Pac-Land



Ever the pioneer in video game history, Pac-Man dared to do what few other games were doing at the time: scroll. When Namco introduced Pac-Land into the arcades, they preceded Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros. as one of the earliest side-scrollers in history. And Pac-Land was no slouch either, featuring parallax scrolling for some of the background elements, an impressive feat that would not become common place until the 16-bit console era began much later.

Pac-Land takes the famous Pac-Man out of his more familiar element--the maze--and places him in a lush side scrolling world, complete with towns, woods, mountains, and other various environments. Pac-Man's goal is simple. Make it from his home to the magic door that serves as the entrance to the fairy world so he can help a fairy who has lost her way return home. Upon completing this mission, Pac-Man is awarded magic flying boots by the fairy queen, which he must use to safely make his way back home, where his loving family, Ms. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man, along with his dog Chomp-Chomp, and cat Sour Puss, are waiting patiently for him. Naturally, out to stop him are the usual suspects: Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, along with the purple female ghost Sue. But one chomp on a power-pellet can turn the tables, providing Pac-Man with ghost feared Pac-Power. Much of the game's design, in fact, was inspired by the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon regarding Pac-Man's life in his world with his family, including the game's distinct background music.

Pac-Land's concept was extremely novel for its time. Unfortunately, despite it's dazzling use of colors and animation, the game play falls a little flat. There are a few secrets to discover here and there, but it lacks the discovery element that made Super Mario Bros. much more successful. In the end, Pac-Land begins to feel like an obstacle course through repeated areas with ever increasing difficulty, as opposed to feeling like you're exploring new territory with each new level. And the drastic departure from the original Pac-Man maze formula left many fans scratching their heads. Still, Pac-Land developed a solid fan base, and became the inspiration for many of Pac-Man's later adventures to come.

Story
A wayward fairy has lost her way when wandering into the world of Pac-Land. Hearing about the great hero of the land, she sought the aid of Pac-Man in order to help her get home. Accepting this great responsibility, Pac-Man invited the fairy to safely stay beneath his hat as he proceeded to find the magic door that leads to the fairy world. But the dreaded ghost monsters of Pac-Land hear about the lost fairy and wish to collect her for their own nefarious purposes. They believe she will grant them all of their wishes. So they set out to catch Pac-Man anyway they can; by car, by plane, by pogo-stick, even by UFO. Will Pac-Man return the fairy safely to her home? And what awaits Pac-Man on the other side of the magic door?

At a glance

 * You control Pac-Man with the left and right run buttons and the jump button. Double tap the run buttons to speed up Pac-Man's movement.
 * Along the way, the ghost monster will come at you in various vehicles, while Sue alone trails behind you throughout each stage. Contact with any ghost (including the little ones that they drop) is deadly.
 * Each stage has a time limit. When the time limit is up, Sue speeds up and rushes forward to catch and kill you.  You can't outrun her, but you might reach the end of the stage before she captures you.
 * In some rounds, you may encounter a Power Pellet. Eating one has the same effect as usual; the ghosts turn blue and are edible for a short period of time.
 * Throughout your travels, you will find various fruit that you can eat for bonus points. The point value of the fruit increases until you've eaten your fourth, and then it returns to the original value.
 * At the end of each stage, is a "Break Time" sign. If you time your jump properly, you will be awarded bonus points for you position in the air when Pac-Man freezes.
 * Some ground objects such as fire hydrants, cacti, and stumps, can be pushed aside to reveal secrets such as a helmet, invincibility, and even the chance to warp forward several stages.
 * Once Pac-Man safely returns the fairy at the end of each third out of four stages, Pac-Man will be awarded magic flying shoes which he can use to remain in the air while returning home in the fourth stage.

In depth

 * Controls & Characters
 * Walkthrough
 * Home Version Comparisons

Box artwork
Pac-Land was converted to a number of home systems, especially in Europe. The European conversions were done by Grandslam, who unfortunately chose very unflattering artwork for all of their releases. That artwork, along with a few others, can be seen below.