'''Pac & Pal''' is easily the least successful and most misunderstood of all arcade titles in the Pac-Man series. Its design moves farther away from the original formula that debuted in ''[[Pac-Man]]'', and continues with the momentum of changes established in ''[[Super Pac-Man]]'', chasing away many Pac-Man purists. Apart from a the introduction of a new character in this game, one of the game's most radical changes is that Pac-Man no longer eats the ghosts. Rather, he eats a power item and stuns them with a beam from his mouth in order to pass safely through them while they remained stunned. However, he is not invulnerable if powered up, and can still be killed.
'''Pac & Pal''' is easily the least successful, and most misunderstood of all the early Pac-Man games. Its design moves farther away from the original formula that debuted in [[Pac-Man]] and continues with the momentum of changes established in [[Super Pac-Man]], chasing away many Pac-Man purists. Aside from a the introduction of a new character to the game, one of the game's most radical changes is that Pac-Man no longer eats the ghosts. Rather, he powers up and stuns them in order to pass safely through them while they remained stunned.
As the title suggests, Pac-Man has a new "Pal" in the game, a green character, named Miru (or Mil in other games such as ''[[Namco Museum DS|Pac-Man Vs. DS]]'') who wanders around the maze along with Pac-Man and the ghosts. But this so-called Pal has some behaviors that can easily become a source of frustration for Pac-Man. When Pac-Man flips a card in order to open the gates that lead to fruits or an item, Miru heads towards it and tries to collect it. If Pac-Man cannot get to Miru before she deposits the item in the ghost regenerator, the item is gone forever. This can lead players to question exactly what kind of pal Miru is. Miru is intended to be depicted as an absent-minded, yet well-intentioned friend of Pac-Man whose hoarding instinct isn't meant to get in Pac-Man's way.
As the title suggests, Pac-Man has a new "Pal" in the game, a green character (who coincidentally resembles Lala from the [[Eggerland|Adventure of Lolo series]]) named Miru (or Mil) who wanders about the maze along with Pac-Man and the ghosts. But this so called Pal has some behaviors that can easily become a source of frustration for Pac-Man. When Pac-Man flips a card in order to open the gates that lead to fruit or an item, Miru heads toward it and tries to collect it. If Pac-Man does not get to Miru before she deposits the item in the ghost pen, the item is gone forever. This can lead players to question exactly what kind of pal Miru is. Miru is intended to be depicted as an absentminded, yet well intentioned friend of Pac-Man whose hoarding instinct is not meant to get in Pac-Man's way.
This game was only officially released in Japan, but a variant of the arcade program looks as though Namco may have intended to release the game outside of Japan under the title ''Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp''. In this variation, Miru is altered to resemble Pac-Man's dog from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. As a dog, Chomp Chomp seems a little more suited for the role of someone who absent-mindedly gathers items in one place, (such as in a freshly dug hole in the back yard). However, this version was never officially released. The game was rereleased as part of Volume 3 of the Namco History Collection for Windows 95 in Japan. In 2006, the original version appeared on Jakks Pacific's Super Pac-Man TV game, along with three other Pac-Man titles.
This game was only officially released in Japan, but a variant of the arcade program looks as though Namco may have intended to release the game outside of Japan under the title ''Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp''. In this variation, Miru is altered to resemble Pac-Man's dog from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. As a dog, Chomp Chomp seems a little more suited for the role of someone who absentmindedly gathers items in one place (such as in a freshly dug hole in the back yard.) However, this version was never officially released. In fact, no home conversion of this game has ever been released outside of Japan. Even in Japan, the only known official conversion of this game is on Volume 3 of the Namco History Collection for Windows 95.
==Story==
Pac-Man must once again clear every round by consuming every item behind locked gates, and avoiding the ghosts. But this time, Pac-Man now has another problem on his hands in the form of Miru, a green creature who wanders the maze in search of items to add to her collection, inside the ghost regenerator.
{{ToC}}
==Gameplay summary==
* Direct Pac-Man around the maze with the joystick.
* You must eat every item found behind the locked gates, and must flip over cards to unlock the gates. A maximum of three items can be unlocked.
* You must avoid contact with the ghosts unless they are stunned. If they catch you, Pac-Man will lose a life.
* If you eat a power item, you can fire a beam from your mouth that stuns ghosts for a while.
* Ghosts travel at half their usual speed through the orange section of the maze below the regenerator, and around parts of it.
* Miru will wander around the maze, and try to take freed items back to the ghost regenerator. There is no penalty, if she succeeds.
* In bonus rounds, you must flip over as many cards as you can without uncovering Blinky.
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Image:Pacnpal_title.png|Title screen
File:Pacnpal title.png|The original's title screen
Pac-Man must once again clear every stage by consuming every item contained behind gates, and avoid the ghosts. But Pac-Man has another problem on his hands in the form of Miru, a green creature who wanders the maze in search of items to add to her collection.
[[Category:Namco]]
[[Category:Hamster Corporation]]
== How to play ==
[[Category:Action]]
=== At a glance ===
[[Category:Single player]]
* You control Pac-Man through the maze with the joystick.
[[Category:Multiplayer]]
* You must eat every item that is found behind locked gates. You must flip over cards to unlock the gates.
* You must avoid contact with the ghosts unless they are stunned.
* If you eat the stage power-up, you can fire a beam the stuns ghosts which come in contact with it.
* Ghosts travel at half speed through the orange section of maze and around parts of it.
* Miru will wander around the maze and try to take freed items back to the ghost pen. There is no penalty if she succeeds.
* In bonus rounds, you must flip over as many cards as you can without uncovering Blinky.
Pac & Pal is easily the least successful and most misunderstood of all arcade titles in the Pac-Man series. Its design moves farther away from the original formula that debuted in Pac-Man, and continues with the momentum of changes established in Super Pac-Man, chasing away many Pac-Man purists. Apart from a the introduction of a new character in this game, one of the game's most radical changes is that Pac-Man no longer eats the ghosts. Rather, he eats a power item and stuns them with a beam from his mouth in order to pass safely through them while they remained stunned. However, he is not invulnerable if powered up, and can still be killed.
As the title suggests, Pac-Man has a new "Pal" in the game, a green character, named Miru (or Mil in other games such as Pac-Man Vs. DS) who wanders around the maze along with Pac-Man and the ghosts. But this so-called Pal has some behaviors that can easily become a source of frustration for Pac-Man. When Pac-Man flips a card in order to open the gates that lead to fruits or an item, Miru heads towards it and tries to collect it. If Pac-Man cannot get to Miru before she deposits the item in the ghost regenerator, the item is gone forever. This can lead players to question exactly what kind of pal Miru is. Miru is intended to be depicted as an absent-minded, yet well-intentioned friend of Pac-Man whose hoarding instinct isn't meant to get in Pac-Man's way.
This game was only officially released in Japan, but a variant of the arcade program looks as though Namco may have intended to release the game outside of Japan under the title Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp. In this variation, Miru is altered to resemble Pac-Man's dog from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. As a dog, Chomp Chomp seems a little more suited for the role of someone who absent-mindedly gathers items in one place, (such as in a freshly dug hole in the back yard). However, this version was never officially released. The game was rereleased as part of Volume 3 of the Namco History Collection for Windows 95 in Japan. In 2006, the original version appeared on Jakks Pacific's Super Pac-Man TV game, along with three other Pac-Man titles.
Pac-Man must once again clear every round by consuming every item behind locked gates, and avoiding the ghosts. But this time, Pac-Man now has another problem on his hands in the form of Miru, a green creature who wanders the maze in search of items to add to her collection, inside the ghost regenerator.
