Pac-Man Plus
| Pac-Man Plus | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer (1982) | |
| Developer(s) | Bally Midway |
| Publisher(s) | Bally Midway |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Genre(s) | Maze |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Standard upright |
| Arcade system | Namco Pac-Man |
| CPU | 1x ZiLOG Z80 @ 3.072 MHz |
| Sound | 1x Namco WSG (3-channel mono) @ 3.072 MHz |
| Display | Vertical orientation, Raster, 224 x 288 resolution |
Pac-Man Plus is an arcade game that was released by Bally Midway on August 13, 1982, and it is the fourth title in the Pac-Man series of games. Like Ms. Pac-Man, this sequel to the original was created without Namco's permission.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Pac-Man Plus is nearly identical to that of the original Pac-Man. The player controls Pac-Man, and attempts to score as many points as possible by eating all the Pac-Dots in the maze, while avoiding the four ghosts that chase him around the maze and will kill him if they catch him. Eating a Power Pellet will cause the ghosts to turn blue and become vulnerable for a short period of time, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for extra points. Once the maze has been cleared, it will be refilled as the gameplay continues.
The most noticeable differences between the original game and Plus are various tweaks to the graphics: the maze is green instead of blue, vulnerable ghosts are shortened and have a leaf sticking out of them, the fruits have been replaced by new items (including a can of Coca-Cola) and the ghosts are now slightly cross-eyed. In addition to these cosmetic changes, Plus also changes the gameplay slightly: eating a bonus item will cause the ghosts to turn both vulnerable and invisible, and doubles their point value while they are vulnerable. Eating a Power Pellet also sometimes has unpredictable results, such as turning the maze invisible or turning only three of the four ghosts blue (the latter of which makes it impossible to clear a round by using a pattern). The ghosts are also faster and more aggressive than they were in the original Pac-Man, which makes the game seem overall faster-paced and more difficult by comparison.
Development
Despite Midway advertising the game as "the only legal PAC-MAN conversion package"[1] and claiming it was "Exciting!" and "New!",[2] Pac-Man Plus was actually just a single modifier chip, which replaced the original game's program code and graphics.
Ports
Because there were not many differences between the original Pac-Man and Pac-Man Plus, and because the title was released right before the Video Game Crash of 1983, Pac-Man Plus was never ported to home video game systems or computers. However, there have been efforts by some homebrew game developers to port Pac-Man Plus to classic game consoles, such as the Atari 2600,[3] and more recently the Atari 5200 [4] and even the 7800.[5] In addition, Jakks Pacific released a Pac-Man TV Games collection which features Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Pac-Man Plus, and Pac & Pal; it is the only unauthorized title in this compilation.[6] Pac-Man Plus has also been featured in TV Games' Pac-Man: Gold Edition, Retro Arcade, and a "plug-n-play" that has been released by Bandai.
References
- ↑ Quoted from the official flyer
- ↑ Quoted from the game's marquee - see http://www.emdkay.net/catalog/pacman-plus-marquee-p-141.html for an example
- ↑ Atari 2600 Hacks from AtariAge.
- ↑ 5200: Pac-Man Plus Version .1 from AtariAge
- ↑ 7800: Pac-Man Plus from AtariAge
- ↑ JAKKS Pacific, Inc. press release
External links
- Pac-Man Plus at the Killer List of Videogames
- Pac-Man Plus at the Arcade History database
- Pac-Man Plus guide at StrategyWiki
