PacMan

When I was nine, my father would take my little sister and me to this pizza parlor every Saturday for dinner. My fondest memory of that place wasn't the pizza; it was the sit-down Ms. Pac-Man machine that my sister and I frequently stuffed quarters into.

For some reason, Ms. Pac-Man caught my interest more than other arcade offerings. Why? Okay, I confess, maybe it was because the game was "more feminine" - as everybody said back then. Whatever. One thing was for sure: my sister and I always left a lot of pizza grease on the joystick controls.

In case you've been sleeping in a cave, Ms Pac-Man is the sequel to Pac-Man. Since the original Pac-Man was much more of a hit with women and girls than other arcade offerings, the ingenuous programmers in Japan rubbed their hands together and said, "Hey - instead of making a sequel, let's program a 'more feminine' version of Pac-Man for America". And the next thing you know, Ms Pac-Man comes out a year later and girls start spending their school lunch money in the arcades like the boys.

Similar to its predecessor, you move Ms. Pac-Man through a maze so that she can eat these dots in her path. But ghosts Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Sue - Clyde's not in this one - are chasing her, trying to stop her from eating. If one of these ghosts touches her, Ms. Pac-Man rolls around in place and "dies". To prevent this, you can move her over a "power pellet". For a few moments, the ghosts will turn blue and run away because they know that Ms. Pac-Man can chew them up. Besides eating dots and power pellets, Ms. Pac-Man can nibble on a orchard-fresh variety of fruit, like cherries, oranges and bananas that bounce through the maze.

Once Ms. Pac-Man gobbles up all the dots on the screen, it's off to the next maze, which has a different layout than the previous one. Things start all over again, but Ms. Pac-Man, the ghosts and the bouncing fruit move faster.

The cartridge lets you select higher levels to start the game, which is especially nice if you become bored of playing the easier mazes. A "teddy-bear" screen is available to those who can't even clear the first maze. But if you have to resort to playing this level, perhaps you ought to go back to sleep in your cave.

Without sounding biased (even though I am), Ms. Pac-Man has better graphics, sound and music than the blander Pac-Man. For example, the sequel's mazes are laced in different, bright colors like vibrant pink, shocking green, sapphire blue and luscious orange The XE Ms. Pac-Man also contains all the cartoons you've seen in the arcade version. Finally, the characters are taken a step further in graphic detail. In fact, everything about Ms Pac-Man on the XE is like the coin-op version.

Everything, that is, except for the pizza grease.

Waka, Waka...

After years of residing in arcade machines and home game arenas, Pac-man has finally gone portable for the Nintendo GameBoy! All of the original feel and fun are retained in this arcade classic. Also translated into GameBoy Pac-man is the option to view either a large partial screen or a smaller complete screen. A special two-player option allows two people with the official video link to go at it head-to-head!

The cart uses the standard Pac-man maze, and some of the original patterns work too. The ghosts may be in black-and-white, but they have retained the specialized personalities of Pinky, Blinky, Inky, and Clyde of the coin-op. Each ghost has his own "home corner" that they must return to after leaving the center box or a certain time period. Good players will take advantage of this and the various "safe spots" located throughout the board. One helpful tip is the fact that hungry ghosts cannot enter the tunnels immediately above the center box from the bottom entrance. Hmm...

The biggest hit of the decade is back -- just for you! Guide PAC-MAN around the baffling maze to gobble all the dots and rack up points in a big way Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, the not-so-friendly ghosts, are dying to do some gobbling, too. Except their favorite food is PAC-MAN!

His only defense is to eat the energizers, special pellets which empower him to gobble the ghosts, but only for a short while. Find out for yourself how the ever-lovable PAC-MAN captured the hearts of millions of people around the world!

Here's Pac-MAN, zipping around the maze munching yummy ghosts. If they catch him, he's ghostflakes! Chomp down power dots and fruit treats for big bonus points. Connect two Game Gears for extra ghost-mania. Choose different rounds to even up the competition. When you gulp a ghost, it pops up in your friend's maze. Then he's got double trouble, and you've got the points!

For those of you just arriving on Planet Earth, Pac-Man is one of the classic video games that started it all in the arcades. If you've yet to be initiated, here's all you need to know: Pac-Man is a round mound of fun who must cruise around a maze-like screen and gobble up all the little yellow power pills. When he's gobbled up all of the pills he can move on to the next maze.

Unfortunately for Pac-Man a troop of nasty ghosts haunt him as he cruises around the maze. If they catch him he loses a life. Lucky for Mr. Pac the can grab a giant power pill and turn the ghosts blue. While they're blue he can munch them down for bonus points. Pac-Man can also grab tasty fruit snacks and other bonus items that enable him to score big, earn extra lives, and generally have a good time.

The Two Player version of the game is fun, although in both versions it's tough to maneuver Pac-Man without a joystick. Other than that the game is faithful to the arcade classic. If you liked Pac-Man in the arcades, you'll like it on the Game Gear. If you didn't...well...Wacka, Wacka, Wacka!

The arcade classic Pac-Man makes his Game Boy debut in this sensational new release from Namco. Relive the adventure as you munch your way through twisting mazes filled with power pellets, bonus fruit, and those wicked ghosts! Beware of their touch - they've been known to snack on Pac's.

Hook up with a friend to double the excitement in this first 2-player Pac-Man'. Determine the challenge by choosing the number of lives you'll need to defeat your opponent. Add fuel to the rivalry by using the handicap feature which allows two players to begin in different rounds. Gulp down a ghost and shoot'em to your opponent's maze!

Here's Pac-man, zipping around the maze munching yummy ghosts. If they catch him, he's ghostflakes! Chomp down power dots and fruit treats for big bonus points. Connect two Game Gears for extra ghost-mania. Choose different rounds to even up the competition. When you gulp a ghost, it pops up in your friend's maze. Then he's got double trouble, and you've got the points!

Here's PAC-MAN, zipping around the maze munching yummy ghosts. If they catch him, he's ghostflakes! Chomp down power dots and fruit treats for big bonus points. Connect two Game Gears for extra ghost-mania. Choose different rounds to even up the competition. When you gulp a ghost, it pops up in your friend's maze. Then he's got double trouble, and you've got the points!

This popular arcade game is now being readied for the Game Gear. You know the story, eat all the dots, get the power pills, and avoid the ghosts!

The arcade classic Pac-Man makes his Game Boy debut in this sensational new release from Namco. Relive the adventure as you munch your way through twisting mazes filled with power pellets, bonus fruit, and those wicked' ghosts! Beware of their touch - they've been known to snack on Pac's. Hook up with a friend to double the excitement in this first 2-player Pac-Man. Determine the challenge by choosing the number of lives you'll need to defeat your opponent. Add fuel to the rivalry by using the handicap feature which allows two players to begin in different rounds. Gulp down a ghost and shoot'em to your opponent's maze!

The arcade classic Pac-Man makes his Game Boy debut in this sensational new release from Namco. Relive the adventure as you munch your way through twisting mazes filled with power pellets, bonus fruit, and those wicked'ghosts! Beware of their touch - they've been known to snack on Pac's.

Hook up with a friend to double the excitement in this first 2-player Pac-Man. Determine the challenge by choosing the number of lives you'll need to defeat your opponent. Add fuel to the rivalry by using the handicap feature which allows two players to begin in different rounds. Gulp down a ghost and shoot'em to your opponent's maze!

The biggest hit of the decade is back -- just for you! Guide PAC-MAN around the baffling maze to gobble all the dots and rack up points in a big way. Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, the not-so-friendly ghosts, are dying to do some gobbling, too. Except their favorite food is PAC-MAN!

His only defense is to eat the energizers, special pellets which empower him to gobble the ghosts, but only for a short while. Find out for yourself how the ever-lovable PAC-MAN captured the hearts of millions of people around the world!