Hands-on With Pac 'n Roll!!!

Pac 'n Roll is a Marble Madness meets Super Monkey Ball design that puts the Nintendo DS system's touch screen control and 3D capabilities to use. By sliding the stylus along the touch screen, players roll Pac-Man around on the upper view. The direction and speed of the stylus determines the rolling and momentum of Pac-Man in the environment, so players will have to constantly keep moving on the touch screen in order to maneuver Pac-Man around these 3D level designs.

If Pac-Man's rolling too quickly, there's a breaking system in place -- players simply touch and hold the on-screen Pac-Man on the lower screen to keep Pac-Man from moving. There are also special moves to get Pac-Man around much more quickly; by dragging the stylus quickly from the very bottom to the very top, Pac-Man will actually "boost" in that direction, which is a necessary function to get up steep inclines like a skateboard-like quarterpipe or even a series of ramps spanning a dangerous gap, elements that are frequently scattered around the challenging level designs.

The whole idea is to scurry around the levels using these control mechanics, munching dots sprinkled around the area and avoiding the ghosts out to do Pac-Man harm. But like any Pac-Man game, there are ways to gobble up the enemy for some additional points. Pac-Man will be able to eat power-up chocolate to enhance his abilities, like a Knight helmet that will make him stronger against ghost attacks but slower and heavier to control. A feather cap makes the guy faster but lighter, which is a downside when you hit areas that have a lot of gusting wind trying to blow Pac-Man off the edge. In one of the levels in the demo, players had to maneuver Pac-Man around on moving ledges through windy areas, and it was impossible to get the yellow guy through if he had the feather cap power-up in place.
The 3D engine used in Pac 'n Roll is very solid, offering a smooth framerate and detailed level geometry for all of the different challenges. The lower touch screen displays Pac-Man as a "trackball" of sorts, in 3D but far less detailed than the upper screen. This 3D Pac-Man is used to show players the direction he's rolling, a handy indicator so players can adjust their momentum accordingly if the guy's moving in a hazardous direction. This lower screen Pac-Man also displays the current power-up that players currently have activated. Though the demo version we played didn't have this feature in place, the lower screen will also get infested with ghosts that players will have to exterminate by tapping them with the stylus. IGN