You'd think that after being around for so long, Pac-Man would be ready to hang up his red boots and spend the rest of his life in comfortable retirement. Instead, the sunny, spherical video game icon is taking his own unique brand of fun to the world of kart racing with Pac-Man World Rally. We had a chance to check out the game at a recent Namco press event to get an idea of how this fast-paced racing game is shaping up.

It's probably not surprising that Pac-Man World Rally wears its kart racing influences on its sleeve--after all, it seems like all the major publishers have published kid-friendly arcade racing games featuring all their big-name gaming characters. And in that respect, World Rally is no different--in addition to racing through the multiple courses found in the game as the iconic Pac-Man, you'll be able to choose drivers from other Namco coin-op classics, such as Ms. Pac-Man, any of Pac-Man's ghost pals, or Pooka and Fygar from Dig Dug, among others. Each character will have specially designed vehicles as they speed around the twisting corners of the courses--the ghosts from Pac-Man, for example, drive replicas of the Formula One car found in Pole Position. Another character carrying a huge battle mace rolled around in a tough-looking replica of a Harley. It seems as though the rides are tied directly to the drivers at this point, which is kind of a shame, but perhaps you'll be able to individually choose between characters and cars in a later build of the game.[...]