Often times when a conversation comes up about the best games of all time the greatest of all is forgotten. Halo, Half-Life, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., and Grand Theft Auto are seemingly all in the mix. For the most part, all of the above mentioned games are, in fact, great. They all do what they do well, and more importantly, they all entertain you. Each game hits its stride perfectly and manages to keep you enthralled while you play. However, there is only one game I wake up and wonder what treasures it holds; only one game that consumes my thoughts when I have nothing else to think about. There is only one game that makes me wish I was a small yellow half-circle. That game is Pac-Man.

Sure some today's game's have a fifty million pixels per second, triple bycloptic shading action, real time water effects, .5 axel retractable nighttime advancement, and even inverted extrovertical micloptic backhanded slap happy kilowatical celltacular special effects. Pac-Man has none of these. Pac-Man needs not fancy graphics with ridiculous names. Pac-Man has sprites, and damn good ones at that. The ability of the game to transcend graphics speaks wonders for the brilliant design of the game. In every conceivable way Pac-Man is stunningly brilliant.

Detractors of the dot munching hero site the game's lack of story, but the fact of the matter is the game does not require a story. Stories are an excuse for bad game play. With stories, developers have an excuse as to why the game plays so terribly; it was sacrificed for story. Or perhaps if the game sucks, at least people will buy it for the compelling story. With Pac-Man, all the design efforts placed an emphasis on genius, not story telling. The game features Pac-Man, your every day yellow half-circle going out for a delicious lunch consisting of both large and small dots, and sometimes the occasional cherry. Suddenly Pac-Man is viciously attacked by four nefarious enemies, Inky, Blinky, Pink, and Clyde . Not to be outdone however, Pac-Man soon realizes that he must eat every dot in the near vicinity in order to defeat the villainous ghosts. More importantly he finds that by eating the large dots, he gains the ability to eat the ghosts. That is the story of Pac-Man, quite possibly the greatest story ever told.

People often site Pac-Man as the game they played for way too many hours in a row. What is the reason for this phenomenon you ask? Ridiculously addicting and outrageously dazzling game play. Few things in life are more exhilarating than being chased down by a ghost and narrowly escaping around a corner just as the ghost passes you by. Those things that are more exhilarating (I retract the previous comment, many things are quite a bit more exciting) are not fit to be written about in this article. In any case, eating dots has never been so fun, nor will it ever be again. Eating dots may seem a simple task, but as the game progresses, the simple task becomes quite intense. Also of note, the level design for each level represents a mastermind of talent, because at first the levels may seem similar, but then, when you're not looking, the color changes, thus causing you to rethink your entire strategy for the game. Furthermore, the sheer number of levels is breathtaking. Featuring a near unbeatable 255 levels, Pac-Man has rarely ever been beaten. It is also widely agreed upon that within the final level lies a 256 th level, one which has not been beaten to this date.

Despite the seemingly random qualitites of the villains of the Pac World, they do have a mind of their. Surprisingly, Pac-Man features advanced AI. That is, artificial intelligence. Each ghost has a distinctive personality. Each moves in its own individual way. Blinky, stalks you like a dirty old man and follows behind you incessantly throughout the level. Conversely, Inky fears you; he will attempt to grab you, but if you attack first, he will back down. Next, do not let his color fool you. Pinky is a bad ass; he is the speediest ghost in the game and will watch you die if you hesitate to run from him. Finally, there is the aptly named Clyde . This ghost represents the stealth force of the squad; he lurks in the shadows, waiting for his chance to strike. The Pactastic AI of Pac-Man is not to be doubted.

Gunshots, Screaming, and politicians rank among some of the most terrifying noises ever let loose upon the human hear. However, in the mind of a pacmaniac, no sound is worse than that of a dying Pac-Man. As the ghosts let loose their horrible fury, poor Pac lets out a scream that informs the gamer he has died. Sound plays an important role in Pac-Man. Seriously, try playing it with no sound. The intensity is gone. With the magnificent Pac-Symphony playing in the background, the player is treated to the harmonic sounds of dot crunching. And what beautiful sounds they are.

In short, never has a game been as mind-blowingly awesome as Pac-Man. The absolute kick ass factor of this game is undeniable and remains in tact to this day. Today's games solve mysteries, kill Nazi's, and fight huge monsters, but none of them eat dots. Often times, reviews often feature a negative aspect of the game in question. Pac-Man however, has no faults, unless of course kicking too much ass is a fault, and if it is then Pac-Man is guilty. He should be hauled away and never shown to the gaming world again. Although, as it stand ass-kickery is not a fault of game, and so Pac-Man still rules. And he always will.

For Staggering Brilliance, and Mind Altering Genius, Pac-Man receives an 11/10.