Ms. Pac-Man

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Ms. Pac-Man

Pac-Man meets its match. Video game gets a female counterpart
Genre(s): Maze
Platform(s): Arcade
Atari 2600
Atari 5200
Atari 7800
Atari 8-bit
VIC-20
Commodore 64
ZX Spectrum
IBM PC
Apple II
TI-99/4A
Nintendo Entertainment System
Sega Genesis
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Game Boy
Game Boy Color
Atari Lynx
Release Date: January 13, 1982
Developer(s): General Computer Corporation
Midway
Publisher(s): Midway
Country: United States
Series: Pac-Man
Predecessor: Pac-Man (1980)


Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It's the first sequel to Pac-Man and the first entry to not be made by Namco. The game takes the shoes of the titular character who happens to be the wife of Pac-Man. The gameplay is still the same as the original Pac-Man.

Why It's An Original Female Fatale

  1. Ms. Pac-Man is considered to be one of the earliest female video game protagonists which successfully brought in a large female fanbase for the Pac-Man franchise and arcade gaming in general during the 1980s due to her iconic status. However, it wasn't just the females liking the character as both men and even children love it as well.
  2. As usual the gameplay is pretty much the same but there are some differences that make the game stand out from the original so that way it doesn't just behave like a carbon copy and instead its own thing.
  3. The game has four different mazes that appear in different color schemes and those alter after each of the game's intermissions. The colors of the maze consist of pink, light blue, brown, and dark blue. After level 14 the maze configurations alternate every fourth level.
  4. The mazes change the design as well and not just the color. Instead of the mazes being just recolors of the same maze, the mazes are given different designs just for variety. Compare each maze design and you see some differences like how the warps are placed being a notable example.
  5. For starter players the mazes are given a more solid color just to indicate which are the walls and which are not.
  6. The ghosts' AI are different and this includes semi-random moves which prevent the use of patterns to clear each round. Blinky and Pinky are the ones who move randomly in the first several seconds of each level until the first reversal while Inky and Sue use the same movement patterns from the original game to their respective corners until the first reversal. Though keep in mind that Sue in this game is basically just Clyde with a different name yet in later games she is given a purple color.
  7. Getting the bonus fruits are much different there. It makes chasing fruit more easily rather than just having to go to the center. The fruit in this game bounce around the maze and can still leave the maze if they are not eaten. They consist of cherries, strawberries, oranges, pretzels, apples, pears, and bananas.
  8. Though simple, the music is just pure nostalgia. Nothing else and all it's said including the small jingle that appears when you start the game.
  9. The speed is much faster than the original game.
  10. It keeps the challenging difficulty that encourages players to compete in the game for glory just as usual. You got to eat every pellet.
  11. Like the original game, you get some little cutscenes. The first cutscene talks about Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man meeting while both being chased by ghosts. The second cutscene features Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man playfully chasing each other. The last cutscene features the couple finding a stork only for it to deliver a child in the form of Jr. Pac-Man.
  12. Like its predecessor, it did get lots of ports from various consoles in some way, shape, or form. Heck, most home versions of the game included all three intermission screens from the arcade game.
  13. The Tengen and Williams Electronics version now has different sets of mazes. The original arcade mazes, bigger mazes, smaller mazes, and "strange" mazes. Pac-Boosters also appear but they make Ms. Pac-Man move much faster. You can also play with two people simultaneously. You get a new intermission at level 32 where you have both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man saying goodbye
  14. The Game Boy Color version now has two new mazes and a bonus game in the form of Super Pac-Man.
  15. The CD-i Arcade Classics version that was only released in Europe has all the extra features of the Tengen ports.

Bad Qualities

  1. The new sound effects can be really loud for some with the most notable ones would be when Ms. Pac-Man eats the pellets and when the ghosts turn blue.
  2. Even though the speed is much faster than the original, not many people can sense it.
  3. The SNES version has somewhat frustrating controls.
  4. We are never going to see Ms. Pac-Man again due to the AtGames lawsuit.

Reception

The game was acclaimed by critics for its improvement to the original gameplay and for having a female protagonist. Ms. Pac-Man has been listed in the greatest video games of all time and is one of the most successful American arcade games ever made.

In the United States, Ms. Pac-Man topped the monthly RePlay upright arcade cabinet charts for much of 1982, including most months between April and December. The same applies to the cocktail arcade cabinet version being topped for 23 months from February 1982 through 1983.

The arcade game was awarded a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Coin-Op Game of the Year at the 1982 Arcade Awards held in January 1983.

Trivia

  • AtGames and Bandai Namco had a legal battle against owning the rights of the character. Beginning with the Arcade Archives release of Pac-Land in 2022, she was removed from games that previously featured her in place of a new character named Pac-Mom. Ms. Pac-Man was removed in Pac-Man Museum + and a remake of Pac-Man World called Pac-Man World Re-Pac.
  • The original name was going to be called Pac-Woman but it was deemed too questionable due to the third intermission that may question the relationship between Pac-Man and the player character.
  • Believe it or not there is an issue going on on YouTube that when you type in Ms. Pac-Man on YouTube, there is a chance that you will get lots of videos circulating a horrific real-life murder disrespectfully named after the character via reactions.

Reviews

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