Title: Pac-man

Release Date: 1980

Developer: Namco

Class: Wide Release

Genre: Puzzle-Solving

Maximum number of players: 1

Number of simultaneous players: 2

Game Controls:

• Joystick: 4-Way
• Total Buttons: 1
• Actions:
  N/A

Overview:

Pac-Man must clear the maze of all 240 dots and all four energizers to proceed to the next level of difficulty. As Pac-Man eats the dots, the ghosts chase him around the maze and if Pac-Man collides with one of the ghosts, he is a goner. He can eat one of the energizers to turn the ghosts dark blue, which make them edible for him. But after Pac-Man has eaten any of the ghosts, their eyes will return to the pen in the middle of the maze where they will each regenerate into their former selves and return to chase him again.

Facts & Trivia:

Released in October 1980 by Midway, under license from Namco. 96,000 units were produced in the U.S. For more information about the game itself, please see the original Namco Puckman Upright model entry.

Reportedly, when Bally/Midway obtained the rights to Pac-Man, Namco was offering four different games, which ended up being licensed to Game Plan and Bally/Midway. Game Plan's Ken Anderson reports that he and Bally's Dave Marofske flipped a coin to see who would get first crack at the games. Game Plan won and chose a tank game (which they released as "Tank Battalion") over Pac-Man. The other game they got was released as "King & Balloon". Bally/Midway, meanwhile, took Pac-Man and "Rally X".

The game's cult status in the early 80's was such that it inspired a hit song by 'Buckner and Garcia' called 'Pac-Man Fever', released in 1982 on the album of the same name.

The game also spawned a virtual cottage industry of best-selling how-to books strategy guides on how to beat the game by using patterns with names like the "Bazo's Breaker", the "Donut Dazzler" and the "GET pattern" (named after the first initials of the members of a team of players from Davis, California: George Huang, Ed Bazo, and Tom Fertado).

A Pac-Man unit appears in the movie 'Getting There', in the 1982 movie 'Jekyll & Hyde - Together Again', in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High', in the 1983 movie 'WarGames', in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks', in the 1983 movie 'Koyaanisqatsi - Life out of Balance', in the 1985 movie 'The Heavenly Kid', in the 1985 movie 'Better Off Dead', and in the 1986 movie 'The colour of Money'.

For more facts and trivia check out www.arcade-history.com and www.arcade-museum.com

Game Ports:

NES
Sega Game Gear
Vic 20
Commodore 64
MSX
Gameboy color
Atari 2600
Atari 5200
Intellivision

Tips & Tricks / More info:

* An extra life is awarded based on the 'Extra Lives' dip switch setting (10000, 15000, 20000, or None; the default is 10000).

* Fruits appear twice on each board. The first fruit appears after Pac-Man has eaten 70 dots; the second fruit appears after 170 dots have been eaten by Pac-Man.

* At the beginning of a round, the ghosts won't immediately pursue Pac-Man. Use this time the best as you can.

* Pac-Man can turn corners faster than the ghosts can, so turning many corners can help you escape ghosts.

* The tunnel allows Pac-Man and the ghosts to instantly travel from one side of the maze to the other. While traveling through the maze, Pac-Man moves at normal speed, but the ghosts' speed is reduced in half. This provides Pac-Man with a good opportunity to put some distance between him and his pursuers, but be careful not to get trapped by another ghost entering the opposite side.

* If you hold the joystick in a direction that is blocked by a wall, Pac-Man will turn in that direction as soon as he reaches a passage leading in that direction. Remember this to turn corners as fast as you can.

* Remember that eating dots will slow Pac-Man a little bit: avoid parts of the maze in which you've not been yet if you are trying to escape ghosts!

For more tips and tricks check out www.arcade-history.com and www.arcade-museum.com