Ever find yourself a bit tired of games that take an hour to learn, 2 hours to master and 50 hours to complete? Pac-Man Fever takes no time at all to learn, you can be a top-notch contender after just a few minutes, and the length of play can range anywhere from 5 minutes to as long as you want. Thing is, this is the kind of 'pick up and put down' game made to order for parties and quick romps on your PS2. Compared to some of the epic games out there in the RPG category or visual 3D feasts (many of them originating in the Namco camp, come to think of it), Pac-Man Fever may seem a bit on the light side graphically. And that's okay, because again the point is to get a taste of something that goes down easily, won't fill you up and definitely won't result in a lick of heartburn. And where visuals might come in a little underwhelming, the design time put into the world of Pac-Man Fever shows in small details like the way characters strut around the game board, and the environments you play in. This design went double for sound and music, from the opening theme (a mix of groovy, big-beat dance style and some heavy sampling from classic Pac-Man audio files) to the themed music that plays in a boardgame world during 'turns.' And, small sounds during each mini-game are often hilarious, such as the 'pop' accompanying the sinking of your submarine in one game.

The opening movie had me convinced I was mistakenly reviewing some Warner Brothers' game, as I watched a backlot scene all too familiar from Animaniac cartoons. But, this is actually the Namco lot, it seems. Pac-Man and friends are gathered to battle for the Mini-Game Cup, only to find the Ghosts have stolen the cup and locked themselves in the VIP Lounge. So, with no recourse but to win enough mini-game contests to buy passage into the lounge, Pac-Man and his friends start a game.

The actual Pac-Man Fever section of this game is in a boardgame setting, each player taking turns, sometimes triggering events on the board that might affect other players or augment the number of tokens a player has stored away. There are many instances where triggering an event can have a negative effect on the player unlucky enough to walk onto that particular square, but more often than not, moving around the board is a way to leverage your lead or gain one by knocking back your opponents. After all players have had a chance to take a turn, a mini-game determines the next move. Before even stepping onto the board, you can choose from one of three board themes and also select the game length. Length is not so much about time as just the size of the board you'll be traversing. Once on the board, each theme comes with certain mini-games, but the bottom line is that to really win big, you have to beat the other players in mini-games. Up to four people can compete, and for those spaces left open, the CPU fills in. Strategy in each game is different, and human players will tend to be better at some games than others. Still, there's an equalizer waiting for all the players on the board, where certain squares put even the most inept gamer in command. Send other players back, take away tokens from some or all of your competitors, and add multipliers to your score for the next turn.

Almost everything is fair game, and once the board game is finished and one of the players is declared a winner, you'll have all your credits added up to find how many tokens you'll take away from the session. Using these tokens, you can purchase mini-games, and once you buy every single mini-game you'll be able to get your VIP pass and try to get the cup back from those nasty ghosts! Plus, you can come back and play just a single mini-game with friends if you've purchased it or stage a small competition made up of your favorite mini-games.

Playing against CPU competitors is sometimes tough, but human opponents are always well matched. Very few mini-games have much flexibility or 'give' as far as bending the rules to make yourself an advantage, partly because the games are so darn simple. Various game types mean certain people may have an advantage because of quicker reflexes, but timing and the ability to make some quick decisions and act consistently (if not always with lightning reflexes) level the playing field during any session of Pac-Man Fever.

In keeping with the 'quickie' theme of Pac-Man Fever, each mini-game is introduced by a short description of the controls, an outline of the objectives you'll have, the scoring for the game and sometimes a few small tips. Very few games require more than one button to press or use of the analog stick in conjunction with buttons. For instance, you'll navigate through some games using only the analog stick while in others you might only need to time the pressing of the (X) button and not even use the analog stick. Graphics during the mini-games tend to be top-down, and very arcade looking with some nice lighting and particle effects here and there. During the boardgame sequences, the backdrop has some nice stuff, and 3D models of the characters in super-deformed style strut around the board. The exact flow of the game sometimes suffers if only a couple people are playing, since you have to wait through the turns of additional CPU players instead of just creating a 2-Player game. Guess the whole point is that the action isn't frantic enough in most cases when only two players are involved. You'll see how much the dynamic changes in this case when you take on a challenge with another player; it's easier to concentrate, but not as much fun without all the action.

Earning the mini-games can be done as a single player, but you'll really only want this as a single-player experience if you are either a huge Pac-Man fan or a huge mini-game fanatic or both. Most people will be drawn to Pac-Man Fever on the basis of some great characters from some of Namco's better games (Pac-Man, Tekken, Ridge Racer, Soul Caliber) and some mini-game, party action that makes for a better social lubricant than 80-proof Puerto Rican rum. Plus, you won't have the numb sensation on your tongue, lips and throat. Instead of just being one piece of the party, you may find this little gem spawning a party of its own.