Super Pac-Man



Namco had developed a worldwide success with Pac-Man. It was so successful that Bally Midway could not wait for Namco to develop a sequel and published their own, Ms. Pac-Man. Despite upsetting Namco in the process, Bally Midway was given the license to distribute Namco's own sequel to Pac-Man in the United States: Super Pac-Man.

From an American stand point, Super Pac-Man was a bit of a let down. It altered the game play substantially enough to alienate many fans of the original game. From the Japanese perspective however, Super Pac-Man was a logical evolution of the game. One that does not repeat elemental game mechanics with small alterations, but rather one that takes the core characters and reinterprets their roles.

The goal of Super Pac-Man is similar to, but not the same as, the original Pac-Man. You must still clear an entire maze, this time of bonus targets and not nondescript dots. The targets however are locked away behind gates which can be opened when Pac-Man devours the proper key. Alternatively, there is a new power pellet, the Super Power Pellet, which grants Pac-Man the temporary ability to grow large in size, fly over ghosts to avoid collision, and eat through locked gates. Eating a regular energizer increases the duration of this Super power through to the end of the energizer's time limit.

Super Pac-Man never gained the level of popularity that other sequels of Pac-Man enjoyed. Bally Midway earned more money from Pac-Man Plus, their official competition to the wave of Pac-Man bootlegging that was running rampant at the time. Super Pac-Man saw a small amount of home conversions, mostly for home computers. It was contained on the Game Boy Color version of Ms. Pac-Man as a bonus game, and has also appeared on a few of Namco's classic compilations.

Story
Like Pac-Man, there is no central story line. As the player, you simply have one goal: clear as many stages and get as high of a score as possible before you lose all of your lives.

At a glance

 * You control Pac-Man through the maze with the joystick.
 * You must eat every item that is found behind locked gates. You must eat keys in order to unlock the gates.
 * You must avoid contact with the ghosts while they are their normal color.
 * If you eat an energizer, the ghosts will turn blue, and you may eat them for bonus points until they turn back to their normal color.
 * If you eat a super energizer, you will become very large, capable of using super speed and capable of crashing through gates without a key.
 * Ghosts travel at half speed through the side escape tunnels and beneath the ghost pen.
 * A star will appear below the ghost pen. Try to eat it when the picture on either side of the star matches for the most points.
 * In bonus rounds, you remain super, and must eat every item as quickly as possible before time runs out.

In depth

 * Controls & Characters
 * Maze Strategies
 * Home Version Comparisons