Pac-Man All-Stars is a PC game released by Infogrames in 2002. It is an enhanced version of the multiplayer mode found in Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (as well as in Pac-Man: Adventures in Time), which was released a few years prior.
Story[]
While the story itself is never explicitly stated in the game, the backstory in the game can be found in the instruction manual, where the story itself follows as such: Blinky and company had stopped their endless pursuit of Pac-Man and his pals. For once, all was peaceful in Pac-Land. The Pac-Land fairies were making pellets day and night, and the Pac characters could relax and eat pellets to their hearts' content. Then suddenly, strange noises emanated from the dimensional portal that led to the Ghost Realm. The Ghost Gang was up to something, and this had the Pacs worried. Then one day, Pac-Man found a note attached to the door of his house:
"I have kidnapped all of the fairies and their Queen. If you want them, you must come to the Ghost Realm. I'll be waiting..." ~ Wandy the Wizard
Pac-Man had never heard of Wandy before. He knew he had to save the fairies, but how? Entering the Ghost Realm is something no Pac had ever attempted before. Thinking quickly, Pac-Man enlisted the great Pac-Land heroes of old- Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Jr. (Jr. Pac-Man), and Professor Pac- to aid him in his rescue attempt. He knew that whoever succeeded in rescuing the fairies would go down in Pac-Land history as the greatest hero of all.
Gameplay[]
The player, along with three other Pac-Men, are on the screen, and the player must complete the mission objective before anyone else does. Missions include:
- reaching a specific amount of points before anyone else
- getting the most points before the pellets stop appearing
- being the player with the highest score before the timer runs out
Each level ends with the four ghosts appearing, and you must avoid them while eating all of the pellets on screen. In later levels, the ghosts appear within the regular missions.
Unlike Maze Madness, the levels are wide-open, detailed areas with free movement, as opposed to standard mazes. The worlds, in order, are The Creepy Forest, The Mines, Snowy Mountain, Wandy's Garden, The Laboratory, and Wandy's Castle. The final boss is a large gray ghost named Wandy; the game ends with fairies that he had kidnapped being rescued.
Playable Characters[]
- Pac-Man
- Ms. Pac-Man
- Jr. Pac-Man
- Professor Pac
- Pac-Baby (unlockable)
Power-ups[]
- Speed Up: Pacs move 50% faster on all surfaces
- Stun: All other Pacs are stunned for five seconds.
- Magnetic Pac: Pellets in your immediate vicinity are attracted to your Pac.
- Strong Pac: Colliding with other Pacs stuns them (for five seconds), wiping out part of your opponent's score.
- Multiplier: Points collected are multiplied by a minimum of 4X.
- Power Pellets: Renders a Pac invulnerable to ghost attacks.
- Thief: Pacs steal 10 points each time they bump into another Pac. Continuous contact exponentially increases the number of pellets stolen.
Bonus Fruit[]
- Apple - 100 points
- Peach - 200 points
- Pear - 300 points
- Strawberry - 350 points
- Cherry - 400 points
- Banana - 450 points
- Pineapple - 500 points
Head-to-Head Mode[]
Head-to-Head mode enables one to four human players to play a game. In this type of game, you can battle on any unlocked level in one of three game modes: Normal, Paint-a-Pellet or Grab-a-Hat.
Paint-a-Pellet (unlocked when you complete a Story game on Medium difficulty): The maze is completely filled with yellow pellets. When a Pac runs over the yellow pellets, the pellet's color changes to the Pac's assigned color. When all pellets are painted, the player who has painted the highest percentage of pellets wins.
Grab-a-Hat (unlocked when you complete a Story game on Hard difficulty): The Pacs have managed to capture Wandy's hat! Every second that your Pac is carrying the hat, you get a point. If another player makes contact with you while you are wearing the hat, they will steal it from you. The first Pac to reach 100 points wins.
Worlds[]
- The Creepy Forest
- The Mines
- Snowy Mountain
- Wandy's Garden
- The Laboratory
- Wandy's Castle
Trivia[]
- At the game's launch, many initially misconceived Pac-Man All-Stars as a compilation of Pac-Man games, similar to Super Mario All-Stars. This led to the game receiving several (arguably unfairly) negative reviews.
- The game's logo looks very similar to that of the Pac-Man Café, a short-lived Pac-Man restaurant from the 2000s.[1] It is unknown which of the two came first, however.
- Pac-Man All-Stars was released in Taiwan under the name "Gathering of the Pac-Men", or "Gathering of the Elves" (小精靈總動員) as part of the Elf Stars Club compilation, alongside Pac-Man: Adventures in Time (named "3D Elf") and Smurf Racer (named "Blue Elf"). It is unknown if the game received a single-disc release in the region or not.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Artwork[]
