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Pac-Man Puzzle Tour

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Pac-Man Puzzle Tour (パックマンパズルツアー Pakkuman Pazuru Tsuā) is a mobile game released in February of 2016 by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game was delisted from digital stores in March of 2017.

Story[]

The game begins with an opening cutscene where Blinky attempts to steal Pac-Man's fruit while he is sleeping. However, Blinky's "sheet" gets stuck on a small rod and rips (a reference to the second Coffee Break scene in the original arcade game); this awakens Pac-Man, who begins chasing after him. Blinky jumps out of the Pac-Man arcade machine, still carrying the fruit - with Pac-Man in close pursuit.

Gameplay[]

Pac-Man Puzzle Tour is a "match 3" puzzle game. Each stage features a grid-based screen of tiles; the player, assisting Pac-Man, must clear lines of three or more of the same fruit tiles. The objective of the game is to erase tiles of Ghosts who have hidden inside of Pac-Man's fruit; the "ghost" fruit tiles have visible eyes and a lighter colored backdrop. The player is given a limited amount of tries per level, and will lose a life if all ghosts are not cleared within the set limit.

At the top of the screen during gameplay, Pac-Man continues chasing Blinky through the arcade. If the player successfully clears all ghost tiles on the board, Blinky will turn blue; Pac-Man will eat Blinky and all of the stolen fruit in one bite. The player is given a three-star ranking per level.

The game's visual theme is altered every 45 levels. For instance, level 46 takes place inside of a house, and level 91 features a donut shop theme.

In-app purchases[]

According to the title screen's fine print, the game featured free-to-play mechanics and in-app purchases. The extent of these features is unknown, though it appears to involve purchasing coins for use in the game.[1]

"Redesigned" version[]

Promotional image for the redesigned update.

Promotional image for the redesigned update.

In July of 2016,[2] Pac-Man Puzzle Tour was almost entirely redesigned via an in-app update. The "redesigned" release completely changes the game's aesthetic, and moreover, changes its general gameplay rules; the reasoning behind this remains unclear. Some sound effects are also replaced, though the music is unaltered. In addition to this, a new "Score Attack" mode was added.

In the updated version, the Pac-Mania-like character designs are replaced with pixel graphics (though oddly, the opening cutscene is intact). Rather than having Pac-Man chase down Blinky, the update has Blinky chasing Pac-Man; the arcade setting is changed to a neon-lighted backdrop. In addition, the player clears tiles of ghosts instead of fruits; as a result of this, the game's goal is no longer to strictly clear the tiles of ghosts hiding within fruits. Instead, the first few levels have the player pass a certain high score threshold (e.g. score higher than 400 points). Beginning on stage 8, the "hiding" ghost mechanic returns, reskinned as transluscent "barriers" that the ghosts are hiding behind.

Score Attack mode appears to be an endless mode without a level structure. In this mode, the player can select from several Namco arcade characters: including Pac-Man (using his more traditional "limbed" design), Dig Dug, and the "Fighter" ship from Galaga. Clearing lines will increase the player's "Fever" meter, which allows the player to perform a special attack; each character has their own special Fever move.

Trivia[]

  • An October 2016 update to the iOS version added free iMessage stickers based on various Namco arcade games.[3]
  • The original trailer for the game (released in February of 2016) has a bullet point reading that the game's "visuals and sound effects are under development".[4] This may suggest that the redesigned update was already planned prior to the game's launch.
  • For unknown reasons, one of the profile pictures in Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is a cropped image of the (pre-"redesign" update) Pac-Man Puzzle Tour title screen.
  • In the original release, the death sound effect is sourced from a likely-stock sound effect that loosely "mimicks" the Pac-Man death noise. The original sound is known to be used in several generic Pac-Man clones (such as the iCarly Flash game Pak-Rat). The redesigned update replaces the noise with the actual Pac-Man death sound effect.
  • Characters from the Mappy and Katamari Damacy series could be set as players' profile icons.

References[]

  1. ↑ https://www.mobygames.com/game/79885/pac-man-puzzle-tour/screenshots/android/853210/
  2. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/pacman/photos/a.10154253908425928/10154253908490928/
  3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/pacman/photos/pb.100078781781594.-2207520000/10154553086115928/
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oK3Tp2c_Ho

External links[]

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