Professor Pac-Man is an arcade quiz game in the Pac-Man series, developed by Dave Nutting Associates and published by Bally Midway in 1983.
Gameplay[]
Screenshot of a one-player game. The question selected involves trying to remember the phone number that was dialed.
Professor Pac-Man is presented as a visual-based quiz game. The players, referred as "pupils", are challenged by Professor Pac-Man to answer the visual questions as quickly as possible. The player can be played by one player, or can be played by two-players simultaneously.
The player will be tasked to answering a series of various visual-based questions. The types of questions that appear will vary; these include questions such as choosing the mirror equivalent of an object, remembering a set of object formations, remembering details of a building, analyzing the amount of turns needed to reach a fruit in a Dot path in a Pac-Man maze, among other questions. There are over 500 different possible questions in a game. For each question, the player is given three possible choices, which can be chosen by pressing the A, B and C buttons.
For each question, there is a timer above the question box counting down the remaining time the player has to answer the question. The amount of points awarded will depend on how much time left remains; quicker results will earn players more points. A maximum of 990 points can be earned in a single question, and a minimum of 0 points for answering at the latest. As the game progresses, the game speed and timer will speed up, giving the player less time to answer the questions.
If a consecutive amount of questions are answered correctly, a bonus question will appear for the player. Unlike the regular questions, the player only has one chance to answer the bonus question, which is slightly harder than the regular questions. If the player answers correctly, the player will receive a difficulty increase, twice the amount of points from the remaining time, an extra fruit and the advancement to the next fruit. If this bonus question is answered incorrectly, they will return to the regular questions without receiving a bonus. After every thirtieth question, the number of consecutive questions that the player must answer correctly to receive a bonus question will be increased by two.
While the game can be played by one player, there is a simultaneous two player mode available to play, in which the second player uses the second set of answer buttons on the left side of the arcade cabinet. While following the regular gameplay, both players are pitted against each other to see who can be the first to answer the questions. Each player has their own separate score counter and fruit counter.
The player will begin with three fruits, which protect the player from losing the game. If a wrong answer is chosen in a regular question or the timer expires, one fruit will be lost; though if a Fruit is already lost when the player answered a wrong question and the time expires, there will be no extra penalty. If two wrong answers are selected on the same question, the game will reveal the correct answer and will advance to the next question. If the player loses all their Fruits, the game will end. If the player makes it to the high score standings, the player can enter their three initials.
Trivia[]
- Professor Pac-Man was unveiled at the Amusement Operators Expo (AOE) from March 25th to 27th of 1983, indicating a U.S. release date of approximately March to April.[1] A variant of the game with "added questions" would be shown at the Amusement & Music Operators Association Expo (AMOA) from October 28th to 30th, 1983.[2]
- Professor Pac-Man:
- marks the first appearance of the character of the same name, which would become a recurring character in the Pac-Man series.
- along with Baby Pac-Man, are the only two Bally Midway-published Pac-Man video games to have never been officially re-released or ported to other consoles.
- is one of the earliest Pac-Man games to feature simultaneous multiplayer.
- In early development, Professor Pac-Man was originally planned to be titled "Quiz Ms", and did not feature Pac-Man branding. At an unknown point in development, Midway requested the game be changed to a Pac-Man title instead.[3]
- The concept for Professor Pac-Man was reportedly formed from a pitch by two arcade industry veterans, Johnny Lott and Ed Adlum. In a strange contradiction of reports, some sources state that Midway accepted this pitch; while others allege that Midway "stole the concept", stating they had no interest, then proceeded to copy it without them. The veracity of either claim is difficult to determine; though in the case of the latter, some form of litigation may have been filed.
- Mark Pierce, a lead developer on Professor Pac-Man, has stated that he didn't know anything about the alleged Lott and Adlum dispute; or seemingly any involvement from the two at all.[3]
- Professor Pac-Man did not perform well commercially, with only an estimated 400 arcade machines being sold. A number of the original machines were reportedly later sent back to Midway to be converted to Pac-Land cabinets.
- Originally, three versions of Professor Pac-Man were planned to be produced - "Family", "Public", and "Prizes", which were going to be designed for arcades, bars and casinos, respectively. Only one version was ever released, which seems to be the Family version.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Machine and Box Art[]
Character Artwork[]
Concept Art[]
Concept art by Pat McMahon.
