appearance while still retaining the same simple colors and shapes as in the original game. In the Ancient Egypt levels, there are Pac-Man hieroglyphs on the walls that are clear and vibrantly colored; even hieroglyphs that seem to have deteriorated over time or are covered in sand are clearly noticeable. The game also effectively uses some full-motion video effects in some of the later stages, such as the train stage, where the scenery rushes by as Pac-Man jumps from car to car while collecting pellets. You'll also notice subtle lighting effects that highlight Pac-Man's robust shape, but they're not quite as apparent in some stages as they are in others. Adventures in Time also manages to retain a brisk frame rate even on a machine with the minimum system requirements. Pac-Man's transition into a lush, fully 3D world introduces some new twists to the classic Pac-Man gameplay. Instead of restricting a stage to one single flat maze, you can make Pac-Man run up walls, slide down or climb up hills, and use elevators to reach different platforms. These new environmental features are incorporated seamlessly into the traditional Pac-Man gameplay thanks to the game's solid level design. For instance, obstacles are used in such a manner that they don't just block your progress, but they are actually a well-integrated part of the level. One stage places you in the middle of a cave that slopes down toward the middle where a sleeping dragon is located, and every time the dragon takes a deep breath and exhales, it spews a fireball that travels down a particular part of the maze. Another level takes place in the middle of a medieval jousting tournament as two jousters travel back and forth across a particular section of the level. In the various Egyptian levels, you'll see baskets that contain snakes that will lunge at you if you get too close. There are even environmental objects within the levels that can aid you in your task, such as during one of the Wild West levels that takes place in a saloon with a piano. You can actually run by the piano to make it play, which causes the ghost monsters chasing after you to completely ignore you as they start dancing uncontrollably. In addition, different types of terrain in each of the levels ca