Pac-Man

n/a

Pac-Man

Publisher: Namco

Developer: Namco

Peripherals supported: Gear-to-Gear Cable

Genre: Action

Number of players: 1-2 (alternating)

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1991-01-29	¥3,5003,500	T-14017
US	1991	$29.9529.95	T-14018
US (Majesco)	2000		T-14018

ESRB

Pac-Man (パックマン) is a 1980 arcade game developed by Namco. It became incredibly successful to the point that it saw ports to consoles of the time and continues to see ports — made in-house, officially licensed, and homebrew — to today's systems. The only port of the game to a Sega system, however, was an in-house port to the Sega Game Gear in late 1990 (consequently, it was released early 1991). A Sega Master System version of this game was planned at one stage, but was cancelled for unknown reasons.

The Game Gear version of the game is relatively faithful, though due to the smaller resolution, graphics are smaller in size and the full maze cannot be shown without scrolling. This problem can be addressed by selecting 1/2 screen size where the graphics are drawn smaller but the full maze is displayed at once.

On an interesting note, Sega's 1982 arcade game Ali Baba and 40 Thieves runs on modified Pac-Man hardware.

Gameplay

The basic goal of Pac-Man is to eat all the dots (or pellets) in a maze, avoiding ghosts. By eating a power pellet, Pac-Man is able to eat the ghosts as well for a short period, and the ghosts will then respawn from the center of the screen. Levels are completed once all the dots are eaten, and extra points can be achieved by eating fruit.

Magazine articles

Main article: Pac-Man/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #6: "Fall 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #27: "October 1991" (1991-xx-xx)^[1]
GamePro (US) #29: "December 1991" (1991-xx-xx)^[2]

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

ACE (UK)

NTSC-U

75

^[3]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

70

^[7]

Console XS (UK)

NTSC-U

76

^[8]

Computer & Video Games (UK)

NTSC-U

82

^[4]

GamePro (US)

NTSC-U

60

^[5]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

50

^[9]

Joystick (FR)

65

^[10]

MegaTech (UK)

NTSC-U

70

^[11]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

NTSC-U

49

^[12]

Play Time (DE)

34

^[13]

Power Unlimited (NL)

90

^[14]

Sega Power (UK)

NTSC-U

92

^[15]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-U

79

^[6]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-U

79

^[16]

Sega Pro (UK)

PAL

66

^[17]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

80

^[18]

VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US)

60

^[19]

	69
Based on 17 reviews

Pac-Man

Game Gear, US (Namco cart)
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, US (Sega cart)

Cart

Game Gear, US (Majesco)
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, JP (Namcot cart)

Game Gear, JP (Sega cart)
Cover
Cart

References

↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 139
↑ GamePro, "December 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 93
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 File:ACE UK 53.pdf, page 94 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 53.pdf_p94" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 File:Go UK 02.pdf, page 7 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Go UK 02.pdf_p7" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 File:GamePro US 029.pdf, page 126 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePro US 029.pdf_p126" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf, page 64 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf_p64" defined multiple times with different content
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 85
↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 148
↑ Hippon Super, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-07), page 43
↑ Joystick, "Avril 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 130
↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 38
↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 143
↑ Play Time, "(8/9)/92" (DE; 1992-07-08), page 97
↑ Power Unlimited, "Nummer 3, Oktober 1993" (NL; 1993-09-29), page 55
↑ Sega Power, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-10-30), page 42
↑ Sega Pro, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-20), page 20
↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 74
↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 88
↑ VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "November 1991" (US; 1991-1x-xx), page 88

Pac-Man games for Sega systems
	Pac-Man (1991) \| Ms. Pac-Man (1993) \| Pac-Attack (1994) \| Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
	Ms. Pac-Man (1991) \| Pac-Mania (1991) \| Pac-Man (????)
	Ms. Pac-Man (1991) \| Pac-Mania (1991) \| Pac-Attack (1993) \| Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (1994) \| Pac-Man (2018) \| Pac-Man Pocket Player (2018) \| Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
	Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (2000)

[:File:EGM_US_027.pdf_p139-1] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 139

[:File:GamePro_US_029.pdf_p93-2] GamePro, "December 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 93

[:File:ACE_UK_53.pdf_p94-3] 3.0 ^3.1 File:ACE UK 53.pdf, page 94 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 53.pdf_p94" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:Go_UK_02.pdf_p7-4] 4.0 ^4.1 File:Go UK 02.pdf, page 7 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Go UK 02.pdf_p7" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:GamePro_US_029.pdf_p126-5] 5.0 ^5.1 File:GamePro US 029.pdf, page 126 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePro US 029.pdf_p126" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:SegaPro_UK_01.pdf_p64-6] 6.0 ^6.1 File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf, page 64 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf_p64" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-02.pdf_p85-7] Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 85

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p148-8] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 148

[9] Hippon Super, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-07), page 43

[:File:Joystick_FR_015.pdf_p130-10] Joystick, "Avril 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 130

[:File:MegaTech_UK_01.pdf_p38-11] MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 38

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p143-12] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 143

[:File:PlayTime_DE_1992-0809.pdf_p97-13] Play Time, "(8/9)/92" (DE; 1992-07-08), page 97

[:File:PowerUnlimited_NL_003_199310.pdf_p55-14] Power Unlimited, "Nummer 3, Oktober 1993" (NL; 1993-09-29), page 55

[:File:SegaPower_UK_25.pdf_p42-15] Sega Power, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-10-30), page 42

[:File:SegaPro_UK_05.pdf_p20-16] Sega Pro, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-20), page 20

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p74-17] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 74

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p88-18] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 88

[:File:VG.26amp.3BCE_US_34.pdf_p88-19] VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "November 1991" (US; 1991-1x-xx), page 88

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Pac-Man games for Sega systems
	Pac-Man (1991) \| Ms. Pac-Man (1993) \| Pac-Attack (1994) \| Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
	Ms. Pac-Man (1991) \| Pac-Mania (1991) \| Pac-Man (????)
	Ms. Pac-Man (1991) \| Pac-Mania (1991) \| Pac-Attack (1993) \| Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (1994) \| Pac-Man (2018) \| Pac-Man Pocket Player (2018) \| Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
	Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (2000)

Pac-Man

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

References