Pac & Pal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pac and Pal | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Release date(s) | 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Retro/Maze |
| Mode(s) | Up to two players, alternating turns |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Input | 4-way joystick; 1 button |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright and cocktail |
| Arcade system(s) | Namco Super Pac-Man |
| Arcade CPU(s) | 2x M6809 @ 1.536 MHZ |
| Arcade display | Vertical |
Pac & Pal is an arcade game that was released by Namco in 1983. The game ran on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware, and the object of the game was for Pac-Man to eat all the items before he was caught by the ghosts. Most of the items are fruits from the original Pac-Man game with a few new additions. Their value varies, starting with cherries at fifty points. The items had to first be unlocked by eating cards distributed around the maze (instead of keys as in Super Pac-Man).
[edit] "Pal" Character
Introduced in this game is an exclusive character: Miru; written in Katakana as ミル), the "Pal" of the title. She is a green female ghost (denoted by her hairbow) that looks like a gooseberry with legs. When an item is unlocked, she picks it up and hand-delivers it to Pac-Man; however she eventually would take it into the ghost house where it would be lost forever. This would help in clearing the level, however, and if she brings the last one there, it automatically clears the level. She is not affected by the other ghosts. In order to get the maximum points from the items, Pac-Man had to eat them first, or intercept them from Miru. An alternate version of this game features Chomp Chomp, Pac-Man's dog from the animated cartoon series, in place of Miru (KLOV entry).
[edit] New Game Feature
Another new feature for a Pac-Man game (besides a Pal) is a shooting capability. Instead of having energizers, two of the collectible items were the level's particular bonus symbol, which line up at the bottom of the screen as each new level is reached. The first two are the flagship from Galaxian. Later symbols included a red car from Rally-X, a trumpet and even a snowman. When Pac-Man eats these, instead of the ghosts turning blue, he turns blue, and momentarily has the power to shoot a ray, smoke, musical notes, or even freezing rays at the ghosts (which turn purple). This stuns them and yields the familiar point value of 200, 400, 800, and 1600 for each ghost shot. While ghosts are stunned, Pac-Man can pass right through them. The effect soon wears off, though.
Every few levels have a bonus round with the maze containing only cards which yield an increasing number of points, until the player flipped over a card with Blinky under it. At that point, the round is over, but no lives are lost. Each level also has a simple musical background, unlike the other Pac-Man games before it.
[edit] Links
- Pac & Pal entry at Killer List of Video Games
- Pac & Pal guide at StrategyWiki
- Gamespot Review
- Image of Miru
| Pac-Man Series | |
| Arcade titles | Pac-Man – Ms. - Super – Plus – Baby – Pac & Pal – Jr. – Professor – Pac-Land – Pac-Mania |
| Console & Handheld titles | Pac-Attack – 2: The New Adventures – Pac-In-Time – Collection – Vs. – Pac-Pix |
| Pac-Man World subseries | World – World 2 – World 3 |
| Pac-Man World spin-offs | Adventures in Time – Maze Madness – Fever – Pac 'n Roll – World Rally |
| Mario Kart Games | Arcade GP - Arcade GP 2 |
