Not to be confused with the 2005 game.
Pac-Man Arrangement (パックマンアレンジメント Pakkuman Arenjimento) is an arcade game released in 1996 by Namco, included as part of Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2. It was later included in Pac-Man Collection, alongside several versions of Namco Museum.
Gameplay[]
Pac-Man Arrangement, similar to the original Pac-Man, follows Pac-Man as he tries to eat all the Pac-Dots across 23 rounds (22 rounds and a final boss round) of unique mazes while avoiding ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, retaining their personalities from the original game. Eating a Power Pellet allows Pac-Man to temporarily eat the Ghosts. After a certain amount of Pac-Dots are eaten, a bonus fruit spawns in a specific location of the maze in the center below the ghost house. When few Pac-Dots remain, Blinky's speed greatly increases, while the other ghosts' speeds increase if the player remains surviving in the round for too long.
Extra lives are awarded after reaching 40,000 points (though this can be set to earning extra lives at both 40,000 and 100,000 points or turned off in the game's options). Pac-Man loses a life if he is caught by a ghost or by the boss robot, though action is continuous as Pac-Man respawns while the ghosts are still moving. Pac-Man starts with three lives, but this can be configured to start with two to six lives. The game ends if Pac-Man loses all his lives, though the player is given the option to continue the current round with extra lives with their score reset by using credits. There are three difficulty options, with each difficulty mode altering the speed of the ghosts.
Pac-Man Arrangement includes many notable gameplay additions to the original Pac-Man formula, which are mentioned below. The game features 23 rounds, 22 of which are regular and one boss round in the final round. As the player completes the rounds, the gameplay speed will increase, the bonus fruits change and Power Pellet effects are shortened. The 23 rounds are split across six different worlds: the Toy Box World (rounds 1 to 2), the Original Pac-Man World (rounds 3 to 6), the Water World (rounds 7 to 10), the Green World (rounds 11 to 14), the Ancient Ruins (rounds 15 to 18) and the Monster Secret Base (rounds 19 to 23). Among the levels, items that assist Pac-Man appear within the maze, giving him a point bonus along the way.
Pac-Man Arrangement incorporates simultaneous two-player play. At any time as long as there are credits, a second player can join in any time and will control a green-colored Pac-Man. When the two-player mode is active, the players compete against each other to be the Pac-Man to score the most amount of points for each round. When a round is cleared, the amount of Pac-Dots and Ghosts eaten is totaled for a final score, and the player with the most points at the end of that round will win it. When the game is finished, the amount of Pac-Dots, Ghosts, extra lives and wins are totaled to declare a winner. The game ends when all lives are lost and the game is not continued, or the final boss round is completed.
If the player reaches a high score when a game ends, the player can enter their initials at the end of the game. The game records up to the top 3 highest scores.
Boss Round[]
The twenty-third and final round pits Pac-Man against the four ghosts in their Emperor Ghost mech along with their large army of Kinky clones. In the final boss round, Pac-Man must eat all the Pac-Dots in the maze in order to destroy the ghosts. The Emperor Ghost will deploy Kinky clones in the order of the ghosts; with 2 Blinky-colored clones, 3 Pinky-colored clones, 4 Inky-colored clones and Clyde-colored clones in said order, all chasing Pac-Man. Upon eating a certain amount of Pac-Dots, the Emperor Ghost will deploy the next set of clones with the addition of a regular Pac-Dot market with an S spawning. Eating the S Pac-Dot will destroy all the clone ghosts of its flashing color. Upon eating all the Pac-Dots in the maze and destroying the last set of clones, the ghosts use the Emperor Ghost to create a shockwave that creates another set of Pac-Dots and begins chasing Pac-Man. These shockwave Pac-Dots, when eaten, attack the Emperor Ghost and cause damage to it, periodically making the four ghosts inside the mech scared. When all four ghosts are scared, the mech will malfunction and starts speeding across the walls, making it hard to avoid. When all the shockwave Pac-Dots are eaten, a Pac-Man icon appears within the maze, which will destroy the Emperor Ghost and grant a 100,000 point bonus. The game is completed after finishing the boss round, which will then tally up unused extra lives as well as total ghosts and fruits eaten for a final point bonus.
Ghosts[]
The default ghost names in Puckman were carried over into the Japanese version of Pac-Man Arrangement, but the international version uses a mix of the Puckman English descriptive names and the Pac-Man aliases. These names were also used in the version of the original Pac-Man included with Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2.
| Color | Japanese | International | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Nickname | Character | Nickname | |
| Red | Oikake | Akabei | Urchin | Clyde* |
| Pink | Machibuse | Pinky | Romp | Pinky |
| Cyan | Kimagure | Aosuke | Stylist | Inky |
| Orange | Otoboke | Guzuta | Crybaby | Blinky* |
| Gold | Hinekure | Kinzo | ????? | Kinky |
(*See Clyde and Blinky error.)
In this game, a fifth, yellow ghost named Kinky is introduced. Kinky appears after all the ghosts exit the Ghost House, and begins chasing a ghost which slows down. If Kinky touches said ghost, Kinky will merge with the ghost and powers up. When Kinky merges with a ghost, the ghost will gain a different, larger appearance, moves faster and gains a special ability.
- When Kinky merges with Blinky, Blinky gains bull horns, boxing gloves and thicker eyebrows. In this form, Blinky is able to charge and dash horizontally when he enters Pac-Man's sight from a horizontal space.
- When Kinky merges with Pinky, Pinky gains bunny ears. In this form, Pinky at periodic moments will attempt to catch Pac-Man by directly jumping towards him. A target will appear and will lock in the area Pinky will jump.
- When Kinky merges with Inky, Inky gains sunglasses and a pointed hair look. In this form, Inky will create a mirror clone that mirrors his movements from the opposite side; this mirror ghost can also hurt Pac-Man. The mirror clone will only disappear if a Power Pellet is eaten while a mirror clone is present. Inky will move to the center in order to spawn his clone.
- When Kinky merges with Clyde, Clyde becomes mostly obese. In this form, Clyde will periodically spit out larger, 20-point Pac-Dots that are necessary to eat in order to clear the maze.
Unlike the other ghosts, Kinky is always vulnerable and eating Kinky will cause other ghosts to go under the effects of a Power Pellet. Depending on the stage, Kinky can appear multiple times after being eaten or merging with enough ghosts. After he appears a certain number of times, he will stop respawning. Kinky appears twice in World 0 and 1, four times starting in World 2, six times in World 3 and eight times in World 4 and later. Kinky moves much faster beginning in World 4. The ghost is also slowed down during Power Pellet effects, and if a Kinky-merged ghost is eaten, double of the current ghost point value is awarded.
Items[]
Among the new edible contents aside from the Pac-Dots and Power Pellets, there are new items that appear to assist Pac-Man.
- Pac-Dot – the most common 10-point pellet, all of them are required to be eaten to complete the round; Starting in Round 3, however, larger Pac-Dots may appear, either as a brief "wave" over normal-sized Pac-Dots or as a standard 20-point type in the maze. Though these larger dots can be worth up to 50 points, they slow Pac-Man down significantly, allowing normal ghosts to easily catch him.
- Power Pellet – a 50-point pellet which is also required to be eaten to complete the round, these weaken the ghosts into a slower, vulnerable state, enabling Pac-Man to eat them. Eating a ghost that had merged with Kinky will double the point bonus the player would have gotten and bump them up to the next one. Power Pellets will also instantly remove Inky's mirror clone from the maze, slow down Blinky and Kinky's speed, and slow down Pinky when she jumps.
- Red Capsule – worth 1,000 points; Red Capsules double's Pac-Man's speed for 10 seconds and lets him eat larger Pac-Dots without slowing down, and also allows him to outrun powered-up ghosts.
- Red Capsules will spawn at Pac-Man's starting position if Blinky was the fourth ghost eaten during Power Pellet vulnerability in Worlds 0-2, or the second ghost eaten in worlds 3-5.
- Pink Capsule – worth 1,000 points; Eating it will pull all of the ghosts to a brown pot in the Ghost Home for about four seconds, temporarily making the maze ghost-free.
- Pink Capsules will spawn at Pac-Man's starting position if Pinky was the fourth ghost eaten during Power Pellet vulnerability in Worlds 0-2, or the second ghost eaten in worlds 3-5.
- Cyan Capsule – worth 1,000 points; Similar to the Kinky-merged Inky's ability, Pac-Man gains a temporary mirror clone that mirrors his actions from the opposite side for 10 seconds. The mirror Pac-Man can also eat Pac-Dots and scared ghosts as well as stun them with the Dash Arrow; the clone can also safely pass by other ghosts and can also become targeted by the ghosts instead of the real Pac-Man (though the Kinky-merged Blinky and Pinky can still target the real Pac-Man).
- This will spawn at Pac-Man's starting position if Inky was the fourth ghost eaten during Power Pellet vulnerability in Worlds 0-2, or the second ghost eaten in worlds 3-5.
- Orange Capsule – worth 1,000 points; Eating it increases Pac-Man's digestion speed for 10 seconds, allowing him to eat larger Pac-Dots without slowing down.
- Orange Capsules will spawn at Pac-Man's starting position if Clyde was the fourth ghost eaten during Power Pellet vulnerability in Worlds 0-2, or the second ghost eaten in worlds 3-5.
- Gold Capsule – worth 100 points; a ghost laugh with blue clouds come out of the capsule, but does not give any special ability.
- Gold Capsules will spawn at Pac-Man's starting position if Kinky was the fourth ghost eaten during Power Pellet vulnerability in Worlds 0-2, or the second ghost eaten in worlds 3-5.
- Magic Wand – worth 1,000 points; The Magic Wand transforms all the ghosts into edible presents for 10 seconds. When a Present Ghost is eaten, they grant 1,000 points and will be stunned in-place until the effect wears off or all other Present Ghosts are eaten.
- Magic Wands are an item have a chance of spawning if Kinky was used to trigger ghost vulnerability.
- Brown Pot – worth 1,000 points; It has the same effect as the Pink Capsule, also trapping the ghosts in a brown pot briefly.
- Brown Pots are an item that have a chance of spawning if Kinky was used to trigger ghost vulnerability.
- 1-UP Pac-Man – worth 1,000 points; It grants Pac-Man an extra life regardless of the player's accumulated points.
- 1-UP Pac-Man items have a chance of spawning if Kinky was used to trigger ghost vulnerability. Unlike the other power-ups, this item has a very rare chance of appearing.
Maze Features[]
- Dash Arrow – a pellet introduced in the second round. Running over it in the direction the chevrons face will cause Pac-Man to charge in that direction with limited control, stunning ghosts in his path for a brief moment. This dash will overpower Blinky's special ability, and it will also neutralize Inky's duplicate if Pac-Man collides with it. Once the effect wears off, Pac-Man will gain momentary invulnerability. Pac-Man can only use them once, but the ghosts are entirely unable to use them. The Dash Arrow only appears on even-numbered rounds. Pac-Man can still turn a pathway, but because of his speed, he has limited turning power, meaning once he uses the Dash Arrow, he cannot turn into a hallway that is right next to him. He can only turn into a hallway that is at least a block away from him.
- Stairs – an obstacle introduced in the fifth round. They are brief slopes in the maze layout that prevent Pac-Man from changing directions until he leaves a set.
- Jump Panel – a pad introduced in the sixth round. They come in pairs in up to four colors; red, pink, blue, and orange, and running over one will cause Pac-Man to bounce to another Jump Panel of the same color, with temporary invulnerability upon landing. The ghosts can also use these, but they float as they land, meaning that they experience much more landing time than Pac-Man. Jump Panels are required to clear the penultimate round. Like the Dash Arrow, they only appear on even-numbered rounds; depending on the round, two or four pairs of Jump Panels will appear.
Score System[]
- Pac-Dots:
- Regular Pac-Dots: 10 points
- Large Pac-Dots: 20 points
- Largest Pac-Dots 50 points
- Power Pellets: 50 points
- Scared Ghost:
- 200 points, multiplied by 2 for each consecutive ghost eaten until it reaches 7,650 points
- 1st consecutive ghost: 200 points
- 2nd consecutive ghost: 400 points
- 3rd consecutive ghost: 800 points
- 4th consecutive ghost: 1,600 points
- 5th consecutive ghost 3,200 points
- This point value can only be achieved by eating Kinky and other scared ghosts following Kinky.
- 6th consecutive ghost and higher: 7,650 points
- This point value can only be achieved by eating Kinky and other scared ghosts following Kinky.
- If a Kinky-merged ghost is eaten, the current point value is doubled and multiplies until it reaches 7,650 points. (If a ghost with a 400 point value is eaten, then the point value is multiplied by 200 x 2, resulting a total of 400. When the next ghost is eaten, the point value will jump to 800, and so on.)
- 200 points, multiplied by 2 for each consecutive ghost eaten until it reaches 7,650 points
- Present Ghosts from the Magic Wand: 1,000 points
- Bonus Fruit:
- Pineapple - 100 points
- Mushroom - 200 points
- Cherry - 300 points
- Peach - 500 points
- Strawberry - 700 points
- Orange - 1000 points
- Banana - 2000 points
- Grapes - 3000 points
- Eggplant - 4000 points
- Galaxian Boss - 5000 points
- Bell - 6000 points
- Key - 7000 points
- Padlock - 8000 points
- Capsules, Brown Sack, 1UP Pac-Man and Magic Wand: 1,000 points
- Gold Capsule: 100 points
- Destruction of the Emperor Ghost: 100,000 points
- Endgame final results:
- Unused extra lives: 100,000 points per each life
- Total ghosts eaten: 1,000 points for each ghost eaten
- Total bonus fruits eaten: 2,000 points for each bonus fruit eaten
Home Ports[]
- Game Boy Advance
- Included in Pac-Man Collection.
- This version is based on the port featured in Namco Museum for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox; however, Pac-Man Collection was released first on the market (despite the two releases being developed concurrently).
- To accommodate for the Game Boy Advance's lower resolution, the L and R buttons can be used to scroll the screen to the top and bottom respectively.
- This version, like the other games in the compilation, lacks the two-player mode from the original game.
- Included in Pac-Man Collection.
- Nintendo GameCube
- Included in Namco Museum.
- The Namco Museum version of the game notably lacks the credits sequence, high scores and background in the results screen, along with higher pitched background music.
- Included in Namco Museum.
- Nintendo Switch
- Included in Pac-Man Museum +.
- PlayStation 2
- Included in Namco Museum.
- The Namco Museum version of the game notably lacks the credits sequence, high scores and background in the results screen, along with higher pitched background music.
- Included in Namco Museum.
- PlayStation 4
- Included in Pac-Man Museum +.
- Wii U
- Included in the Virtual Console release of Pac-Man Collection.
- Xbox
- Included in Namco Museum.
- The Namco Museum version of the game notably lacks the credits sequence, high scores and background in the results screen, along with higher pitched background music.
- Included in Namco Museum.
- Xbox One/Xbox Series
- Included in Pac-Man Museum +.
Other "Arrangement" games originating from Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 and 2 - including Galaga Arrangement, Dig Dug Arrangement, and Xevious Arrangement - have been ported to home consoles as well. Exceptions include Rally-X Arrangement and Mappy Arrangement, which remain arcade-exclusive.
Trivia[]
- This was the first (and, so far, only) game to include ghost "character" names since the original Pac-Man, aside from ports of the first game. It would also be the first time international audiences would see the original set of "alternate" character names as those names were dummied out otherwise.
- On the introduction screen, the ghosts rotate in unique ways:
- Blinky and Pinky rotate counterclockwise at the same speed.
- Inky rotates at the same speed as Blinky and Pinky, but will switch between rotating counterclockwise and clockwise halfway into either rotation.
- Clyde rotates counterclockwise, but at a slower speed than any of the other ghosts.
- Kinky rotates at the same speed as Blinky, Pinky, and Inky, but clockwise instead of counterclockwise.
- The Red Capsule power-up shares similar concepts to the Super Pellet in Pac-Mania.
- Similarly to Pac-Mania, Blinky's more aggressive state is given a visual indication; his eyes become angry and he raises his arms.
- If Pac-Man dies while Kinky is onscreen, Kinky will appear gold until Pac-Man respawns. However, although he combines with a ghost when he is gold, his mouth shows his scared expression.
- A notable glitch occurs where the ghost that would slow down to merge with Kinky will stay slowed down if Kinky is eaten during the Magic Wand effects; the slow down is nullified if the ghost enters its angry state.
- In the arcade version of the game, Inky's duplicate has a unique animation for vanishing. This is not used in either of the ports.
- In the Namco Museum (Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox) ports of the game, Inky will only activate his special ability when in scatter mode. This seems to be an error; if all of the scatter cycles are exhausted and Inky is transformed but his ability isn't active, he will continue attempting to trigger it by repeatedly moving to the center of the maze. Whether this was intentional or not is unknown, but incidentally this was the second time Inky's behavior was changed from an original game resulting in it being somewhat easier to predict (the first instance being the port of Pac-Man seen in Namco Museum Vol. 1).
- The first and second worlds the player encounters are thematically similar to those in Pac-Mania; the first world takes place in a colorful blocky area, and the second world takes place in an area based on the original Pac-Man maze.
- Several gimmicks and items used in this game would be repurposed for use in the Pac-Man World 3 maze games.
- World 1 of the game is may be based on the NES version of the original Pac-Man game. This can be seen in the brighter blue color of the maze, the Cherry having a red stem, and the horizontal walls being 2 layered beams to make it look wider. The maze's layout for level 1 is, however, exactly the same as the arcade version.
- Unused code and sprites found in the port found in Pac-Man Collection indicate that a two-player mode was once planned for the game, but was eventually removed.[1]
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Artwork[]
