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Last updated 30. Mars 2002

CONTENTS

  • •    Introduction/About this page

  • •    History/Background

  • •    Game Description

  • •    The game family

  • •    Game cheats

  • •    Misc

    •

    Gonna eat them all up just as soon as they turn blue...

    Introduction/About this page
    How did I get into this page anyway ? Well, you probably share a common interrest in video games in general and PAC-MAN especially. Or, you're just curious what this is all about. So what IS the main target here ? In fact, this page is dedicated to PAC-MAN and all variants of this electronic game. You will find tricks and tips, rare stuff, high scores, cheats and other relevant information here.


    History
    It all begun in 1979. A most talented young (27 years by that time) japanese student, Toru Iwatani got an idea. He was an employee of Masaya Nakamura, the president of Namco. So far the electronic games entertainment business was no goldmine. Games such as Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pong, Break-out, Tailgunner etc. had been around for a while, showing some interrest, but never really took off. The young man meant that it might be possible to develop far better games than these other ones. He could improve on graphics, sound, colors and playability, he just needed a good theme. It became old japanese tradition and life wisdom that formed the underlaying basis of the game.The young man worked hard, and in 1980 the game was finished and released. It soon became a fever all over the world. The Arcade gaming world was never to be the same again...


    Game Description
    1. Start
    You start off with 3 Pac-Men. 1 more Pac-Man is gained at 10.000 pts. (this is the most common game settings, but other configurations are also possible) Your goal is to navigate the maze, eating the dots tha are spread all over. You have 4 different direction to move Pac-Man (up-down-left-right) using a joystick. When the first stage is cleared (all dots are eaten up) you go on to 2. stage and so on.


    2. The cartoon
    After the 2., the 5., the 9., and every 4. stages above the 9.stage, there is an intermittent pause. A cartoon is being played back, showing Pac-Man in different battles with the ghosts.


    3. Ghosts
    To make life a little bit more complicated, there are 4 ghosts chasing you all over the maze. If one of them gets at you 1 life is lost. The game is over when all Pac-Men are eaten up.


    4. Counterattack
    In addition to all the usual dots there are 4 special blinking dots (often referred to as "power pills" or "high energy dots") the size being somewhat bigger than the ordinary ones. When you eat one of them the ghosts turn blue. As they now trying to escape, you have now got the hance to eat them. But you only got a limited time to chase them. Right before they turn back to normal again, they 're blinking "white-blue-white-blue" etc. As you advance the different stages, your "chasing time limit" differs. Usually it becomes shorter at increasing stages. but after each cartoon the time limit increases a bit. Eating ghosts give the following point earnings :

    For each power pill :
    1. Ghost : 200 pts
    2. Ghost : 400 pts
    3. Ghost : 800 pts
    4. Ghost :1600 pts




    5. Secrets of the fruit
    There are 2 fruits appearing at every stage. These are merely bonus points. There are different fruits at different stages, and with different values. Increasing stages give increasing points for the fruits. Their appearances are time limited (10 seconds) and they appear at random times, it seems like. But at least they appear at the same place each time, namely under the ghosts cage. To get to it you have to take a risk because the fruit is placed in a corridor with no sideways. The key to getting the fruit every time is to count the number of eaten dots. The 1. fruit will appear after 70 dots, and the 2. one after 100 more dots. Doing it this way, you can decide for yourself when the fruits are to appear (preferable when the ghosts are at way distance from you). So the easiest way to get a high-score is to incorporate these fruits to your winning strategy. Eating fruits give the following point earnings :


    STAGE FRUIT POINTS
    1. Stage Cherry 100 pts.
    2. Stage Strawberry 200 pts.
    3. Stage Orange 500 pts.
    4. Stage Orange 500 pts.
    5. Stage Apple 700 pts.
    6. Stage Apple 700 pts.
    7. Stage Grape 1000 pts.
    8. Stage Grape 1000 pts.
    9. Stage Ice compot 2000 pts.
    10. Stage Ice compot 2000 pts.
    11. Stage Stewed fruit 3000 pts
    12. Stage Stewed fruit 3000 pts.
    13. Stage Key 5000 pts.


    Beyond 13. stage there are only key's



    The game family

    GAME YEAR COMMENTS
    Pac-Man 1980 The first and original !
    Ms Pac-Man 1981 The female counterpart
    Baby Pac-Man1982Half arcade, half pinball
    Super Pac-Man1982Big and speedy
    Pac & Pal1982With a little help...
    Jr Pac-Man 1983 Scrolling fun
    Professor Pac-Man1983Trivia challenge
    Pacland1984Cartoon stories
    Pacmania19883D Action

    Pac-Man

     

    Here comes the description of the original Pac-Man game.  Detailed info on both hardware, software and playability...



    Ms Pac-Man



    Description of Ms. Pac-Man .  A few word about the whole Pac-family idea



    Jr Pac-Man




    Baby Pac-Man




    Super Pac-Man



    Pac & Pal

          


    Game Cheats

    So, you really want to cheat, huh ?
    Ok. Let's do it the fair way, shall we ?.
    All you have to do is learn where to navigate,
    following some pre-defined routes on each pattern
    No rules broken, are you ready to master the game ?
    Yes, please take me to the Pac-Man maze solution page



    Misc
    The new miscellaneous page is up !
    Although not yet finished, the page consist of things like :

     •   Pac-Man with legs !
     •   Beating the game
     •   Basic game knowledge
     •   Ghost understanding
     •   Extra hints
     •   Life after the 9. key
     •   Picture Gallery
     •   Excerpt from the original game manual
     •   Pac-Man fever (the original Pac-Man song)
     •   Java Pac-Man game
     •   More background information about the game
     •   Other related things

    Click here for the Miscellaneous page.

    You can also have a retro-look of the real things.

    See Pac-Man alive at the Namco museum


    Do you feel this page is somewhat unfinished ?
    Please remember, this page is STILL NOT FINISHED.
    Global research and heavy working contributes
    to making this page more interresting for You.
    More information is to emerge in the future.
    Bookmark and visit regularily for updates !

    Feel free to MAIL me if you have suggestions, corrections, critisism or other information

    pac_man.gif - 16,81 K

    Wanna play a cool Pac-clone game ?
    Please try the spectacular PacGuy : HERE !


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    This Pac-Land site is owned by
    Terje Heidene.

    Want to join the Pac-Land ring?
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