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Revision as of 17:12, 12 October 2016

Pac-Man
The logo for Pac-Man.
Developer(s)Namco, Midway Games
Publisher(s)Namco, Midway Games
Year introduced[[1980]]
Genre(s)Action, Platform, Puzzle

Video games in the Pac-Man series.

Version history

Pac-Man has an interesting "family tree," having had sequels developed by two different companies in two different countries.

The original

2nd generation

  • Ms. Pac-Man: Developed by General Computer Corporation and released by Bally Midway in 1981 without Namco's permission. The rights to this title now belong to Namco.
  • Super Pac-Man: Developed by Namco and released in 1982 as the official sequel to Pac-Man.
  • Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man: Developed by Bally Midway's pinball division and released in 1982. This title is strictly a pinball game, but it contains a small mini "video" game.

2.5th generation

  • Pac-Man Plus: Developed by Bally Midway and released in 1982 in an attempt to compete with unauthorized bootleg versions of Pac-Man that were appearing in the market. Unauthorized by Namco.
  • Baby Pac-Man: One of only three video game/pinball hybrids ever made, developed by Bally Midway and released in 1982. Unauthorized by Namco.

3rd generation

  • Jr. Pac-Man: Developed by General Computer Corporation and released by Bally Midway in 1983 without Namco's permission.
  • Pac & Pal: Developed by Namco and released in 1983 as the third official game in the Pac-Man series. The American release would have been titled Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp, but Bally Midway either passed up the rights, or they were not offered the rights.

Beyond the maze

  • Professor Pac-Man: Developed by Bally Midway and released in 1983 without Namco's permission. This multiple choice quiz game was almost an immediate flop and most operators only had it hanging around for as long as it took to get it shipped back to the distributor.
  • Pac-Land: Developed by Namco and released in 1984. One of the first side scrolling platform games ever made (appeared before Super Mario Bros. on the NES). Distributed in the United States by Bally Midway.
  • Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures: Developed by Namco and released in 1994, the player no longer has direct control over Pac-Man, but rather interacts with him in an attempt to help him solve puzzles.
  • Pac-In-Time: Developed by Namco and released in 1995. A return to traditional platform mechanics, allowing Pac-Man to jump and even use a grappling hook to reach new destinations and collect all of the dots in each level. Pac-Man is also given the uncharacteristic ability to spit fireballs.

Return to the maze

  • Pac-Mania: Developed by Namco and released in 1987. Presented with a pseudo-3D isometric view, Pac-Man gains the ability to jump over his ghostly foes. Distributed in the United States by Atari.
  • Pac-Man Arrangement: Developed by Namco and originally released in 1996 as part of the Namco Classic Collection Volume 2. Returns to a more traditional view point, but with enhanced graphics and additional game elements such as a special fifth ghost.
  • Pac-Man Vs.: Developed in 2003 by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto exclusively for the GameCube. Pac-Man Vs. allows for one player to use a connected Game Boy Advance system to control Pac-Man, while up to three other players use the TV to control ghosts having only a limited perspective of the maze. Though Pac-Man has the advantage of unlimited visibility, the other players can team up to outsmart him.
  • Pac-Man Championship Edition (パックマン チャンピオンシップエディション Pac-Man Championship Edition?), sometimes simply referred to as Pac-Man C.E., is the latest Pac-Man game, released in 2007, developed by original Pac-Man creator Tōru Iwatani, exclusively for the Xbox Live Arcade.

A different genre entirely

In a world all his own

  • Pac-Man World: Developed by the American branch of Namco for the PlayStation and released in 1999. A platform game presented primarily in a 3D side-scrolling view.
  • Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness: Developed by the American branch of Namco and released in 2000. Similar in style to Pac-Man World, but more maze focused.
  • Pac-Man World 2: Developed by the American branch of Namco for several systems currently available in 2002. The game play is now more free roaming 3D than the first Pac-Man World.
  • Pac-Man World 3: Developed by the American branch of Namco for several systems currently available in 2005. More of the same in Pac-Man World 2 with several improvements.
  • Pac-Man World Rally: Developed by the American branch of Bandai-Namco for several systems currently available in 2006. A Super Mario Kart kart-racing clone.

Other

Original 1982 Pac-Man Fever album art.
  • Pac-Man Fever is a 1982 album recorded by Buckner & Garcia. It is also the name of the first song on that album. Each song on the album is about a different classic arcade game, and uses sound effects from that game. The album was released as an LP, a cassette, and as an 8-track tape.