- Release Date: 1991
- Genre: Action
- Style: Maze
- Similar Games: Ms. Pac-Man (Atari Lynx), Ms. Pac-Man (Arcade), Ms. Pac-Man (Commodore 64/128), Ms. Pac-Man (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Ms. Pac-Man (Atari Video Computer System), Ms. Pac-Man (Game Boy), Ms. Pac-Man (Sega Genesis), Ms. Pac-Man [Tengen] (Nintendo Entertainment System), Ms. Pac-Man (Atari 5200), Ms. Pac-Man (Atari 7800), Ms. Pac-Man (Texas Instruments TI-99), Ms. Pac-Man (Sega Master System), Ms. Pac-Man (Sega Game Gear)
Game Description
Pac-Man is arguably the most recognizable video game character of all time. He has made an appearance in some form or another on almost every system -- from the Atari 2600 to the Sony Playstation -- so it should come as no surprise that he is also available in portable form with Pac-Man for the Nintendo Game Boy.As Pac-Man, a hungry, chomping creature, your goal is to clear a maze of dots while avoiding ghosts. Power pills are eaten to make the ghosts turn blue, which is a signal that they are susceptible to your voracious appetite.
The game has necessarily changed a bit from the original arcade version in order to squeeze it into the confines of the Game Boy's small, gray-scale screen. The entire maze doesn't fit on the screen and instead scrolls as you move through it. And unlike the arcade version, where each ghost was a different color and Pac-Man was yellow, here everyone is all the same shade of gray.
~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Pac-Man debuted in the~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
Due to the fact that Pac-Man has appeared on so many different video game systems, it becomes a bit challenging trying to come up with new angles for each new review: How many times can one describe the plot of the game or explain how it differs from the arcade version?One more time, I suppose. Here goes:
Pac-Man is a yellow chomping creature who travels through a maze while eating dots and avoiding ghosts. In the corners of the maze are power pills which are eaten to make the ghosts turn blue (vulnerable). A piece of fruit also appears from time to time, which besides being tasty, also earns you points.
The Game Boy version of the world-famous quarter-muncher is basically your average, run-of-the-mill Pac-Man. No added features, no special adventure mode, no extra bonus rounds. This is Pac-Man. What you see is what you get. Right?
Well, not exactly. The Game Boy does have one limitation -- a small, gray-scale screen -- but luckily Pac-Man is not very graphically complex, and the loss of color does not hinder the game much. And the maze, obviously too big to fit on the screen all at once, scrolls as you move through it. So far, so good.
The major problem, however, is that the right hand side of the screen contains a gray vertical bar that takes up a good one-fourth of the already tiny display. The only information this bar contains is the score and the current fruit level, data which could have easily been placed somewhere else where it wouldn't waste so much valuable space. Maybe this bar was necessary from a programming perspective, but from where I'm sitting, it seems very pointless.
Other than that small complaint, if you're looking to take Pac-Man on the road with you, the Game Boy version fits the bill.
~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
If you like Pac-Man, you'll like this one. If not, look elsewhere.~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Basic graphics that are faithful to the arcade version. However, there is an annoying, vertical, gray bar on the right side of the screen.~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
Accurately reproduces the arcade sounds.~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
See above.~ Skyler Miller, All Game Guide
