Puckman

Pac-Man was one of the first extremely popular arcade games, and a major influence, if indirect and unwitting, on every computer game that followed. The reasons for its appeal are simple, it is colourful, cheerful and enjoyable; in short it is good, clean fun. Graphics date; fun is timeless. But the real key to its appeal is that it was the first video game to feature an actual character; this is the sense in which this game has paved the way for all which have followed. Pac-Man's anthropomorphic and aesthetic (i.e. "cute") qualities were particularly appealing to female audiences; this was the most popular game among girls at the time, and some sources suggest since. The after-effect was that the character itself became something of an icon; the character was the centre of a merchandising blitz. Pac-Man seemed to capture the public imagination more than any genuine cartoon character did; you could even make a claim for him being the Mickey Mouse of the 80s. I am a big fan of the Pac-Man phenomenon and have a book (Deborah Palicia's ["Pac-Man Collectibles") which details some 160 pages of related merchandising. There was everything from Bedsheets to a US Top 10 Record ("Pacman Fever" by Buckner and Garcia) and from Pasta to an animated cartoon series. It's fascinating how far such a one dimensional concept has spread. The most telling item is an advert for the game "Super Pac-Man" with a hero who "fights a never ending battle to eat row of fruit"! A lot of talented and creative people have worked on keeping this simple concept and character popular for nearly three decades, and millions more have enjoyed it.

Pac-Man is the kind of game that never gets old, even over forty years later. Almost every time I see an old-fashioned Pac-Man arcade machine, I play it.

One day while eating pizza for lunch, Toru Iwatani looked closely at the pizza missing a slice, and just like that, he decided on the appearance for the game's titular character. After that, Pac-Man changed the gaming industry and made Namco one of the greatest arcade video game companies in history.

Although action is involved, namely eating ghosts, Pac-Man deliberately lacked more overt violence present in other arcade games released in 1980, like Berzerk and Defender. This was so the game would appeal to a wider audience, including women. And it paid off tremendously.

The game has a simple but challenging formula where you must navigate Pac-Man through a maze and eat all the dots while evading the four ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde; each one having their own unique movement patterns. You have the chance to use a power pellet to make the ghosts vulnerable so you can eat them, bump up your high score, and buy yourself some time to collect any remaining dots or snack pick-ups that inrease in value overtime, like cherries, apples, and oranges. But since the ghosts have pre-established routes and there's only one level, you could rack up an impressive high score if you remembered the ghosts movements and the layout of the map.

Pac-Man introduced new concepts for video games like power-ups and smart enemies that actively pursue the protagonist through the maze. The game had funny and iconic sound effects, like Pac-Mans "wakka-wakka-wakka" sound as he gobbled up dots, and his death noise; a high-pitched whining sound followed by a little splat. Any true gamer knows these sound effects.

Pac-Mans success introduced a new era of arcade games and even today, people find it fun 45 years later. You can even play it for free on Google if you ever get bored.

Some games never get old, and "Pac-Man" is one of them. Like pizza or a good movie, it's built on a simple recipe - but it works every time. It's a game that's simple at its core, yet endlessly addictive, easily stealing away dozens of minutes before you know it.

As the iconic yellow dot, we zip through a maze, gobbling up pellets while being chased by a gang of colorful ghost-clouds. There are four of them. First up is Blinky (the red one), also known as Shadow, Oikake, or Akabei - the relentless pursuer who speeds up the longer the game goes on. Then there's Pinky (pink), nicknamed Speedy or Machibuse, who tries to cut you off and trap you rather than chase directly. Next comes Inky (blue), a.k.a. Bashful, Kimagure, or Aosuke - a tricky one, whose movements are based on a weird algorithm involving both Pac-Man's and Pinky's positions. And finally, Clyde (orange), also referred to as Poki, Otoboke, or Guzuta - a ghost who charges straight at you if you're far away, but switches to a totally random path when close. All four have one goal: to corner you and steal a life. Your job? Don't let them.

The mechanics are simple: it's basic human instinct to run from ghosts. But "Pac-Man" wouldn't be the legend it is without one brilliant twist - the power pellets. Eat one, and the hunters become the hunted. The ghosts turn into panicked, shivering blue blobs, scrambling to escape while you chase them down. It's a brief moment of power, revenge, and score-hunting. With good timing and sharp moves, you can chomp all four and rack up big points.

Occasionally, fruit pops up on the map. They don't grant powers, but they're great for extra points. And then there's that one genius feature - the side tunnels. Like little wormholes, they let you warp instantly from one side of the screen to the other. A small thing on paper, but when ghosts are closing in from all sides, a quick dash through the tunnel can be a lifesaver.

The scariest moment? When you think you made it through - but a ghost tags you right at the edge. I've made my entire household jump more than once with my panicked yelps. Yeah, those were the days. Childhood. The rage faded fast, though, and the next run began.

With every level, the ghosts get smarter and faster, turning the game into a kind of chess match. Where to turn? When to take a risk? Should you go for that cherry? The mechanics may be simple, but the pacing is pure chaos.

"Pac-Man" is a true and undeniable classic. Simple, yet incredibly engaging. Even decades later, it still holds up and delivers a rush of emotions. Running from danger never felt so fun - and those sneaky ghosts never stop being a thrill.

8 out of 10.

Is it just me or is Pac-Man a metaphor for taking too many ecstasy pills? Think about it, you've got some happy little face stumbling around in the dark munching as many pills as he can get but when things go bad he's chased by ghosts all over the place until he can get more pills. Either this is really subliminal subtext by designer Toru Iwatani or it's just an amazing coincidence and I'm reading far too much into it.

Either way Pac-Man is like THE biggest ever arcade game, which is quite amazing since many more advanced and technologically superior games came out after this. And it has one funky little theme tune!

NOTE: I'm writing about the Atari VCS (a.k.a. Atari 2600) version, which is not to be confused with the original arcade game.

I can understand the Pac-Man craze that came about following the game's release. After all, it was the first video game in which you controlled a creature with an actual identity as opposed to Random Space Fighter #259. But I would have thought that Atari would at least show our yellow friend a bit of dignity.

The entire maze is etched in a puke-brown color on top of a blue background that hurts my eyes. Couldn't they just make the background black?! The ghosts flicker a lot, and some of the most irritating noises in the game world are pumped through your television speakers. The only saving grace is that the Pac-Man "eating" sound and the sound when he dies have been injected into miscellaneous techno songs and stuff, as well as an episode of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force".

Stay away from this and stick with the far superior arcade game or even the (excellent) NES port.