Truthfully this review is in here mostly to make Ben crazy, so he is compelled to do a line drawing of a G1 phone. On the other hand, this is a valid retro game offering, free from our friends at Namco, if you've eschewed the corporate evil that is the iPhone for the open source goodness of Android and the G1.
First comment, the sounds are absolutely spot on, to the point that it's a little weird. If you're playing in line at the grocery checkout, I guarantee that people will be looking over your shoulder, because they recognize those sounds instantly.
The other comment is that the little "trackball" nub on the phone actually works just fine as a joystick. I had an easier time controlling Pac on the G1 than I have on some home consoles (*cough* 5200 *cough*). This makes me a terrible reviewer, but I didn't really have any compulsion to try the other control schemes. It's Pac-Man, and you drive with a stick, period.
If you were so inclined you can also play by swiping your finger over a graphical joystick on the touch screen, or with the accelerometer, by tilting the phone. While you're in the configuration you might want to turn off the vibrate feature for the game. Just because Pac-Man could vibrate, doesn't mean he should vibrate.
So now, if we go back to the beginning, after a Namco splash screen we get the arcade, splash, introducing us to the characters. Very cool. The graphics are spot on. The help screens are unenlightening.
2010 ben langberg, all rights reserved.