Synopsis
by Skyler Miller
This is Pac-Man in name only, bearing just a passing resemblance to the arcade game everyone had come to know and love. In the place of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde are flickering, off-white, anonymous ghosts. Next, a "vitamin" has replaced the fruit. In addition, the scoring isn't right and the escape routes are in the wrong places. But somehow, despite its faults, the game ends up having an unexplainable, quirky charm. Maybe it's the now-familiar opening music, the "bockchoy" sound when you eat a ghost, or the fact Pac-Man looks more like a square than a circle. And short of having a full-size arcade game in your living room, it was the only way to play Pac-Man at home in 1981. For those interested in a much better Atari 2600 translation of a Pac-Man game, check out Ms. Pac-Man instead.
Screenshots
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Ms. Pac-Man
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Extra Creditsby Brett Alan Weiss
Unquestionably the most popular video game of all time, Pac-Man has gobbled more than $1,000,000,000 in quarters and has been played approximately 10,000,000,000 times. More than 100,000 machines were produced in its first year alone. During the peak of Pac-Man's popularity in the early '80s, the game was accompanied by a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, a hit song (Pac-Man Fever by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia), and a merchandising blitzkrieg consisting of lunch boxes, puzzles, T-shirts, figurines, cereal and much more.
Also Available On
Platform
Publisher
Developer
Year
Apple II
Atarisoft
1983
Arcade
Midway Manufacturing Co.
Namco Ltd.
1980
Atari 400/800/XL/XE
Atari, Inc.
1982
Atari 5200
Atari, Inc.
Atari, Inc.
1982
Atari Video Computer System
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Atari, Inc.
1981
Commodore 64/128
1983
Commodore VIC-20
Atarisoft
1983
Game Boy
Namco Hometek, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
1991
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo of America, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
2004
Intellivision
Atarisoft
1983
Intellivision
INTV Corporation
Atarisoft
1982
iPad
Namco Bandai Games, Inc.
2010
iPhone
Namco Networks America, Inc.
2008
Mobile
Namco Ltd.
2005
Mobile
Namco Networks America, Inc.
Namco Networks America, Inc.
2006
Mobile
Namco Ltd.
2003
NeoGeo Pocket Color
SNK Corporation of America
Namco Ltd.
1999
Nintendo 3DS
Namco Bandai Games America, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
2011
Nintendo Entertainment System
Namco Hometek, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
1993
Nintendo Entertainment System
Tengen
Namco Ltd.
1989
Nintendo Entertainment System
Tengen
Namco Ltd.
1987
Sega Game Gear
Majesco
Namco Ltd.
2000
Sega Game Gear
Namco Hometek, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
1991
Texas Instruments TI-99
1982
Wii
Namco Bandai Games America, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
2007
Xbox 360
Namco Bandai Games America, Inc.
Namco Bandai Games, Inc.
2006
Extra credits by Brett Alan Weiss
Unquestionably the most popular video game of all time, Pac-Man has gobbled more than $1,000,000,000 in quarters and has been played approximately 10,000,000,000 times. More than 100,000 machines were produced in its first year alone. During the peak of Pac-Man's popularity in the early '80s, the game was accompanied by a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, a hit song (Pac-Man Fever by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia), and a merchandising blitzkrieg consisting of lunch boxes, puzzles, T-shirts, figurines, cereal and much more.
Also Available On
Platform
Publisher
Developer
Year
Apple II
Atarisoft
1983
Arcade
Midway Manufacturing Co.
Namco Ltd.
1980
Atari 400/800/XL/XE
Atari, Inc.
1982
Atari 5200
Atari, Inc.
Atari, Inc.
1982
Atari Video Computer System
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Atari, Inc.
1981
Commodore 64/128
1983
Commodore VIC-20
Atarisoft
1983
Game Boy
Namco Hometek, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
1991
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo of America, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
2004
Intellivision
Atarisoft
1983
Intellivision
INTV Corporation
Atarisoft
1982
iPad
Namco Bandai Games, Inc.
2010
iPhone
Namco Networks America, Inc.
2008
Mobile
Namco Ltd.
2005
Mobile
Namco Networks America, Inc.
Namco Networks America, Inc.
2006
Mobile
Namco Ltd.
2003
NeoGeo Pocket Color
SNK Corporation of America
Namco Ltd.
1999
Nintendo 3DS
Namco Bandai Games America, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
2011
Nintendo Entertainment System
Namco Hometek, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
1993
Nintendo Entertainment System
Tengen
Namco Ltd.
1989
Nintendo Entertainment System
Tengen
Namco Ltd.
1987
Sega Game Gear
Majesco
Namco Ltd.
2000
Sega Game Gear
Namco Hometek, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
1991
Texas Instruments TI-99
1982
Wii
Namco Bandai Games America, Inc.
Namco Ltd.
2007
Xbox 360
Namco Bandai Games America, Inc.
Namco Bandai Games, Inc.
2006
Controls: Joystick/Gamepad
Flags: Based on an Arcade Game
Included in Package: 12-page Instruction Manual