Chomping dots and plodding around haunted 2D hedge mazes with an animated pie chart sounds positively quaint, but this retro revamp sure isn’t the videogame nursing home you might expect. In fact, it’s the opposite: a cranked-up and damn near hypnotic high-energy sprint across a flashy, ever-shifting psychedelic racetrack.

The play modes are really just timed scoring contests and races to clear the board, but don’t let the seeming simplicity throw you. What makes this new Pac-Man so addictive is a heady blend of scorching speed and high-pressure pathfinding that’ll make your eyes burn from lack of blinking. Besides the normal ghosts pursuing you, extra ones form napping blockades; wake them by cruising by, and they join the single-file crowd already on your heels. Devouring literally dozens of these tenacious specters after running over a power pill is ridiculously satisfying.

Other new wrinkles include bombs that temporarily imprison the pursuing horde, a cornering system that rewards early turn choices, and near-miss slow-motion. But as cool as these features are, they’re really just bonuses in an already truly great Arcade game.

On Xbox Live Arcade

+ Fast-paced, marvelously addictive race to lure and avoid armies of colorful ghosts.

+ Simple but really fun new gameplay features.

+ Attractive collection of trance-inducing maps, course variations, and visual skins.

? Can we get a Ms. Pac-Man Championship Edition right now?

9.0