Pac-Mania on the Genesis is one of those weird, slightly offbeat takes on Pac-Man that somehow works. Instead of the usual flat maze, you’re suddenly jumping over ghosts like some kind of arcade platformer—which sounds ridiculous until you realize how satisfying it is to hop right over Blinky’s head. The isometric view makes everything feel a little disorienting at first, but once you get the hang of it, dodging ghosts by leaping around corners becomes second nature.

It’s still classic Pac-Man at its core—gobble dots, avoid ghosts, grab power pellets—but the added verticality changes the whole rhythm. The music’s got that late ‘80s arcade charm too, all bouncy and frantic. Not gonna lie, the first time I played it, I thought the jumping gimmick was just a gimmick… but then I lost an hour to it without noticing. If you’ve burned through the original too many times, this one’s a fun twist.