Pac-Man is the very first computer game I played. Well, it could be the second, I don't remember exactly. Anyway, it's one of the titles that got me into gaming, about 15 years ago. Seeing this game on the Nintendo Preview Day sure brought back some nice memories, but do we still want to play this?

GameCube – Game Boy Advance connectivity is Nintendo's Next Big Thing and Miyamoto himself thought Pac-Man was a good opportunity to show the world why. It works quite simple. Basically, this is just the original Pac-Man as you've probably played years ago, but now it's a multiplayer game. You need to have plugged three controllers and a Game Boy Advance in your GameCube and both a GC and GBA copy of Pac-Man is required (it's yet unknown whether the final version will, too). One player controls Pac-Man on the GBA, while the other three each control one of the ghosts on the TV screen. The player using the Game Boy can see the entire field on the GBA screen, while the players controlling the ghost have a limited view. The TV screen is filled with three big circles, which are the screens for the players controlling the ghosts. Their screens are round to make clear the ghosts can only view a couple of meters around them.

Ghosts can score points by catching Pac-Man and Pac-Man can score by eating the dots scattered throughout the maze. When he eats a big dot, the ghost become vulnerable for a while which allows Pac-man to catch them and gain some extra points. When Pac-Man is caught, the player who controlled him passes the GBA to the player that caught him and the game starts over again. After ten minutes, when the controller cables have turned into a big knot because of switching controllers all the time, the game ends. The one who has gathered the most points wins the game.

It's a simple and very innovative concept, which makes a classic game great fun to play again. Fun is assured when the three ghosts cooperate to drive Pac-Man into a corner and Pac-Man manages to get to a big dot, making the ghosts run for their lives again. The game seems to be well balanced, giving Pac-Man enough advantages to last a while with three ghosts, but it requires great skill to eat all dots before you're caught. Overall, this entirely new approach of an old game makes the best use of the GBA link yet.

But…is that all there is? As fun as it is, it's not worth full price, especially not if a GBA cartridge will be required as well. Will similar games still be added? Will the link cable, the GBA and GC games sell together at a reduced price? Will it be included free with another game? Or is this just a demo after all? We simply don't know yet, but one thing is for sure: not releasing it would be a shame, because it's a brilliant party game.