Pac-Mania

Pac-Mania (パックマニア Pakku-Mania) is a game in the Pac-Man series released by Namco in 1987 for Namco System 1 arcade cabinets. The game saw notable success, grossing approximately $2.82 million within a year of its initial release before being ported to various consoles, computers and mobile phone operating systems. Pac-Mania was nominated for best Coin-Op Conversion of the Year at 1987's Golden Joystick Awards, but lost to Taito's Operation Wolf.^[1]

Gameplay

Pac-Mania plays much like its predecessors in which the goal is to eat all of the pellets in the stage while avoiding ghosts. Pac-Man can eat power pellets or special bonus items to turn the ghosts blue, making them vulnerable to being eaten, which awards the player with extra points. The stage ends when all of the pellets have been eaten.

The primary difference between Pac-Mania and other games in the Pac-Man series is that Pac-Mania gives Pac-Man the ability to jump, which can be used to jump over ghosts. The game also introduces ghosts referred to as Commons, which, like Pac-Man, can jump. The ghosts in question are Funky and Spunky, only the latter of which can jump the same height as Pac-Man. Outside of the Commons, the game includes classic ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde as well as then Ms. Pac-Man exclusive ghost Sue.

References