Pac-Man/Getting Started

Controls
A) Joystick: The only control that you need to play, the joystick helps you direct Pac-Man through the maze. You can hold the joystick in direction that you would like Pac-Man to go before he is able to turn that way, and he will turn as soon as possible. B) 1 or 2 Players: Push these buttons to begin a one or two player game.

Pac-Man
The title character himself needs no introduction. You control Pac-Man as you guide him through the maze and on to victory. Pac-Man's one and only goal is to gobble up every dot (and power pellet) in the maze. He must avoid contact with the four ghosts unless they are temporarily afraid of Pac-Man as a result of eating one of the four power pellets. Pac-Man moves faster when he's not eating dots than when he is. He is also capable of turning around corners faster than the ghosts, so make as many turns as possible when the ghosts are on his tail. Pac-Man earns 10 points for every dot eaten, and 50 points for each power pellet. You typically earn one extra life when you reach 10,000 points, but this setting can be modified.

Shadow
Nickname: Blinky. As his name implies, Shadow is usually a constant shadow on Pac-Man's tail. When he's not patrolling the northeast corner of the maze, Shadow tries to find the quickest route to Pac-Man's position. And despite the fact that Pinky's real name is Speedy, Shadow is actually the fastest ghost, because when there are few dots, Blinky drastically speeds up, which can make him quite deadly. In Japan, his name is Oikake/Akabei. AI: When the ghosts are not patrolling their home corners, Blinky will attempt to shorten the distance between Pac-Man and himself. If he has to choose between shortening the horizontal or vertical distance, he will choose to shorten whichever is greatest. For example, if Pac-Man is 4 grid spaces to the left, and 7 grid space above Blinky, Blinky will try to move up before he moves to the left.

Speedy
Nickname: Pinky. Speedy gets his name for an unusual reason. Speedy appears to try to outsmart Pac-Man and crash in to Pac-Man from the opposite direction. The truth behind this is that when Speedy isn't patrolling the northwest corner, Pinky tries to attack Pac-Man by moving to where he is going to be (that is, a few spaces ahead of Pac-Man's current direction) instead of right where he is, as Blinky does. It's difficult to use this to your advantage, but it's possible. If Pinky is coming at you and you face a different direction, even briefly, he may just turn away and attempt to cut you off in the new direction while you return to your original direction. In Japan, his name is Machibuse/Pinky. AI: When the ghosts are not patrolling their home corners, Pinky wants to go to the place that is four grid spaces ahead of Pac-Man in the direction that Pac-Man is facing. If Pac-Man is facing down, Pinky wants to go to the location exactly four spaces below Pac-Man. Moving toward this place yses the same logic that Blinky uses to find Pac-Man's exact location. However, Inky is affected by a targetting bug if Pac-Man is facing up - when Pac-Man moves or faces that direction, Inky tries moving towards a point up four spaces and left four spaces. ''Note: In the original arcade series, the ghosts' genders are unspecified and assumed to be male. In 1999, the USA division of Namco, Namco Hometech, developed the Pac-Man World series and declared Pinky to be female.''

Bashful
Nickname: Inky. Bashful has truly earned his name. In a game of chicken between Pac-Man and Bashful, Bashful might just run away. This isn't always the case, but if Blinky is right behind you, it's a safe bet. He can't be scared off while he patrols the southeast portion of the maze. In Japan, his name is Kimigure/Aosuke. AI: Bashful has the most complicated AI of all. When the ghosts are not patrolling their home corners, Bashful considers two things: Shadow's location, and the location two grid spaces ahead of Pac-Man. Bashful draws a line from Shadow to the spot two squares in front of Pac-Man, and extends that line twice as far. Therefore, if Bashful is alongside Shadow when they are behind Pac-Man, Bashful will usually follow Shadow the whole time. But if Bashful is in front of Pac-Man when Shadow is far behind him, Bashful tends to want to move away from Pac-Man (in reality, to a point very far ahead of Pac-Man). Bashful is affected by a similar targeting bug that affects Speedy. When Pac-Man looks up, the spot Bashful uses to draw the line is two squares above and left of Pac-Man.

Pokey
Nickname: Clyde. Pokey needs a new nickname because out of all the ghosts, Pokey is the least likely to "C'lyde" with Pac-Man. Pokey is the last out of the gate, and the loner of the group, usually off doing his own thing when he's not patrolling the southwest corner of the maze. His behavior is very random, so while he's not likely to be following you in hot pursuit with the other three ghosts, he is a little less predictable and still a danger. In Japan, his name is Otoboke/Guzuta. AI: Pokey has two basic AIs, one for when he's far from Pac-Man, and one for when he is near to Pac-Man. When the ghosts are not patrolling their home corners, and Pokey is far away from Pac-Man (beyond 8 grid spaces), Pokey behaves very much like Blinky, trying to move to Pac-Man's exact location. However, when Pokey gets within 8 grid spaces of Pac-Man, he changes his behavior and goes to his home corner in the bottom left of the maze.

Scared Ghosts
When Pac-Man eats one of the four power pellets positioned near the corners of each stage, the ghosts will turn blue for a short period of time. The higher the level, the shorter that time becomes, until Pac-Man reaches the 9th key and the ghosts don't turn blue at all (but they do change direction.) Eating consecutive ghosts while they're scared can earn you 200, 400, 800, and 1600 points if you nab all four. But watch out when they start flashing white because they're about to change back to their former ghostly selves.

Intermissions
Pac-Man was one of the first games to provide players with a break from the action in the form of short intermissions, known better today as cut-scenes. Not only did the intermissions provide a chance to rest, they provided a fair bit of humor.
 * Intermission I: Pac-Man enters from the right, followed closely by Shadow (Blinky). They exit to the left.  Blinky reappears from the left as a scared (blue) ghost, followed immediately by a much larger "super" version of Pac-Man.  This super version would officially appear in Super Pac-Man.
 * Intermission II: Pac-Man enters from the right, followed closely by Shadow (Blinky). This time, there is a nail sticking out in the path that Pac-Man and Shadow crosses.  Shadow's "clothing" gets caught on the nail as he passes by, and the bottom right corner tears off, stuck to the nail.  Shadow, whose foot is now visible, looks at the nail and then rolls his eyes.
 * Intermission III: Pac-Man enters from the right, followed closely by Shadow (Blinky), whose torn "clothing" is clearly sewn back together. After Pac-Man and Shadow exit to the left, Shadow immediately reappears from the left, appearing disrobed and dragging his clothing on the floor behind him.