Pac Pac

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.

Rated E.

Pakkuman or Pacman is one of the greatest early games ever.This game was released in 1980 yet the graphics and gameplay are simply excellent.The graphics are just as good if not better than other games that came out in 1980 but Pacman is most known for its addicting gameplay.You control a little pizza like thing and you must eat as much yellow dots as you can and watch out for the ghosts.However you can eat a special something which turns you into super pacman or something and enables you to eat your ghost enemies.But this only happens for a period of time.Pacman is a very fun and good arcade game and I recommend it.You can probably find a cheap imitation somewhere on the internet.Most of them have the same premise.

8/10

There are very few people out there that have never played Pac-man. I know I played it, whether it was putting coins in an old arcade cabinet or playing the Atari 2600 version I played this game a lot. Pac-man would spawn other arcade titles such as the also famous, Mrs. Pac-man, Super Pac-man and even Baby Pac-man. Each would have differences to the original from the subtle such as a few small differences in the maze and the character like in Mrs. Pac-man to the extreme like in Baby Pac where part of the arcade cabinet was a pinball machine. This one was pure simplicity, in a world now full of first person shooters, one learns to appreciate simply going through a maze avoiding the evil ghosts who dwell within.

The game play, as I have stated is simple. You guide Pac-man through a maze. Your objective every time is to clear the maze of dots which you eat. During your travels to eat the dots, you must avoid the deadly ghosts as they try and get Pac-man, seemingly knowing where he is at all times. However, you can turn the tide when you gobble down a special dot that allows you to turn the table on the ghosts and eat them. They do not stay gone, but it can turn the tide in your favor allowing you to grab the last few dots.

The Atari 2600 version of the game is a much weaker animal than the arcade cabinet. I do not really know why it has become so scorned recently, because despite its inferior graphics it still plays nearly the same. They may have been able to smooth over the graphics a bit better, but none of the games from the arcade ever remotely looked like their counterpart on the Atari. I was more disheartened by Donkey Kong as it left out a screen of play in it. So while it does not look like the arcade, it was still a nice way to pass the time. Let's face it, all the arcade cabinet does is play one game, of course it is going to look better.

There have been many spin-offs and such of Pac-man during the years. At his height he had his own cartoon and at one point at the Six Flags in Georgia he even had his own play land (later turned into a looney tunes play land). There have also been other games, there was one in the arcade that was based around the cartoon and was more of a Super Mario type game as you guided Pac-man on a side scrolling quest. I even viewed a short film that was rather humorous as it was from the ghost's perspective. For such a simple character, he has chomped his way into many forms of media.

So there you go, in the game you guide your character through the deadly maze. It takes virtually no knowledge to pick up this game to play it and only minimal skill to do fairly well. As you go, the ghosts become increasingly more difficult to dodge, but even the least skilled gamers of the world can make their way past a board or two. Sometimes it is the simplest things that are the most fun.

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.