Pac-Mania by Kimberly Keyes Stark
Ever since the explosive success of Pac-Man, there have been numerous sequels. First, the game's American distributor, Bally Midway, kept on releasing Pac-M an sequels without the permission of Namco (the Japanese company that originally created Pac-Man). Some of the unauthorized sequels were very good (Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man) while most of the others were unmemorable bombs (such as Pac-Man Plus, Professor Pac-Man, and Baby Pac-Man). Namco eventually became so fed up with Bally Midway creating unauthorized games that it eventually terminated its licensing agreement with Bally Midway.
Namco made sequels of its own. The first one it came out with, Super P ac-Man, I didn't even remember playing until I saw the screen shots on the Internet and I discovered that, yes, I did play that game and there was a reason why I didn't remember ever playing Super Pac-Man (mainly because it was a mediocre game). The subsequent Namco sequels--Pac & Pal and Pac Land--I know I never played because none of the arcades in my area ever got those games. Based on what I have read about them, it seems like I didn't miss much.
Namco finally got it right with its fourth sequel, Pac-Mania (which was distributed in the U.S. by Atari after Namco terminated its licensing agreement with Bally Midway), which is a really cool game. Pac-Man makes his 3-D debut in this game and, visually, it is a gorgeous game that's complete with a modern soundtrack that plays constantly in the background while you're playing the game.
Like Jr. Pac-Man, the layout of Pac-Mania's mazes is bigger than the screen so you frequently see a close-up of only a small portion of the maze at a time. As Pac-Man moves, the screen pans around the maze. Otherwise, the rules are about the same as in the original Pac-Man.
One innovation Pac-Mania has is that Pac-Man is capable of jumping, which comes in real handy when faced with a ghost. All Pac-Man has to do is just jump over that ghost. The only complication is that sometimes you'll jump over one ghost only to inadvertantly jump right into another one, thus causing you to lose a life.
While Pac-Mania has added a grey ghost and a green ghost to the lineup (which includes a light blue, red, orange, and pink ghost) but it didn't divulge the names of any of them.
Pac-Mania had its own animated intermissions, which is dubbed in the game as "The Pac-Man Theatre." Basically it's a series of slapstick animations featuring Pac-Man and the ghosts.
Even though Pac-Mania was released in 1988, I didn't encounter this game until a few months ago in the same laundromat that also held Jr. Pac-Man. When I went back to that laundromat a few weeks later, I found that Pac-Mania was gone. I became so totally hooked on Pac-Mania that I bought the Pac-Man Collection for the Game Boy Advance because it has Pac-Mania on it. Fortunately Pac-Mania is widely available on a variety of console games because it's a pretty fun 3-D variation on Pac-Man that's worth playing.
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 Pac-Mania, 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.
PAC-MANIA GAMES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
GAME BOY ADVANCE
[link=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/d etail/-/B00005LOW5/theunicornwithan/]Pac-Man Collection[/link]--Includes Pac-Man and three of his sequels: Pac-Attack, Pac-Mania, and Pac-Man Arrangement.
GAME CUBE
Namco Museum--Pac-Mania is included as a hidden game to be unlocked. Also includes Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Arrangement, Galaxian, Galaga, Dig-Dug, and Pole Position.
Pac-Man World 2--It's an adventure game featuring the yellow guy. If you collect enough tokens, you can unlock five classic arcade games--Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Attack, and Pac-Mania--as well as a series of 3-D mazes.
GENESIS
Pac-Mania
PLAYSTATION 1
Namco Museum Volume 5--Includes Pac-Mania along with Dragon Spirit, Metro-Cross, Baraduke, and Legend of Valkyrie.
PLAYSTATION 2
Namco Museum--Pac-Mania is included as a hidden game to be unlocked. Also includes Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Arrangement, Galaxian, Galaga, Dig-Dug, and Pole Position.
Pac-Man World 2--It's an adventure game featuring the yellow guy. If you collect enough tokens, you can unlock five classic arcade games--Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Attack, and Pac-Mania--as well as a series of 3-D mazes.
X-BOX
[link=http://w ww.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006IKCE/theunicornwithan/]Namco Museum[/link]--Pac-Mania is included as a hidden game to be unlocked. Also includes Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Arrangement, Galaxian, Galaga, Dig-Dug, and Pole Position.
Pac-Man World 2--It's an adventure game featuring the yellow guy. If you collect enough tokens, you can unlock five classic arcade games--Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Attack, and Pac-Mania--as well as a series of 3-D mazes.
PAC-MANIA LINKS
ClassicGaming.com's Pac-Page--This is the ultimate homage to Pac-Man and his many sequels, including Pac-Mania. 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-Mania
The Killer List of Video Games' Pac-Mania Exhibit
Namco--The official site of the company that's responsible for Pac-Mania 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 a nd his many sequels (including Pac-Mania).
The Virtual Pac-Man Museum--It's an online museum full of Pac-Man artifacts.
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