Ms Pacman review - Sega Master System

Ms Pacman is over a decade old, and while I enjoyed playing it, I found myself quickly getting bored of its simplistic gameplay. It's several steps back from Pacmania, where at least you have different ghosts, a new viewpoint, different power-ups and the ability to jump. The two-player mode adds a bit of fun, but even that becomes dull after a very short period of time. If it cost a tenner, Ms Pacman would be a reasonably fun purchase that your parents, grandparents or baby brother or sister could play and enjoy instead of playing charades after Christmas lunch, but at £24.99 it's very overpriced for what is basically a very quick and nostalgic trip to boredom central.

These days, Pacman games are looking more than a little dated, so what have the programmers of Ms Pacman done to improve on the old gameplay. Well, in one-player mode, not a lot. It's the same old dot-eating action, but with bland graphics and sound and laughable "cartoon" intermissions. However, perceptions of the game alter a little once you try the game in two-player competitive mode, which injects a bit of freshness into the gameplay, with each player fighting over the power pills and fruit and bouncing into each other to spang the other player into a ghost. But to be honest, it all gets rather dull very quickly. If you're a Pac-Fan, go for Pacmania - it's a lot more varied and enjoyable than this.