Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/04/21/antique_code_show_pac_man/
WTF happened to Pac-Man?
In his thirties and still afraid of ghosts
Posted in Personal Tech, 21st April 2014 10:27 GMT
Antique Code Show During the finale of this season’s King of the Nerds, one of the nerd challenges was to complete the first level of Pac-Man in a set time. I was delighted to see they were playing the original arcade version, albeit on an iPad.
Pac-Man: original and best?
Pac-Man is 34 years old this year. With the release of Pac-Man Museum on Steam and Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures for console, there suddenly seems to be some little yellow ball nostalgia.
Yet, truth be told, the Pac-Man of today is completely unrecognisable from the Pac-Man I knew and loved as a nipper.
My first experience of Pac-Man was receiving a Tomytronic handheld Pac-Man that was a raised yellow disc with a small screen which stayed true to the arcade format. It would gobble batteries like nobody’s business as I competed against myself for Hi Score on long journeys, eventually lulled to sleep in the back of car by it’s pacifying “wakka wakka wakka.”
I suspect it’s because I’m a child of the 1970s that I much prefer the idea behind a collection of classic games like Pac-Man Museum to capitalise on my long-term nostalgia rather than a Pac-Man 2.0. Most of the games included in this supposedly definitive compilation aren’t dependent on reaching an end goal, such as 'beating the boss’.
Instead, it’s all about competing for the high score and comparing those scores with friends. After all, arcade games always brought out my competitive edge and gobbled all my money. Unfortunately, this is something contemporary gamers don't get, so Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures doesn’t appreciate with its emphasis on 3D environments, hamburgers and vending machines. Oh, and Chameleons!
On downloading Pac-Man Museum, I was glad to see the vanilla Pac-Man game in addition to some more familiar titles, such as Super Pac-Man, Pac-Land and four player Pac-Man Battle Royale. These games were immediately recognisable.
Competitive spirit
Of them all, I probably had the most experience with coin-op Super Pac-Man offered at the arcade in Toronto that I frequented as a kid while visiting my Dad – turning into a gigantic super size Pac-Man seemed like gaming nirvana in 1983.
Pac-Man: Pac and Pal
While it was thoroughly entertaining taking a trip down memory lane with some old favourites, I was surprised how much Pac-Man history I had missed over the years. Out of the overlooked titles Pac & Pal is my new favourite, involving an a friendly ghost who just wants to help. Never having played Pac & Pal before, I was pleasantly surprised when I realised that pesky ghost was on my side, helping me turn over cards and collect keys while dodging his hostile brethren.
I had seen Pac-Mania before and its LEGO-like 3D aesthetic introduced a jump option and slower paced gameplay giving Pac-Man a whole new dimension. Pac-Attack is an addictive Tetris-style stacking puzzler game for SNES. Equally awesome was the scrolling style Pac-Land. Check out the Japanese posters where Pac-Man has an unreasonably long nose!
Pac-Land put in a good innings on home computers from 1983 until the 1990s
On most arcade cabinets I played vertically – it’s an aspect ratio not conducive to my 50in widescreen telly. Yet one of the things that Pac-Man Museumdoes really well is stay true to this vertical format by just adding a cartoony splash screen when the aspect ratio calls for it and almost making me feel like I’m back in an arcade reaching for a joystick.
The release of Pac-Man Museum may be a cynical marketing ploy by Namco Bandi to encourage me to buy Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. However, this backfires, as the game seems all the more soulless by comparison. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures is dismal and a complete contrast to the games collected in Pac-Man Museum. It may be aimed at children but the gameplay seems slow and ultimately boring – something vanilla Pac-Man never was.
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures: this 3D phantom lacks the spirit of the original
Based on a cartoon, apparently Pac-Man has become vapid and smug and leaves me wishing for a Pac-Man backlash, so that the true character of my little yellow friend is not completely lost to Generation Z. Toru Iwatani should be livid. Ms. Pac-Man has just been released – a free DLC for Pac-Man Museum due at the end of April and my favourite of the franchise. The addition of this game is the pink icing on this girl gamer’s cake. ®