When I think about pre-1990 video games all of the usual classics come to mind but the game that leads the list is Pac-Man. It was a phenomenon among video games. Today it is still the best-selling coin operated video game in history. Let's analyze why...
Positives:
+ Gameplay is simple and easy to learn.
+ Colorful art with very catchy music and sound effects.
+ No matter how difficult the level, each maze can be completed without dying by following a specific pattern.
+ The ghosts have their own "personalities".
Negatives:
- Gameplay is difficult to master.
- Over-merchandized. For a while you couldn't swing an Atari controller without hitting something that contained the Pac-Man logo.
- The ghosts are no longer edible for points from level 19 on.
- If one reaches level 256 they'll find one hot mess of a level thanks to the limits of the game's programming.
Thoughts:
~ I remember playing this game at the arcade. It always seemed to end too quickly for my liking.
~ This game contains the first game exploit I've ever experienced: The connected side tunnels that automatically slowed the ghosts down. I would have Pac-Man pop in and out of this area teasing the ghosts until they followed. I'd then speed off to gobble up the closest energizer pill and then turn and eat the slowed ghosts.
~ Is there a way to get past level 256 without using the "rack test"? Rumors persist that there is but a $100,000 prize went unclaimed when no one came forward with irrefutable proof that it could be done.
~ If you eat a ghost as it's coming out of the monster pen an interesting bug occurs. The ghost's eyes will return to the monster pen. The respawned ghost will then move straight up and through the walls of the maze. At the top of the screen the ghost will wrap around showing up at the bottom of the screen. Once again it will float upwards though the maze walls. Eventually the ghost will make it back to the monster pen and its behavior will return to normal. If Pac-Man eats another energizer pill and then eats the effected ghost the eyes will move oddly and have a difficult time returning to the monster pen. Sometimes the eyes fix themselves and return to the monster pen, respawning a properly behaving ghost, but sometimes they remain bugged until the level is completed.
Would Likes:
* At level 19 the ghosts no longer turn blue when you eat an energizer pill. So, Pac-Man is unable to eat them to earn points. I'd love if this mechanic were adjusted so that the ghosts would still turn blue and could be eaten for points irregardless of the current level.
* It could be interesting to play from the vantage point of a ghost.
* Take the above one step further and have a multi-player aspect where one player is Pac-Man and up to three other players are ghosts.
* After level 21 the mazes are all the same. I'd like to see more variation in the mazes over level 21. Even if new maze layouts aren't used then perhaps randomizing which of the previous maps is used would throw some challenge into the mix for those trying to reach level 256.
Credit where credit is due:
Pittman, Jamey. (2011, May 03). The pac-man dossier. Retrieved from http://home.comcast.net/~jpittman2/pacman/pacmandossier.htm
The International Arcade Museum Library, Inc. (1995-2011). Pac-man - video game by midway manufacturing co. Retrieved from http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10816
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