Pac-Mania

From Sega Retro

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PacMania Title.png

Pac-Mania
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System
Publisher:
Sega Mega Drive
Tengen,
Sega Master System
TecMagik
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Release Date RRP Code

Pac-Mania is a sequel to Pac-Man, first released in 1987 in the arcades by Namco for its Namco System 1 hardware and brought to the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Master System by Tengen in 1991. It has also been ported to numerous other consoles and computers, including the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, Zeebo and ZX Spectrum. It is a pseudo-3D take on the Pac-Man gameplay formula, though offers many other additions.

The game is presented in an oblique perspective with more detailed backgrounds than in previous Pac-Man arcade games. The disadvantage of this is that only a section of the play area is visible and therefore there is more of a reliance on scrolling. To counter this, Pac-Man now has the ability to jump, which can be used to avoid ghosts (apart from ghosts that can also jump). There are more ghosts on-screen than in previous titles too, who are found in a variety of different colors and are left unnamed. Unlike the original game there are now four maps, one of which is unlockable and each having their own music track.

Though Pac-Mania was seen as a return to form for the Pac-Man franchise (previous entries such as Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal and Pac Land had radically changed the original formula and were therefore not as successful), the game failed to receive the popularity obtained by the original Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man, mostly because despite appearing in 1987, it failed to offer much improvement over the original 1980 game.

Promotional Material

Physical Scans

Mega Drive Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
85 №52, p91
65 №14, p124
80
50 №38
90
82 №23, p120
64 №5, p93
70 №1, p38/39[1]
86 №15, p62/63[2]
83 №18, p67
93 №4, p52-54[3]
76 №27, p48
82 №2, p46[4]
82 №18, p66
Sega Mega Drive
78
Based on
14 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[5]
ACE (UK)
85
[6]
Consoles + (FR)
65
[7]
Console XS (UK) PAL
82
[8]
Game Power (IT)
80
[9]
Games-X (UK)
50
[10]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
90
[11]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-U
82
[12]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
64
[13]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
50
[14]
MegaTech (UK)
70
[15]
Mean Machines (UK)
86
[16]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
86
[17]
Player One (FR)
83
[18]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
76
[19]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
82
[20]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
82
[21]
Supersonic (FR)
84
[22]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
70
[23]
VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US)
70
[24]
Sega Mega Drive
74
Based on
20 reviews

Pac-Mania

Mega Drive, US
PacMania MD US Box.jpg
Cover
PacMania md us cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
PacMania MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
PacMania MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, AU

Master System Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
80 №44, p71
90 №0, p54/55/56
86 №113, p40/41
88
80 №16
88
93 №17, p138
90 №6, p86-88[25]
75 №2/42
92 №11, p38/39
86 №10, p27
94 №16, p10/11
80 №23, p58
90 №5, p20[26]
90 №20, p70
Sega Master System
87
Based on
15 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
ACE (UK)
80
[27]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
65
[28]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL
84
[29]
Console XS (UK) PAL
88
[30]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
86
[31]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
80
[32]
Game Mania (UK)
90
[33]
Game Power (IT)
88
[34]
Games-X (UK)
80
[35]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
88
[36]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-U
79
[37]
Joystick (FR)
93
[38]
Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)
75
[39]
Mean Machines (UK)
90
[40]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
90
[41]
Player One (FR)
92
[42]
Power Play (DE)
66
[43]
Raze (UK) PAL
86
[44]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
94
[45]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
75
[46]
Sega Pro (UK)
90
[47]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
88
[48]
Sega Force (UK)
92
[49]
Video Games (DE)
67
[50]
Video Games (DE)
69
[51]
Zero (UK)
90
[52]
Zzap! (IT)
92
[53]
Sega Master System
84
Based on
27 reviews

Pac-Mania

Master System, EU
PacMania SMS EU Box.jpg
Cover
PacMania SMS EU Cart.jpg
Cart
PacmaniaSMSEUManual7L.pdf
Manual
Master System, AU



Pac-Man games for Sega systems
Sega Game Gear
Pac-Man (1991) | Ms. Pac-Man (1993) | Pac-Attack (1994) | Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
Sega Master System
Ms. Pac-Man (1991) | Pac-Mania (1991)
Sega Mega Drive
Ms. Pac-Man (1991) | Pac-Mania (1991) | Pac-Attack (1993) | Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (1994) | Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
Sega Dreamcast
Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (2000)
  1. File:Megatech UK 01.pdf, page 38
  2. File:MeanMachines UK 15.pdf, page 64
  3. File:SegaForce04UK.pdf, page 52
  4. File:Segapro UK 02.pdf, page 48
  5. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 172
  6. ACE, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-08), page 91
  7. Consoles +, "Novembre 1992" (FR; 1992-1x-xx), page 124
  8. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 132
  9. Game Power, "Marzo 1992" (IT; 1992-0x-xx), page 62
  10. Games-X, "16th-22nd January 1992" (UK; 1992-01-16), page 23
  11. Hobby Consolas, "Octubre 1992" (ES; 1992-xx-xx), page 134
  12. Joystick, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 120
  13. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 93
  14. Mega Play, "July/August 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 64
  15. MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 38
  16. Mean Machines, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-28), page 62
  17. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 140
  18. Player One, "Mars 1992" (FR; 1992-03-10), page 67
  19. Sega Power, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-02), page 48
  20. Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 48
  21. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
  22. Supersonic, "Mai/Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 11
  23. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 133
  24. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "November 1991" (US; 1991-1x-xx), page 42
  25. File:MeanMachines UK 06.pdf, page 86
  26. File:Segapro UK 05.pdf, page 20
  27. ACE, "May 1991" (UK; 1991-04-08), page 71
  28. Aktueller Software Markt, "August/September 1991" (DE; 1991-07-26), page 159
  29. The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 116
  30. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 143
  31. Computer & Video Games, "April 1991" (UK; 1991-03-16), page 60
  32. Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 148
  33. Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 81
  34. Game Power, "Gennaio 1992" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 42
  35. Games-X, "8th-14th August 1991" (UK; 1991-08-08), page 40
  36. Hobby Consolas, "Octubre 1991" (ES; 1991-xx-xx), page 72
  37. Joypad, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 1991-12-1x), page 88
  38. Joystick, "Juin 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 138
  39. Micromanía (segunda época), "Noviembre 1991" (ES; 1991-1x-xx), page 44
  40. Mean Machines, "March 1991" (UK; 1991-03-01), page 54
  41. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 135
  42. Player One, "Juillet/Août 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 38
  43. Power Play, "5/91" (DE; 1991-04-12), page 130
  44. Raze, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-06-27), page 27
  45. Sega Power, "March 1991" (UK; 1991-02-07), page 10
  46. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 58
  47. Sega Pro, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-20), page 20
  48. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 71
  49. Sega Force, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-19), page 52
  50. Video Games, "1/91" (DE; 1991-03-27), page 77
  51. Video Games, "2/92" (DE; 1992-04-06), page 33
  52. Zero, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-0x-xx), page 70
  53. Zzap!, "Giugno 1991" (IT; 1991-xx-xx), page 55