Pak Pak Man (パクパクマン Pakkupakkuman) is a handheld LCD game released by Epoch in 1981. The game was later released in North America as Epoch Man, as well as under several other names in other regions. The game would later be followed by PakPak Monster, a game for Epoch's Cassette Vision system.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay is similar to the original Pac-Man. The maze design is simplified, and the pellets are replaced with fruit. There are two "bridges" within the maze; extra fruit is hidden under these bridges, which is not visible to the player.
The handheld also includes a built-in timer, which can be used as a clock and/or a stopwatch.
Regional variants[]
Many variations of the handheld exist, which are identical save for the name on the front. Some regions (seemingly not including Japan or North America) received additional "large" console models, with horizontal screens instead of vertical. They include:
"Small" console design[]
- Pak Pak Man (1981) - Japanese model.
- Mini-Munchman (1981) - U.K. model; published by Grandstand.
- Epoch-Man (1981) - U.S. model.
- Epoch-Man (French ver. 1) (198?) - French model; published by I.T.M.C.
- Epoch-Man/Pocket C-Man* (198?) - German model; published by GAMAtronic. Sold under both names using the same model number.
- Mini-ARCADE (198?) - Australian model (?); published by Grandstand.
"Large" console design[]
- Pocket Pac-Man (1983) - U.K. model; published by Grandstand.
- Epoch-Man (French ver. 2) (198?) - French model; published by I.T.M.C.
- Pocket C-Man* (198?) - German model; published by Schuco.
(* = Models listed as "Pocket C-Man" use an image of Pac-Man [with arms and legs] in place of where "Pac" would be on the packaging; it is believed the title is meant to be read as "C-Man".)
Legality / Licensing[]
While Pak Pak Man appears to be a bootleg at first glance, it is possible the game had some form of official license - at least in certain territories. This is evident through several regional variants and re-releases of the game, some of which were under the Pac-Man name (e.g. Pocket Pac-Man) or used official Puckman artwork on the box (e.g. Pocket C-Man, Mini Munchman).
It is unknown if the original Japanese release received an official license. However, Japanese game companies were known to often grant "licenses" to bootleggers around this time period, due to difficulties surrounding copyright of video games at the time; notably, this form of licensing occurred with multiple Galaxian clones by Epoch. As such - and potentially further indicated by the game being sold directly as "Pac-Man" in other regions - it is possible that Pak Pak Man was a "clone-licensed" release.
Some level of litigation occurred between Bally Midway and Epoch in North America; however, the parties settled rather quickly, and the available court records do not mention Pak Pak Man/Epoch-Man.[1] In one U.S. commercial - likely produced after this lawsuit - the narrator begins by stating "It's Epoch-Man! Licensed by Midway and Coleco."[2] This strongly suggests that, via their court settlement, Epoch was granted a "license" to Pac-Man, at least in the United States. This would be a similar agreement to the litigation surrounding PacMan2, and Epoch's license was likely issued for a very limited period of time.
Trivia[]
- The game was later reworked into PakPak Land and Pac Pac Doraemon.
- According to the game's designer, Masayuki Horie, Pak Pak Man sold approximately 3 million copies at retail.[3] This would likely make Pak Pak Man the best selling Pac-Man handheld of the era, with comparable units (such as the Tomy LSI Game and the Coleco Tabletop) reaching sales of around 1 million copies.
- A "sequel" was released called Pak Pak Man II, but it is identical to the original version - save for being in green-colored plastic rather than white. It was sold at a lower MSRP than the original Pak Pak Man, and "replaced" the original in terms of production.[4]
- Some variants of the "first" Pak Pak Man were printed in red-colored plastic, possibly by accident.[4]
- One of Grandstand's releases of the game, Mini-Munchman, was sold as the "sequel" to Munchman, a rebranded version of the Pac-Man Tomy LSI Game.
Gallery[]
