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Pac-Mania

 
Games: Pac-Mania
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Game Description

Everyone's favorite yellow chomping circle of a being is back and upgraded in Pac-Mania. Just as in the 1980 classic, you control Pac-Man through a maze as he attempts to gobble up all of the onscreen pellets before a ghost captures him.

As one might expect from a sequel released seven years after the original, there are several new features in Pac-Mania. Right away you'll notice that what once was a 2D maze with 2D characters is now 3D in both respects with a diagonal tilt. Also, you now have the ability to jump over the ghosts in your way, some of whom will tail you ruthlessly.

The cast of ghosts includes those from Pac-Man and 1982's Ms. Pac-Man -- Clyde, Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Sue -- as well as Funky, a new character blessed with the ability to jump like Pac-Man. Instead of just four ghosts as in the orignial, expect up to six of them onscreen at once, each with his or her own personality.

If things get too hairy, keep in mind that each corner of the maze houses a power pellet that will enable you to turn the ghosts into your next tasty treat. Its effects only last a few seconds, though, so make the best of this time. Other delectable edibles include green power pellets (speed boost), red power pellets (double points) and fruit (extra points).

Once all pellets in a level are devoured, you'll move on to the next, harder one. But if you trust your skills, you have the option of starting as high in the game as round four.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

By 1987 the Pac-Man franchise was hurting. After the release of the original game, such sequels as Ms. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man were introduced in the years to follow. Each of these games differed slightly, but was just a clone of the original at the core, eventually causing gamers to wonder when we'd be seeing "Uncle Pac-Man" or "Grandma Pac-Man." Luckily, no more relationship-based sequels were released. Instead, we got to relive the original in a whole new way with Pac-Mania.

Without a doubt, the look of this game sets it apart from all other "Pac-games." It might as well have been called "Pac-Man 3D" as this is the most noticeably different feature from previous versions. Instead of a simple and straight-forward 2D layout, we're presented with a relatively extravagant-looking 3D addition to the series. In some ways this is an improvement, but in others it's not.

The improved graphics represent the greatest strength of the game. Pac-Man and the ghosts that chase him are all beautifully rendered, each very smooth and crisp. You can also see the facial expressions of the characters, which in the case of the ghosts may range from looking rather absent-minded to a real sense of determination in catching that yellow guy.

Further, each ghost has a definite personality. As indicated next to the screen, for instance, Inky is "unpredictable," Blinky is "slow and absent-minded," and leader Clyde is "superfast," sometimes even speedier than Pac-Man.

In such situations where a ghost is hot on your tail, another improvement to the original is helpful -- jumping. Your ability to leap over your foes helps out a lot, especially before you make it to levels featuring Funky, the jumping ghost. (Of course, you've still got the power pellets to help you out too!)

The upgrade to 3D is severely hampered by one factor, though. Unlike in the original where you could see the entire screen, Pac-Mania only allows viewing about one-fourth of it at a time. This is particularly bothersome when you approach the end of a stage and have no idea where any remaining power pellets may be. That extra 10 seconds it takes to find out where you have to go could mean your doom, especially in the later stages.

Fans of the original may or may not enjoy Pac-Mania. While essentially the same game, the 3D upgrade could offend some "Pac-purists." In a way, one might compare it to colorizing classic black and white movies such as Casablanca or It's a Wonderful Life. Casual gamers, though -- or ones too young to remember when Pac-Man was the height of gaming technology -- should be entertained by a fun game. They just won't be playing a classic.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

In some ways it's even more enjoyable than the original ... but in other ways it's not.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Fabulously rendered characters, though the backgrounds aren't very exciting.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

Unmemorable to say the least. It would have been nice at least if they had included the signature "death of Pac-Man" sound.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Like the original, the levels really don't matter since there's not a real "ending" per se (if there is, I couldn't make it there). It's just fun.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

This game is very simple to figure out, but the instructions tell you what each type of pellet does and also describes the personalities of each ghost.
~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide
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Wikipedia: Pac-Mania
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Pac-Mania
Pac-Mania cover.jpg
Box art of the Sega Master System version
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco / Atari Games
Designer(s) St. Daimyōjin
Platform(s) Arcade, Amiga, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, Master System, Mega Drive, Sharp X68000, ZX Spectrum, Zeebo, Game Boy Advance, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Atari Jaguar, Virtual Console
Release date(s) 1987
Virtual Console
Template:Vgreleases
Genre(s) Retro/Maze
Mode(s) Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Input methods 4-way Joystick, 1 button
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system Namco System 1
Display Vertical orientation, Raster

Pac-Mania (パックマニア?) is an arcade video game in the Pac-Man series, released by Namco in 1987 and distributed by Atari Games in the United States and Europe. It is a pseudo-3D interpretation of the classic maze game genre and features most elements of the original Pac-Man, as well as several new features. Pac-Mania runs on Namco System 1 hardware.

Contents

Gameplay

Pac-Mania.png

As in Pac-Man, the objective of Pac-Mania is to score as many points as possible. The player controls Pac-Man and attempts to eat all the dots in a maze, while avoiding being caught by ghosts that roam the maze. The player can eat power pellets that cause the ghosts to turn dark blue and become vulnerable; the player can then eat these ghosts for extra points, sending them back to their pen to return to their original color and behavior.

Differences from Pac-Man

Pac-Mania contains several new features and significant differences from its original counterpart. The most noticeable change is the view used, cabinet projection, an oblique pseudo-3D format, in which Pac-Man always occupies the center of the screen and a virtual camera moves around the level to follow him. In addition, the player can press a button to cause Pac-Man to jump, allowing him to evade most ghosts by jumping over them. However, Pac-Man cannot jump over the gray ghost as well as Pac-Man having to jump early.

Joining Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde from the original Pac-Man is Sue (purple), a ghost who will home in on Pac-Man's direction and will follow him around, and two new ghosts (green and steel gray) that jump whenever Pac-Man jumps. (It is hinted through the game's intermissions that the names of the new ghosts are Funky and Spunky, or "Common" and "Grey Common" in the Japanese version, though this is never made completely clear.) In later stages, larger numbers of ghosts appear in a single stage. Also, bonus objects in this game not only include traditional point-scoring fruits, but also power-up items that can have random effects, such as doubling the point values of ghosts or causing Pac-Man to move much faster than normal.

The game takes place in four environments: Block Town (made up of Lego-like building blocks), Pac-Man Park (a 3D version of the original Pac-Man maze), Sandbox Land (walls are made up of pyramids), and Jungly Steps (appearing as pathways with no railings, resembling a set of steps that rise toward the back of the maze). A fifth "secret" level was unlockable by completing the first level (Block Town) without eating any Power Pellets which opened up "Coin Town" which was identical in layout to Block Town but all pellets were worth more points and munching ghosts yielded the maximum bonus without needing to accumulate 'kills'. The game has a limited number of levels, after which the player is shown a brief ending and production credits, and is prompted for his/her initials if he/she has placed on the high score list. The number of levels varies by version. DIP switches in the game can be set to make the game endless.

Ports

Pac-Mania was ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Mega Drive/Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, Sharp X68000, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and the RISC OS operating system for the Acorn Archimedes. Teque Software developed the majority of these and were published by Grandslam Entertainment. The Amiga and Atari ST won the Golden Joystick award for Best 16 Bit Arcade Conversion. Many of these ported versions are considered to be easier than arcade version. The Amiga version features advanced graphics and a soundtrack that has been rearranged for digitized instrument samples by Ben Daglish.

An accurate arcade emulation of the North American version of Pac-Mania appears on Namco Museum 50th Anniversary, and the Game Boy Advance's Pac-Man Collection. Although the one on the 128-bit Namco Museum and Namco Museum Volume 5 also includes a port of the arcade game, they are more based on the Japanese version, as evidenced by its lack of a high score screen and its inclusion of a continue feature. See the article Namco Museum for a chart of games, including Pac-Mania.

A Virtual Console arcade version was released in Japan on August 4, 2009.

Production

  • For a total of ten years, Pac-Mania for the Nintendo Entertainment System was the only Nintendo version of the game available. In 2002 it was one of the games included in Pac-Man Collection for the Game Boy Advance. Later, in 2002, the Arcade version was re-released and included as an unlockable in Pac-Man World 2. In addition to that being the second release on a Nintendo system, Pac-Mania in Pac-Man World 2 was actually the very first official Nintendo version of the game (the NES version was from Tengen).

External links

v • d • e
Pac-Man series
Arcade
Pinball
Console

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