History of Pac-Man clones and bootlegs/Homebrew works

This page details notable homebrew works based on Pac-Man.

Homebrew games are generally considered hobbyist projects, and are often fan-made. In regards to Pac-Man, the most common form of homebrew games are direct ports of Pac-Man titles; these conversions were mostly produced in the late 1990s and 2000s, for at-the-time outdated hardware (most prominently the Atari 2600 and 7800). Homebrew Pac-Man titles have also been made for modern (often web-based) code architecture, such as HTML5 ports.

Atari 2600 games

Overview

The Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man, released in early 1982, is often criticized for its differences from the arcade original, gaining infamy as a result. Starting in the late 1990s, several homebrew developers began producing new ports of Pac-Man on the Atari 2600. These were mainly created due to the negative reception of the original port, in order to see how much better Atari's Pac-Man could have theoretically been.

Pac-Man Arcade

Pac-Man Arcade was released in 1999 by Rob Kudla; it is a hack of the Atari 2600 port of Ms. Pac-Man, turning it into Pac-Man. The game was previously sold on cartridge in the AtariAge store. It was originally released under the name "A Better Pac-Man"; it was changed to "Pac-Man Arcade" for later reprints.

Pac-Man (Ebivision)

A very limited release by Ebivision in 1999. Cartridges were given away as part of a competition (?) for Pesco, another Ebivision game which was similar in gameplay to Pac-Man. Its limited release was reportedly out of legal fear.

Hack 'Em

Hack 'Em was released by Nukey Shay in 2005. It is a hacked version of the aforementioned Pesco, in attempt to recreate the near-impossible to find Ebivision Pac-Man. The game also includes ports of Pac-Man Plus and the bootleg Hangly-Man.

In 2006, Nukey Shay released Ms. Hack, which converts Hack 'Em into an advanced port of Ms. Pac-Man.

Pac-Man 4K

AtariAge Pac-Man 4K cartridge

Pac-Man 4K is a title used by two separate - though conceptually very similar - homebrew titles. The "first" Pac-Man 4K was created by Dennis Debro in 2008; the "second" Pac-Man 4K was developed by "Dintar816" in 2015. The 2008 version was previously sold on cartridge in the AtariAge store.

Both Pac-Man 4K games are very arcade-accurate conversions of Pac-Man, developed in only 4K of cartridge memory - the same amount the original 2600 release used. A later version (of the 2015 port), titled Pac-Man 8K, doubles the memory, adding a title screen and intermissions.

In 2015, Tod Frye - the original programmer of Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 - played Pac-Man 8K at an AtariAge booth. Frye praised the port, and, understanding the technical specifications of the Atari 2600, was impressed by how Pac-Man 8K got around the 2600's limitations.

It appears that at some point, Bandai Namco acquired the rights to Pac-Man 4K; notably, its cover artwork has been used on some licensed merchandise and promotional pictures. Furthermore, the game is no longer available on the AtariAge store; whereas many other Pac-Man homebrew releases could still be purchased for several years afterward. The port also appeared on the Atari Flashback Portable by AtGames, though its licensing here was debatable.

Web-based games

Neave Pac-Man Flash port

In 2003, an Adobe Flash port of Pac-Man was developed by Paul Neave, and was released on his website, "neave.com". Neave allowed the port to be used freely without permission; because of this, the game became very widespread across the internet, being copied on numerous websites throughout the 2000s. Additionally, several hacks of the game were produced by other developers, including a Ms. Pac-Man port by "Syndicates Domain".

In November 2004, Namco issued a cease-and-desist against Neave, to which the port was removed from the website. Due to it being mirrored on countless other websites, however, the port was still easily accessible online.

While Adobe Flash is no longer supported by most web browsers, the game can still be played in emulators such as Ruffle (and is available on archive.org).

124Scratch Pac-Man game

In July of 2010, a user named "124Scratch" created a Pac-Man clone on the educational coding website "Scratch". Little is known about the clone itself; though shortly after it was posted, Bandai Namco issued a cease-and-desist letter against the port, causing it to be taken offline. This takedown was meant with highly negative backlash against Namco online (including a few news reports); particularly due to the developer being a literal child. Possibly due to this backlash, Namco is not known to have issued a legal takedown against hobbyist/homebrew projects since this incident, including on the Scratch platform.

Other platforms

Atari 7800 Pac-Man ports

In 1996, an organization known as the Atari Museum found source code relating to the Atari 7800; reportedly via dumpster-diving behind Atari's headquarters. Included in this source code are the full repositories for various Atari 7800 games, including Ms. Pac-Man.

Due to the source code being publicly accessible, many ROM hacks and hacking tools were produced for Ms. Pac-Man on the Atari 7800. One of the earliest hacks was Pac-Man Collection!; produced by "PacManPlus" in 2006, it features Ms. Pac-Man, a new conversion of Pac-Man, and conversions of various arcade hacks. PacManPlus would later release ports of Super Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man based on the Ms. Pac-Man code, as well as an originally-coded port of Baby Pac-Man.

A new version of Pac-Man Collection, subtitled the 40th Anniversary Edition, would be released in 2021, featuring more arcade-accurate conversions of the included games. A port of Red Bull Pac-Man, renamed to "Pac-Man: Energy Drink Edition", was also produced based on the "40th Anniversary" engine.

Many of these games were previously sold on cartridge in the AtariAge Store; however, all of the cartridges would eventually be discontinued in 2023. Note that the games' removal from sale was seemingly not due to any action from Namco, but was rather caused by Atari SA purchasing the AtariAge website domain.

Pac-Man Collection (ColecoVision)

Pac-Man Collection ColecoVision box art

Pac-Man Collection (パックマンコレクション) is a homebrew game for the ColecoVision, released in 2008 by Opcode Games. It features ports of Pac-Man (and Puckman), Ms. Pac-Man, and as an unlockable, Pac-Man Plus. The game is in the ColecoVision MegaCart format.

The player is guided with three choices: "Pac-Man", "Ms. Pac-Man", and "Options". To play a game, press the fire button on the selection that will load up the game, then press the "#" button to insert credits. Then, press 1 for a one-player game, or press 2 for a two-player game. In the options menu, there is a "Region" setting that will change Pac-Man into Puckman, featuring the Japanese character names and copyright text.

To access Pac-Man Plus, in the selection menu, move the hand to the "Pac-Man" text. Next, press 7, 5, 8, and 7 on the the second player controller's keypad. The text will be changed to "Pac-Man Plus", allowing the player to access the game.