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Pac-Man

Developer / Publisher: Namco
22 May 1980
Pac-Man - cover art
Glitchwave rating
3.19 / 5.0
0.5
5.0
 
 
1,100 Ratings / 5 Reviews
#2,020 All-time
#1 for 1980
Iconic maze chase game where Pac-Man needs to clear the screen by eating all of the dots before being caught by one of the four ghosts. Power pellets allow Pac-Man to turn the tables and temporarily eat the ghosts.
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1980 Namco  
JP
1980 Namco Midway  
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Show all 34 releases
1982 Atari  
Cartridge
07700005208
1982 Atari  
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XNA
1983 Atarisoft  
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XNA
1984 Namcot  
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JP
1984 Namco  
Cartridge
JP NPM-4500
1989 Namco Tengen  
Cartridge
XNA 0 31763 03112 3
1990 Namco  
Floppy
JP NDS-PAC
1991 Namco  
Cartridge
US
1991 Namco  
Cartridge
JP 4 907892 055018
1991 Namco  
Cartridge
XNA 7 22674 02006 0 DMG-PC-USA
1992 Namco  
Floppy 5.25"
JP 4 900815 006128
1993 Namco  
Cartridge
XNA
Pac-Man Special Color Edition
1999 Namco  
Cartridge
XNA 7 22674 02086 2 DMG-AACE-USA
1999 Namco SNK  
Cartridge
JP
パックマン ファミコン ミニ
2004 Namco Nintendo  
Cartridge
JP 4 902370 506747 AGB-FPMJ-JPN
Pac-Man Classic NES Series
2004 Namco Nintendo  
Cartridge
XNA 0 45496 73415 2 AGB-FP7E-USA
2006 Namco Bandai Namco  
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2007 Namco Bandai Namco  
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2007 Namco Bandai Namco  
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JP
Pac-Man 30th Anniversary of Pac-Man
2010 Namco Google  
2011 Namco Bandai Namco  
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JP
2011 Namco Bandai Namco  
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2011 Namco Bandai Namco  
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JP
2012 Namco Bandai Namco  
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2013 Namco Bandai Namco  
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2013 Namco Bandai Namco  
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JP
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Title
Quite possibly the game that we all have to thank for our gaming culture nowadays, it's a classic for a reason even after all of these years due to its simple yet effective gameplay. Sure, it’s a bit primitive compared to games that would come out later in the 80s, however it's frenetic gameplay is addictive even if the only thing that changes from stage to stage is how advanced the Ai is.
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Foxylover92 2024-01-02T11:18:21Z
2024-01-02T11:18:21Z
4.0
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Title
The very first videogame mascot
1980's Pac-Man is one of the most famous games ever made. It was innovative, unique, but above all else, iconic. With one game, Pac-Man gave the videogame industry it's very first face. We are dealing with the world's very first Mr. Videogame and even when I first played it on my Nintendo DS, even though I personally never cared much for the gameplay it offered, I couldn't deny the influence Pac-Man had on the early videogame industry. My father was living proof of that influence.

The objective in Pac-Man is fairly simple. You play as Pac-Man and the goal is to move around the maze-like environment and to collect all the dots avoiding 4 ghosts to your best ability. Every level will reset and become faster paced. The ghosts will become smarter and the music will play faster. If this was all the game had to offer, it would've been perfectly sufficient for its time. However, the game offers additional mechanics. Pac-Man has a brief chance of defending himself against the ghosts when you collect one of the bigger dots on each corner of the stage. The ghosts will become blue, slow, and actively run away from Pac-Man who can eat them to gain bonus points. Might I also mention that a fruit will appear temporarily in the center of the maze that also gives bonus points if eaten. Managing the ghosts by using the big dot sparingly is important as you only get 4 per level.

The sound effects and overall look of the game is immediately more appealing than Galaxian, showcasing Namco's improvement as a team of developers. Assisting in Pac-Man's iconography is the fact that every character has an identity. Pac-Man is of course super recognizable and iconic but the ghosts aren't just written off as insignificant enemies. Each ghost in the Ghost Gang has its own color and name. Their colors are red, blue, pink, and orange and their names are Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde. These four ghosts, along with Pac-Man himself, appear on the outside of the arcade cabinet with their more distinct and marketable designs. The sound effects, while simple and mildly annoying later on, are pleasant and have clearly resonated with audiences.

Pac-Man's legacy cannot be understated. Nearly every single platform has its own version of the original game. It has evolved into a series with many new sequels and spinoffs released to this day. The series is a merchandise powerhouse and has spawned numerous cartoons and movie cameos. Even though I may criticize the original game's punishing difficulty spikes and its gameplay as a whole, I cannot deny this game's legacy. Before Mario reinvigorated and trumped the videogame industry, Pac-Man was the most influential videogame of all time.
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Joe_Kloos 2022-02-10T00:50:16Z
2022-02-10T00:50:16Z
2.5
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Literally the reason why videogames exist today
People need to realize how much influence this game had on literally every other single game in gaming history, it's simple, yet effective mechanics made this game one of the most fun and addictive games of our time, the basic fundamentals of this game are ingrained in literally game you encounter. Without Pac Man, we probably wouldn't have a game franchise like Mario, funnily enough Nintendo actually took the idea of the first Super Mario platformer from a quite poorly made Pac Man platformer. Like Doom, this game is quite literally a cornerstone in gaming history
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I think this is about the time when Cool Japan started putting out crazy mascots to the joy of the world everywhere. Still a joy to play after 35 years.
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Clownboss 2016-07-22T17:53:50Z
2016-07-22T17:53:50Z
4.0
6
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Although I wasn't around during the time of release, I vaguely remember some trendy pubs having retro Pac-Man arcade cabinets. Additionally, I did play the game quite a bit on the Game Boy, so there is some nostalgia attached to the game. It's one of those simple games that's good to pick up and play, and it's fun to return to challenge yourself to beat your previous high score. Although it's still fun today, it's not a game you can play for long periods of time.

You guide Pac-Man around a maze, with the aim of eating all the pellets. It would be easy if you were unapposed, but you are challenged by a team of four ghosts. These ghosts start in a room in the center of the map, and each enter the maze, travelling around according to their own movement patterns. If you eat the larger Power Pellets, the ghosts slow down, begin to move away from you, and gives you the ability to munch the ghosts for a limited time. The are then temporarily sent back to the maze.

Eating ghosts gives you some decent points, especially if you eat a few in succession. After certain amount of pellets are eaten, a fruit spawns at a set position for a limited time - which also gives you a points bonus. These two facts are vital to know if you are chasing highscores.

Just thinking about a highscore is no good if you are dead. You have limited lives, so your focus should always be on survival; it is a pretty hard game. There are only 4 of the Power Pellets on a level so you need to use them wisely in order to increase your chances of survival and to gain as much points from them.

Once you eat all the pellets on the level, you will move onto the next. There's only one maze in the whole game, but the ghosts move faster and the effects of the power pellets wear off sooner with each successive round.
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CaptainClam 2017-09-23T16:04:47Z
2017-09-23T16:04:47Z
3.5
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Pac Man feels like a game that's been around forever. I remember having this as part of the Namco Musuem collection as a kid, but I was more into Dig Dug. My mom would always talk about how she would enjoy playing Pac Man on the arcade machines in the 1980s back when she was in high school, and in a way Pac Man was the first gaming craze. This was before Mario, before Donkey Kong even, and its a game everyone in the 80s had to get their hands on, it was a fad that even had a one hit wonder written about it. The game is already getting close to being 40 years old, but people still play it and it is still considered a classic. To be honest, its not a horrible arcade game, its about collecting items while avoiding enemies in a maze, and thats the extent of the game. As you progress the enemies get seemingly quicker and the color of the screen changes along with the type of fruit, which is just for bonus points. Pac Man is really the definition of a time killer, the game has no real goal, every level is practically the same, there isn't any music, and its full of cheap deaths since the ghosts sometimes have a magic ability to corner you and trap you in. Yeah for 1980 this was revolutionary, but this hasn't aged as well as a game like Tetris or even Space Invaders.
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jweber14 2017-07-21T21:38:51Z
2017-07-21T21:38:51Z
3.5
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Catalog

PopVulture Pac-Man 2024-03-20T21:22:18Z
2024-03-20T21:22:18Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
GuySamstag Pac-Man 2024-03-19T02:14:10Z
2024-03-19T02:14:10Z
2.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
RikuNeto Pac-Man 2024-03-17T12:22:42Z
2024-03-17T12:22:42Z
4.0
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worstcaseontario Pac-Man 2024-03-13T09:21:00Z
Arcade • US
2024-03-13T09:21:00Z
6.0 /10
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
ruledbysecrecy Pac-Man 2024-03-12T14:44:55Z
2024-03-12T14:44:55Z
60
1
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
ch
tackyproduct Pac-Man 2024-03-07T11:29:56Z
2024-03-07T11:29:56Z
3.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Thatoneguy2711 Pac-Man 2024-03-07T02:31:48Z
2024-03-07T02:31:48Z
3.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Noahhuds1 Pac-Man 2024-03-05T17:57:34Z
2024-03-05T17:57:34Z
3.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Nordkappp Pac-Man 2024-03-02T14:44:24Z
Browser
2024-03-02T14:44:24Z
2.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Raising_Heart Pac-Man 2024-02-29T11:23:51Z
Arcade • US
2024-02-29T11:23:51Z
3.0
1
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Gorgonic Pac-Man 2024-02-27T18:45:14Z
2024-02-27T18:45:14Z
2.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
666LILGILGAMESH666 Pac-Man 2024-02-23T19:37:31Z
GBA • XNA
2024-02-23T19:37:31Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  

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  • Previous comments (23) Loading...
  • Clownboss 2022-06-26 01:30:09.171348+00
    I dunno, I had fun with it.

    Current high score 29,880
    reply
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
  • toystory5willbeok 2022-09-24 19:41:17.08598+00
    the disrespect of this rating
    reply
    • playitfucknloud 2024-01-21 02:14:52.794332+00
      For real....
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
  • polarbearpatrol 2022-09-30 16:49:43.215739+00
    I'm convinced the people rating this low have never played it on a real arcade cabinet
    reply
    • ... 2022-12-07 02:14:16.240808+00
      You could be a detective with skills like that.
    • ... 2023-10-29 08:30:45.285133+00
      Maybe, Mrs. Pac-man is still the superior game and much easier to find in the wild.
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
  • water_sheep30 2022-11-16 18:33:16.068844+00
    Best way to experience is on a TI-84
    reply
    • Joe_Kloos 2023-08-01 18:36:13.343903+00
      What a shame. I only got a TI-34
    • renegadexavier06 2023-08-31 10:03:16.976015+00
      My TI-621 better have backwards compatability
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
  • renegadexavier06 2023-09-04 12:50:42.423121+00
    Discovering the sutble mechanical nuances (like going faster in empty hallways, learning the ai of each ghost, etc) below the surface in arcade games like these are pretty fascinating. Shows you can make a game simple enough for anyone to pick up and play while also providing depth for more serious players who wanna get competitive
    reply
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
  • ArthrumZala 2023-12-28 20:16:08.937777+00
    TuPac-Man
    reply
    • More replies New replies ) Loading...
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