If there’s one thing Capcom loves..it’s crossovers, and this could be the strangest yet. Take a look at the trailer above, announcing some of the PS3′s exclusive content for the upcoming fighter Street Fighter X Tekken. Yep, that’s Pac-Man and the oddest choice of a Mega Man — the original box art Mega Man. Yup, the fat one.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of legendary arcade title Pac-Man, Google has launched its first playable doodle, allowing Internet searchers to play the game, in its entirety right in their browser.

That’s right, all 255 Pac-Man levels, plus the 256th, the Kill Screen, are accessible right now.

Play Pac-Man, in your broswer.

The doodle, what Google officially calls the themed illustrations, is the first playable doodle in Google’s history.

Simply press the “Insert Coin” button and you’re good to go! Also, we’re not liable for your boss’ anger.

It feels impossible to imagine a world without the yellow chomper, but believe it or not, Pac-Man is only 30 years-old and has serious plans moving forward.

In honor of the yellow ghost eater’s 30th birthday, Namco Bandai is holding an event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo this June in Los Angeles where they will show “unreleased titles on console, mobile, arcade, and more” and urge attendees to “prepare to witness the next evolution.”

No hints were provided as to what platform or genre these games will be, but Namco did show Pac-Man Battle Royale at a show earlier this year (video below).

Who wants a Pac-Man first-person-shooter? Man, that’d be extreme.

Pac-Man is back and he’s hungrier than ever. Yes, everyone’s favorite dot-eating, ghost-munching, maze-navigating yellow sphere has been resurrected by Pac-Man Remix.‚  This iPhone app, brought to you by the now throwback masters at Namco, brings all the excitement of the classic Pac-Man title, while amping up the graphics and adding tons of extra features in the process.

Though it sounds great, there are sometimes mixed results with updates of classic franchises on the iPhone. Pac-Man does hold a special place in my heart though, so I especially wanted to keep an open mind, even if the possibility of a poor controlling interface or unimpressive graphics was still present.

When first launching Pac-Man Remix, I knew I was in for a treat. The splash screen instantly brought me back to my classic Pac-Man days, while the interface gave the game a more modern look.‚  The opening menu lets users know what game modes are available: campaign and free play.‚  Though fairly self-explanatory, I’ll go ahead and describe them anyway.‚  The campaign mode, not surprisingly, is most in line with the classic Pac-Man gameplay.‚  Players go through a sort of Pac-Man adventure island, exploring different and unique maps.‚  When each area of the island is completed, a new region is unlocked and available to be played.

Each region of the island is unique due to the diverse features found in the maps.‚  At one area, maps will resemble (to an extent) the classic, simple maps of the original title.‚  However, a few levels later, one will run into such additions as elevating platforms, acceleration devices and even teleportation pads.‚  Each map also has its own color scheme and design, again dependent on the region in which the player is trying to complete.

Free play mode essentially has the same meaning in all Namco iPhone releases, but it’s always good to touch on because I see it as an important feature.‚  This mode allows players to go back to their favorite levels and experience the fun again.‚  For a game like Pac-Man Remix, with the very diverse levels and mere depth it provides, having a mode like free play can really help the replay value of a game.‚  With so many games that can downloaded for free at the App Store, a game like Pac-Man Remix , which is currently running for $4.99 at the iTunes App Store, will need any additional features it can get to compete with the competition.

Though game modes are great, the majority of Pac-Man Remix’s value comes from the revamped graphics it features.‚  First of all, instead of the flat, pixelized graphics of the past, Pac-Man Remix brings some eye-popping, colorful 3-D visuals to the table.‚  These graphics make what was once a super simple game into a complex and interesting title to play.

Pac-Man Remix also features one of the best controlling interfaces that I’ve seen from Namco as of late.‚  Though it still offers the (dare I say) awful “Flick” controlling system, which requires players to flick their finger across the screen to dictate what direction Pac-Man should go, Pac-Man Remix offers an arrow pad option that is infinitely superior to the other option.‚  The arrow pad resembles what one would find on a keyboard, making it fairly natural to use.

Blast Factor: Overall, Pac-Man Remix is a fun little app for the iPhone.‚  Sure, its not the most innovative thing anyone has ever seen, but it is quite fun and very addicting.‚  For the price ($4.99), it might be a questionable buy for a lot of iPhone gaming enthusiasts, but for fans of Pac-Man and classic games in general, this is probably a must-have title.

Pac-Man Remix is available exclusively in the iTunes App store for $4.99.

This review originally appeared on Reviewcenter.com in 2002.

An evil force by the name of “Spooky” has been unleashed by those dastardly ghosts and it’s up to everyone’s favorite pepperoni-slice shaped yellow hero to make sure Pac-World is rid of this ancient evil.

The objective of the game is to collect various “Gold Fruits” Once you collect them all you will be able to do away with Spooky by ways of sealing him in a…er…tree. Ok, so the storyline isn’t that great, but c’mon, this is PacMan we’re talking about here; PacMan don’t need no stinking storyline.

Munching power-pellets and chomping ghosts is what PacMan is all about. How, you ask, was this simple concept used to create a wildly entertaining 3D platform game? With a little help from our good friend innovation. This arcade-turned-platform game borrows from a few different game designs and successfully integrates them all into one solid, respectable title.

PacMan World 2 feels like it was influenced from games like Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario World, Sonic Adventure, Klonoa and even Super Monkey Ball. What is surprising is that Namco was able to extract all the fundamentally entertaining aspects of these games without botching the project along the way. Not to say that Namco has a tendency to churn out poorly executed titles, but even the most respected companies sometimes set they’re sights a little too high — State of Emergency and Ehrgeiz for example. The only detrimental thing that this game has inherited from its predecessors is the sometimes in-the-way camera issues.

Every stage comes complete with a uniquely animated and entertaining loading screen, although it hardly seems necessary since the loading times are practically non-existent. But it does go to show that Namco’s development team did not at any time rest on their laurels, so to speak, during the creation of this game. While the visuals are fundamentally simple, the series basic design looks appropriately evolved on the current hardware that it runs on. Which is to say that PacMan is incredibly cool looking.

Real-time rendering is colorful, well animated, and boasts some impressive visual techniques on top of its already sweet looking cartoon graphics. Every atmospheric element that the game offers is equally good looking, the visual quality is consistent all the way through. There is not much in the way of cut-scenes, outside of the cool looking opening cinema there are only a few instances where dialog transpires.

In some respects the game’s sound is blissfully retro, at times using the same exact sound effects found in the arcade original. Music consists of around 20 original musical scores, which effectively give an added sense of immersion into the game’s beautifully rendered universe. Each track was specifically composed to compliment the stage that they appear in. The Haunted Boardwalk level sports spooky Halloween-like music while the stage “Volcanic Panic” includes tribal-influenced tunes. Namco did a great job in the sound department.

PacMan World 2 is an adventure game complete with a Super Mario Bros 3 type world map. The in-game play control style is fully 3D but is also similar to SMB3 in the sense that it offers top-notch, well thought out, running-and-jumping dynamics. What keeps this game from being in the same league as the classics however is its unbalanced difficulty and short life span. For how well the game looks, it is pleasantly surprising to find gameplay that is equally appealing. PW2′s nagging camera issues are somewhat diminished by the fact that the game actually lets you know when the camera is only partly functional or completely inoperable, by means of an on-screen notification.

PacMan is equipped with a few cool maneuvers to assist him on the journey, like the ‘Butt Bounce’ which launches Pac into the air like a super-ball, and the ‘Rev Roll’ that propels him forward — not unlike Sonic’s dash ability. He also has a flip kick that you can perform by pressing the B button while you are in the air, although this particular move is rarely required and seems like it was thrown in as an afterthought. PacMan will run, jump, scale ledges, and tiptoe across rope-thin bridges Monkey Ball-style. PacMan World 2 is about far more then just running around and jumping, you’ll don a pair of ice-skates and be set loose down a steep, winding mountain of ice while avoiding hazards and collecting items, equip a pair of flippers and get down with some aquatic action, and even pilot a PacMan shaped submarine. Namco has really put PacMan through his paces in this title, pitting the little yellow sphere in situations that Lara Croft would think twice about.

There is an arcade on the first stage that you can go back to at any time. In the arcade you will find a slew of emulated PacMan iterations of the past. The roster reads like this; PacMan, Ms. PacMan, PacMania, PacAttack, and a custom PacMan World 2 Maze game. An entire collection of fun games is at your disposal, assuming you have collected enough ‘Tokens’. Tokens are strewn throughout each stage, and as you collect them more Pac-Man games will be unlocked. This adds considerably to the replayability of Pa-Man World 2, as you will inevitably go back to previous levels to collect more tokens.

It’s quite apparent at first glance that this game is wicked enjoyable. PacMan World: 20th Anniversary was a great platforming game for the PSX and was somewhat overlooked in its time, hopefully this game will not suffer from the same fate. Assuming your down with platformers, you’ll be thoroughly entertained from beginning to end.

This brings me to my next point; the time it actually takes to get to the end is far too short. Expect to complete the game in around six hours. But I am not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, what is there is fun — and fun is fun. The included arcade mini-games just sweeten the deal. PacMan World 2 exonerates PacMan from the horribly disappointing PacLand games and the freakishly wrong cartoon on which the game was loosely based. If solid, entertaining, platforming action floats your boat, you would be well advised to pick this title up.

Quick hits:

Publisher: Namco
Developer: Namco
Platform: PS2, Gamecube
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
Launch Date: March 13, 2002

Playability: 4 out of 5 stars
User friendly: 5 out of 5 stars
Support: 4 out of 5 stars
Sound: 4 out of 5 stars
Graphics: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Ratings were determined in 2002