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By Doug Trueman
1990-1995: Pac-Man Reborn
1990: Pac-Man
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Tengen
Publisher: Tengen
The NES version of Pac-Man was pretty straightforward: It was as much a clone of the
arcade game as was possible for home technology at the time. Pac-Man and his buddies raced
around the 8-bit maze doing what they loved best: eating and running in fear. The game
played well, but Tengen didn't realize that Pac-Man was more of a time passer in arcades
than something that gaming fans would like for a home system. Despite the fact that this
was the best home version of Pac-Man to date, it still didn't fare all that well and fell
well short of Pac-Man's prestige.
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1990-1991: Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Land
Platform: Atari Lynx
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Atari
It seems the ill-fated Atari Lynx faded into obscurity almost immediately, but it did
survive long enough for two Pac-Man games to be released for it. Both Ms. Pac-Man and the
horrible Pac-Land were available for this funky handheld at the beginning
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of the 1990s. Though Pac-Land remained
essentially a perfect port of the arcade title (no one really cared), the far superior Ms.
Pac-Man lost many graphical details because of the small size oh the handheld unit.
Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Sue were all blind: Their eyes had been removed. This didn't stop
them from being savage Pac-Killers, however. Sadly, the Lynx version didn't have an
adjustable view, so Ms. Pac-Man and her ghosts were forever small eyeless blips. The
arcade cutscenes were perfect, however.
1993: Pac-Man
Platform: Sega Game Gear
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
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Yes, Pac-Man even hit the Sega Game Gear for a short while in the early 1990s. This
portable Pac was a success, because by this time, Namco had recognized that Pac-Man was
best used to fill time - people generally didn't specifically set aside time for Pac-Man
(a few exceptions aside - you know who you are). Pac-Man gave Tetris a run for its money
as the perfect portable game. It had infinite replay value, and players generally didn't
mind quitting the game at the drop of a hat. Like several of the other versions, the mazes
were too large for the small Game Gear screen, so the mazes would scroll according to
Pac-Man's location. Some players complained this was sacrilegious because they couldn't
see the entire maze and the positions of the enemy ghosts all at a glance. Nevertheless,
the Game Gear version of Pac-Man found its way onto school buses, into car pools, and into
churches around the world.
1993: Pac-Attack
Platform: Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy
Developer: Various
Publisher: Namco
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Pac-Attack was a Tetris-style game that featured dropping blocks, ghosts, and Pac-Men.
Like most of the gem/block puzzlers on the market, the gameplay was simple: You had to
match certain patterns of falling objects together to make them disappear. When a certain
group was completed, the rest of the blocks on the screen lowered to take their place.
When the screen was full and no more blocks could be dropped, the game was over.
In this title, the falling gold blocks were eliminated when a horizontal row was
completed, just like in Tetris. But the ghosts were a different story. The ghosts would
pile up on top of each other (or beside one another) until a block containing a Pac-Man
fell into the pile. The ghosts would then turn blue, and any ghosts Pac-Man came across as
he fell level-by-level were eaten. Pac-Attack also featured a puzzle mode with over one
hundred levels. The challenge of the puzzle mode was to eliminate all the ghosts with only
a certain number of Pac-Men per level. Avoiding vertical groups of blocks was not nearly
as much of a concern as orienting all the ghosts so that a single Pac-Man could eat them
on a trip to the bottom of the pile.
Pac-Attack was an interesting variation on Tetris-style gameplay. While it was more
interesting than many of its predecessors, it fell well short of some of the best
puzzlers, like Super Puzzle Fighter II: Turbo.
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This title appeared under the name Pac-Panic on the Game Boy.
1994: Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
Platforms: Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Pac-Man 2 was pretty much a failure by all accounts. Having almost nothing to do with the
Pac-Man maze classics, this title featured a side-scrolling Pac-Man who walked from left
to right dealing with everyday encounters until he met up with the Ghost Witch of Nentor
who stole chewing gum from the children of Pac-Man (the most bizarre plot we've seen). You
had no control over Pac-Man himself. Instead, in what could be called an almost completely
new style of gameplay, you controlled a slingshot that was constantly pointed at the 2D
scene where Pac-Man walked. As an omniscient voyeur, you interacted with Pac-Man's
environment by shooting at it with pellets. For example, if a snake was in Pac-Man's path,
you could shoot an apple that was in a tree; the apple would fall, hit the snake, and
Pac-Man would walk past it unscathed. If things were really bad, you could shoot one of
three power pellets directly into Pac-Man's mouth, turning him into a flying
super-Pac-Man. He could then temporarily escape any danger and return to face it again
once the pellet wore off.
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Despite the novel gameplay, Pac-Man 2 bombed like a rancid power pellet. Players just
weren't accepting of a luscious, vibrant world where the only interaction they had was
sniping at it from afar with little yellow circles.
1995: Pac-in-Time
Platforms: Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Boy
Developer: Mindscape
Publisher: Namco
The Ghost Witch of Nentor was back for more Pac-inspired action. This time around she had
no intention of letting Pac-Man off easy. Instead of making his life difficult, she wanted
to eliminate him completely, so she cast a spell and sent Pac-Man back to 1975, several
years before Pac-Man was even "born" and before his fame was universal. The
time-bending spell had an unfortunate side effect: Pac-Man grew younger as he traveled,
resulting in him appearing as a small Pac-Boy.
As Pac-Boy, you controlled a bouncing yellow circle with a huge mouth. The object of the
game was to make your way into the witch's castle and into the time portal. Along the way,
though, Pac-Boy had to acquire a certain number of pellets for each level so he could open
the enchanted door that would lead him closer to the castle. The pellets were all in
hard-to-reach areas, so various power-ups had to be obtained and used. Pac-Man could shoot
fireballs at any non-ghost foe (power pellets were the only way to defeat the various
ghosts), use a giant hammer to destroy obstacles, and swing from overhead beams with a
grappling hook like some form of Spider-Pac.
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Pac-in-Time was one of the more creative uses of the Pac-Man license. Though this type of
side-scrolling 2D platformer had been done countless times before, there was something in
Pac-Boy's charm that just made it work. The music was upbeat, the control was dead-on, and
there was something inexplicably magical in the gameplay. Though it in no way resembled
the arcade maze classics, Pac-in-Time was a worthy successor.
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