Jr. Pac-Man by Kimberly Keyes Stark
Like Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, I also first encountered Jr. Pac-Man in an arcade back in the 1980's. However, unlike those two, Jr. Pac-Man didn't stay in the local arcades for a long time. I did remember playing Jr. Pac-Man and felt humbled by its very challenging gameplay.
My memories of Jr. Pac-Man were re-ignited a couple of months ago when I found it by chance at a local laundromat of all places. I was just as addicted to its challenging gameplay as I was back in the 1980's, when I literally could not pass the first maze, no matter how many quarters I put into that thing.
I've always felt that playing Jr. Pac-Man was just as fun and challenging as Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man but, for some reason, never caught on with the game-playing public. My theory is that most players (especially the children and pre-teens who were previously enamoured with the other two games) gave up in frustration because the gameplay was much harder in Jr. Pac-Man than in Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man.
Well, anyway, as you can guess, Jr. Pac-Man is the son of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. He goes around the mazes wearing a blue and red striped beanie with a red propeller on top. He has inherited his parents' unlimited appetite as he goes around scarfing up all kind of goodies around the mazes.
The mazes Jr. Pac-Man were just as twisty and tricky as the ones in Ms. Pac-Man. The big difference is that the layout of the mazes in Jr. Pac-Man were larger than the screen size. As a result, you could only see a portion of the screen at a time, which made it far more challenging. As Jr. Pac-Man moved to one side, the game would do a slow pan over to the previously unseen side.
The extra stuff that Jr. Pac-Man could eat for bonus points were also different. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man basically ate fruit. But Jr. Pac-Man ate toys (which included a tricycle, a drum, and a kite) which bounced throughout the maze.
Blinky, Pinky, and Inky made a return. The orange ghost slot (which was previously held by Clyde in Pac-Man and Sue in Ms. Pac-Man) was held by a newcomer named Tim.
In Jr. Pac-Man I was rarely able to clear enough mazes to see the animated interludes. Thanks to sites like the Pac-Page and Pac-Man...This is Your Life, I was able to find out what I've missed.
The animated intermissions told a tale of a Romeo & Juliet-style story about how Junior met and fell in love with a young red ghost named Yum-Yum. For obvious reasons, Junior's and Yum-Yum's families were against this budding romance. Unlike Shakespeare's tragic story, Junior and Yum-Yum didn't commit suicide together but, instead, by the final animation, they've decided to run together away from their families and live, presumably, happily ever after.
Like Ms. Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man was a sequel that was created and released by Bally Midway withou t Namco's permission, which irked Namco executives. Despite Jr. Pac-Man's lack of success, Bally Midway continued to create and release other unauthorized Pac-Man sequels without Namco's permission. Most of those sequels were even less popular than Jr. Pac-Man. (Anyone remember Pac-Man Plus, Baby Pac-Man, or Professor Pac-Man?) Namco became so fed-up with these unauthorized sequels that it terminated its licensing agreement with Bally Midway as soon as it could legally do so.
Jr. Pac-Man was ported over to the Atari 8 bit, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and the Commodore 64 in the 1980's but no other home console port of the original arcade game have been created since then. (Jr. Pac-Man has appeared in the Pac-Man All Stars game as Pac-Man Junior and people can play as him but that one is not a port of the arcade original.) It's a shame in a way because I think Jr. Pac-Man could've easily fit in with any compilation of classic arcade games. Jr. Pac-Man could fit in real well as a home game because people wouldn't have to worry about spending quarters trying to figure out the complicated mazes.
DISCLAIMER: This blog is based on one person's biased opinions of which videogames should be considered to be classics and why. It is not meant to provide a complete history of the videogame industry, the latest videogame news, technical support, or hints on how to play a certain videogame. None of the videogame manufacturers or programmers mentioned here have endorsed or supported this blog in any way, shape, or form.
NOTE: If there are any errors or updates to what I have written about Jr. Pac-Man, please send an e-mail to [link=mailto:kstarkREMOVE-ALL-CAPS-IF-NOT-SPAM@erols.com]kstarkREMOVE-ALL-CAPS-IF-NOT-SPAM@erols.com[/link] (remember to remove the capital letters from my mailing address before sending or else it will get rejected) and I'll edit this piece when time permits.
JR. PAC-MAN GAMES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
WINDOWS
Pac-Man All Stars--Play as Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Professor Pac-Man, or Pac-Man Junior in a series of 3D mazes.
Pac-Man All Stars (Jewel Case)--Play as Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Professor Pac-Man, or Pac-Man Junior in a series of 3D mazes.
JR. PAC-MAN LINKS
ClassicGaming.com's Pac-Page--This is the ultimate homage to Pac-Man and his many sequels, including Jr. Pac-Man. It not only provides an extensive history of the Pac-Man series but it also includes Pac-Clone of the Month, Pac-Site of the Month, sounds that you can download, information about the Pac-Man cartoon series, and much more.
The Internet Movie Database's Information on Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man--Includes informatio n on both videogames and the 1980's Pac-Man television cartoon series.
The Killer List of Video Games' Jr. Pac-Man Exhibit
[link=http://www.tomheroes.com/Video%20 Games%20FS/Retrotimes/Best%20Of/Many%20Faces/jr_pacman.htm]The Many Faces of...Jr. Pac-Man[/link]--An interesting story about Jr. Pac-Man.
Namco--The official site of the company that's responsible for Jr. Pac-Man as well as a bunch of other classic games (such as Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, Galaga, and Dig-Dug).
Pac-Man...This is Your Life--It's a very thorough history of Pac-Man and his many sequels (including Jr. Pac-Man).
Phosphor-Dot Fossils: Jr. Pac-Man--Provides a history of Jr. Pac-Man.
The Virtual Pac-Man Museum--It's an online museum full of Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man artifacts.<
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