Description
Namco’s beloved creation, Pac-Man, hit the arcades in the US in 1980 thanks to Midway and quickly became a hit with gamers across the world.
The game: This was the first game of its kind and a far cry from the space shooters that were common around that era. Pac-Man requires players to navigate the character of Pac-Man, a yellow, pie-shaped circle, throughout a set of mazes. Along the way gobbling up the dots littered throughout whilst avoiding the four ghosts roaming the level.
The ghosts are Pinky (pink ghost), Blinky (red ghost), Inky (blue ghost) and Clyde (orange ghost), each of which have their own characteristics. To complete a maze and progress to the next level, Pac-Man must survive and clear all the dots from the maze.
Dotted throughout each maze are bigger ‘energiser’ dots which, when scoffed, make Pac-Man invincible for a limited amount of time and allow him to destroy any ghosts that may get in his way – a very useful ‘power-up’ during the higher levels where difficulty and intensity increases.
The game is scored on how many dots you swallow and how far a level you reach with fruit, such as cherries, making an appearance in the mazes which can be gobbled to provide bonus points. With a limited number of lives per credit, the aim is to get as far into the game as possible to gain a high score to beat your friends or previous players.