At possibly Nintendo's most successful E3, and the unveiling of the DS, Namco showed off two very interesting Pac-Man titles due to be released for the system. Due to Pac-Pix being generally that little bit more intriguing, though, Pac 'n Roll has been somewhat overshadowed by its 2D, stickman brethren. With its release nearing though, is there really something to be excited about...?

Pac 'n Roll seems far more like a traditional Pac-Man title than Pac-Pix; your aim is to gobble up as many pellets as our yellow, spherical heroin can fit into his belly while avoiding a legion of spectres and overcoming various obstacles. While it sounds like your everyday Pac-Man title, there is a twist; instead of mundane platforming action seen in Pac-Man's 3D outings, Pac 'n Roll harks to the likes of Super Monkey Ball in what is more puzzle than platformer.

You see, Pac-Man appears to have lost his arms and legs, so it's up to you to roll him through the various courses on offer, and away from any danger that crosses his path. Like Sega's Super Monkey Ball, Pac 'n Roll relies very much on gaining momentum and in order to progress; using the stylus you rub the Pac-Man displayed on the lower touch screen on the DS to navigate your way through the worlds displayed on the higher screen, gathering speed to get up steep slopes and over a variety of moving platforms. You call also stop the smiling, orange dot in his tracks by stopping the stylus on him, which will surely prove useful as ledges become thinner and ever-winding as you move on.

There will also be a variety of power-ups available, scattered throughout the worlds. Other than the rather obvious ghost-slaying power-up, a knight's helmet will give Pac-Man more strength, but in turn make him heavier, and a feather cap will speed up Namco's mascot and give him the ability to float slightly, but leave him susceptible to strong winds. Pac 'n Roll does look to have all of your typical clichéd platformer hallmarks, but it is done in such a way that it could be a success.

While the control method alone can't save a clichéd platformer from mediocrity, level design can. It seems that with using the stylus, Namco have a lot more freedom to exercise some interesting ideas along the way. You can expect stages ranging from pinball tables, sure to give Pac-Man a few headaches, to obstacles looking to be in the same vein as Mario 64. It is just a 3D Pac-Man title, but Namco look to be really putting a lot of effort into Pac 'n Roll, giving what was a defunct franchise a new dimension with tough looking puzzles and bit of innovation too.

Visually, Pac 'n Roll is one of the DS' nicer looking 3D titles. While not in the same league as Mario 64 DS thus far, it's certainly looking nice and crisp; complete with some rather tasty looking ghost character models

One thing you can count on is that Pac 'n Roll will be fun, whether or not it will go any further is yet to be seen. The fact that there's a lengthy time between when Pac-Pix was released and impending release of Pac 'n Roll could be promising if it means we'll get a lengthier and more polished experience, but that's just guesswork at the moment. It's certainly one you shouldn't be pre-ordering just yet.

Promising, but will it set the world alight? Leave that to Nintendo…