Ms. Pac Man
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| Ms. Pac-Man | |
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| Developer: | Midway Games |
| Publisher: | Midway Games |
| Release date: | 1981 |
| Genre: | Retro/Puzzle |
| Game modes: | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet: | Standard and sit-down |
| Controls: | Joystick |
| Monitor | |
| Orientation: | Vertical |
| Type: | Raster, standard resolution |
| Size: | 19 inch |
| Notes | |
| The sequel to the original Pac-Man; according to KLOV the #5 most popular game of all time. | |
Ms. Pac-Man is a popular arcade game released by Midway Games in 1981. The sequel to Pac-Man, it is considered by many fans to be superior to its predecessor. It was also one of the more successful of early arcade games as its sales record is still unmatched.
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Gameplay
The gameplay of Ms. Pac-Man is largely identical to that of Pac-Man, with a few differences.
- There are now four different mazes, with different colors and "filled-in" walls (compared with the original Pac-Man's hollow walls). Each maze has two pairs of "warp tunnels" connecting the right and left sides of the maze. The maze is changed after each of the first three intermissions.
- The ghosts have pseudo-random movement, which precludes the use of patterns to beat each board.
- The two "fruits" on each level now enter through one of the escape tubes, wander around the maze for a while, then (if not eaten) eventually leave through a warp tunnel.
There are also a few cosmetic differences. The character controlled by the player is now Ms. Pac-Man, resembling Pac-Man with eyeliner, lipstick, a bow, and a dimple. There are new sound effects including new music at game start and a new "death" sound.
There are three new intermissions:
- "Act 1 - They Meet": Pac-Man is chased by Inky, Ms. Pac-Man is chased by Pinky; the monsters bonk heads, the Pac-Men escape, and a heart appears between them.
- "Act 2 - The Chase": Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man chase each other quickly across the screen five times, with more speed each time.
- "Act 3 - Junior": A stork drops off a bundle containing a tiny Pac-Man.
Like Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man has precisely 255 playable boards. On the 256th board, the maze and all of the dots will disappear, leaving Ms. Pac-Man and the ghosts to freely wander the screen. The board cannot be completed; without any dots to eat, Ms. Pac-Man can only wander the blank screen and avoid the ghosts. Though a "rack test" cheat available as a DIP switch (usable through MAME or other arcade emulator) will automatically clear the board and progress the game to the next level, clearing the 256th board will result in an irreparable glitch, and the game must be reset.
History
Ms. Pac-Man was originally conceived as a hack of Pac-Man called Crazy Otto, created by programmers under employ at the General Computer Corporation (GCC).
The programmers, surprised at the quality of the game they had created, showed it to Midway, Namco's American distributor of the original game. Midway had become impatient in waiting for Namco to release their next Pac-Man game (which would be Super Pac-Man), and were enthusiastic that such a game had come to their attention. They bought the rights to Crazy Otto, changed the sprites to fit the Pac-Man "universe," renamed the game Ms. Pac Man and released it into arcades.
After the game became wildly popular, Midway and GCC undertook a brief legal battle concerning royalties, but because the game was accomplished without Namco's consent, both companies eventually turned over the rights of Ms. Pac-Man to the parent company, fearing a lawsuit.
Home versions
Like many other games of its era, Ms. Pac-Man was ported to many home computer and gaming systems. It has also been included in Namco's, Microsoft's and Atari's late 1990s series of classic game anthologies.
The Sega Genesis and NES versions, by Tengen, and the Super NES version, by Williams Electronics, took a few liberties. They featured 4 different maze-sets: the original arcade mazes, bigger mazes, smaller mazes, and "strange" mazes. There was also a "Pac-Booster" option which lets players make Ms. Pac Man go much faster, making the game much easier. All of these versions also allow 2 people to play simultaneously, with Player 2 as Pac Man, either cooperatively or competitively.
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External link
- ClassicGaming.com entry on Ms. Pac-Man (http://www.classicgaming.com/pac-man/Pac-Games/MsPacMan/)
- Ms. Pac-Man entry at KLOV.com (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=M&game_id=8782)