As the first video game character to achieve mainstream popularity in 1980, PAC-MAN has a special place in both gaming history and pop culture. Casio is the latest brand to take a swing at the game franchise, pairing its original digital watch design from 1978 with a bright and colorful graphic treatment ripped right from the classic game. The new Casio A100WEPC offers a bolder and more stylized look than other PAC-MAN inspired offerings, combining one of the brand’s dependable quartz movements with a vivid, exaggerated take on ’80s arcade nostalgia.

Measuring in at 32.7mm by 40.7mm, the gold tone resin case of the Casio A100WEPC should stay true to the light and compact feel of early digital watches on the wrist. The hexagonal hooded lug design gives the case plenty of sharp angles and wide flat surfaces to showcase the sheen of its gold tone plating, calling to mind another icon of ’80s nostalgia in images ? C-3PO.
Without a crown and with pushers on the top of the case surrounded by a dedicated secondary dial, the case profile is remarkably clean and smooth, which should give the A100WEPC an eye-catchingly unique wrist presence. The crystal atop both dials is low-cost resin glass, and while Casio claims the A100WEPC is water resistant the brand does not readily provide a precise depth rating. Given the sub-$100 price point, however, these measures may potentially be less egregious to enthusiasts than they would be on a more ups...