Ms. Pac-Man - Arcade

8.5	Listal rating

Release date : 1 August 1982

Classic (1), Arcade (1), Maze (1), Pac-man (1), Developed By Midway (1), Ported To Atari 2600 (1)

Description

Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1982 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licenser Namco as an official title. This game introduces a female protagonist, new maze designs, and several minor gamep Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1982 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licenser Namco as an official title. This game introduces a female protagonist, new maze designs, and several minor gameplay changes over the original game.

The gameplay of Ms. Pac-Man is largely identical to that of the original Pac-Man. The player gathers points by eating dots and avoiding ghosts (contact with one loses a life). Power-pellets or energizers change the ghosts which reverse their course and can be eaten for bonus points (200, 400, 800, and 1600 points if all 4 are eaten before they change back to their normal colors). Fruit bonuses can be consumed for increasing point values, twice per level. As the levels increase, the speed and difficulty increase as well.

There are, however, some notable differences:

* There are now six different mazes (four styles, with 5 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 (except for the third maze design which only has one set of tunnels). The maze is changed after each intermission.

* The ghosts have pseudo-random movement, which precludes the use of pre-set movements (patterns) to beat each board.

* Instead of appearing in the center of the maze, "fruits" enter the maze through one of the warp tunnels and bounce around the maze. They eventually leave through another tunnel if not eaten. The point values increase through the banana (5,000 pts), after which fruit appears in a somewhat random pattern.

* The orange ghost's name changed from Clyde to Sue. (Sue would later become a purple female ghost in Pac-Land, appearing alongside Clyde.)

* The three intermissions have changed to follow the developing relationship between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man (from when they first meet to having a stork drop off their baby.)
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