Difference between revisions of "Pac-Man"

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Pac-Man - ARC - Fan Art - Travis 76 - The Madness of Mission 6.jpg|Fan art by Travis 76.
 
Pac-Man - ARC - Fan Art - Travis 76 - The Madness of Mission 6.jpg|Fan art by Travis 76.
 
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</gallery>
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==Credits==
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Although Pac-Man doesn't feature credits, fans of the game have discovered the majority of the design staff.
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{| class="wikitable" |
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! Person !! Roles
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|-
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| [[Toru Iwatani]] || Game Designer
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|-
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| [[Shigeichi Ishimura]] || Hardware Designer, Sound Designer
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|-
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| [[Shigeo Funaki]] || Programmer
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|-
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| [[Toshio Kai]] || Sound Composer
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|}
  
 
==Videos==
 
==Videos==

Revision as of 10:16, 13 March 2018

North American arcade cabinet.

Pac-Man, known in Japan as パックマン [Pakkuman], is an action video game developed and published by Namco on 1980-05-22, and distributed by Midway in the USA in 1980-10-26. Pac-Man is the best-selling arcade cabinet to date, and the second most profitable. Despite being so lucrative, the game's designer Toru Iwatani did not receive a bonus or even official recognition from Namco for his creation.

I remember first playing this game in the mid-1980s. I was with my mother and brother, I think at a laundromat in Pontiac. I remember my brother playing and getting to the second stage, but I, being 3-years-younger, couldn't get past the first. I've since watched people who are really good play Pac-Man in arcades, but I've never had much of a desire to get good myself. The game is just too primitive to keep my interest.

Status

I do not own the game, and I have not reached the kill screen. I haven't tried to get a decent high score.

Review

  • Overall: 5/10
  • Best Version: Arcade

Good

  • The game is pretty solid. It remains challenging and fast-moving the entire time you play.
  • The increasingly difficult ghosts and shorter-length power pellets increase the challenge of the game at a nice steady rate.
  • Adding a different "personality" to each ghost was a wonderful idea and really adds to the challenge, as did having the ghosts systematically move toward their own corners.
  • Changing the bonus fruit is a nice change of pace.
  • The cut-scenes between levels was a nice break in the action.
  • The game has some pretty memorable sound effects and jingles.

Bad

  • The game is too hard. Most players are unable to beat the first level on their first attempt, which is a bit frustrating.
  • Overall, there isn't much to do with the game. You're essentially repeating the same actions the entire game.
  • Since the game uses a pseudo-randomizer, players can actually just repeat the exact same movements over an over again to beat the game.
  • The game lacks a true victory condition. Sure, the kill screen ends the game, but it's insanely difficult to reach, and wasn't even intended in the first place.
  • There is a minor bug with collision detection where you can sometimes pass right through a ghost.

Ugly

  • Nothing

Cabinet Art

Documentation

Design Documents

Screenshots

Gallery

Credits

Although Pac-Man doesn't feature credits, fans of the game have discovered the majority of the design staff.

Person Roles
Toru Iwatani Game Designer
Shigeichi Ishimura Hardware Designer, Sound Designer
Shigeo Funaki Programmer
Toshio Kai Sound Composer

Videos

Links