Super Pac-Man (スーパーパックマン Sūpā Pakkuman) is a maze game in the Pac-Man series, developed and manufactured by Namco. In the United States, the game was manufactured by Bally Midway. It was released for arcades in 1982.
It is the third game in the Pac-Man series following Ms. Pac-Man.
Gameplay of the game's first round. Pac-Man must eat Keys to remove the walls barricading the items.
Following a similar format to itspredecessors, Super Pac-Man is a maze game where Pac-Man traverses mazes to eat all the items within the maze while avoiding the four ghost monsters: Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. The ghosts pursue Pac-Man similar to how they do in the predecessors. A round is cleared when all the items within the maze are eaten. If any of the ghosts catch Pac-Man, a life is lost. The game ends when all lives are lost. Extra lives are awarded for achieving 30,000 points and 100,000 points (the thresholds of bonus lives will alter depending on the DIP switch settings used).
Unlike the predecessors, Pac-Man does not eat Dots in this game, but rather eats sets of target items that change and increase in point value between rounds. Each of these target items are enclosed inside barricaded walls that are opened by eating the Keys spread throughout the maze. When a Key is eaten, it will remove its corresponding walls from the maze and will allow Pac-Man and the Ghosts to progress through. Within the early rounds of the game, the keys will unlock walls closest to its placement, but will unlock different walls within the later rounds, which tend to be farther from the key's placement. After 15 items are eaten within a round, a bonus star will appear for a brief period of time beneath Pac-Man's starting position. When Pac-Man eats it, bonus points are awarded. The amount of points awarded will depend on the items that are shown in two maze squares between the star: if the items do not match, a regular 200 point bonus is awarded; if the two items of any kind match, a 2,000 point bonus is awarded, while a 5,000 point bonus is awarded if both items match the same target item from the current round. The two slot items spin continuously, though the first one will lock into place with the respective round item after a few seconds.
When Pac-Man eats one of the four flashing Power Dots within the maze, Pac-Man powers up and can temporarily eat blue, scared ghost monsters. Eaten ghosts will award extra points, and will flee back to the Ghost House to regenerate their bodies. The ghost monsters will flash white when the Power Dot effects are about to wear off. Unlike its predecessors, any ghosts without bodies will instantly regenerate their bodies and become scared when Pac-Man eats a Power Dot.
Beneath the Ghost House are two pulsating green pellets known as Super Power Dots (Super Energy Dot on the bezel or Super Pellets in later re-releases). Eating a Super Power Dot will briefly turn Pac-Man into his super form, Super Pac-Man. While in his super form, Super Pac-Man is twice as large and gains several abilities: Super Pac-Man moves slightly faster compared to his normal form, and can greatly increase speed by using the Super Speed button; Super Pac-Man can also safely pass through any normal color ghosts (they appear stretched out while in the super form) and can break down any walls without the need of the key. When the Super effects are about to wear off, Pac-Man will briefly flash white before returning to his regular state, though Pac-Man can renew the length of his super form by eating another Power Dot or another Super Power Dot. If a regular Power Dot is used to renew Super Pac-Man effects, it will last until the current Power Dot's effects wear off.
Between several rounds, a bonus round occurs where the player is challenged to eat all the items within the maze as fast as possible. In this round, Pac-Man is always in his super form and no ghosts appear. Inside the ghost house is a timer showing the remaining time to complete the bonus round. The round ends if either the time expires or all items are eaten. If the latter occurs, the remaining time is exchanged for extra points.
The game changes several aspects from the original game as well. In addition to the new mechanics, the ghosts are always able to out-run Pac-Man, and Pac-Man can no longer use corner turning or all empty spaces to his advantage. Pac-Man must instead use the Warp Tunnels to slow down the ghosts, as well as the space directly below the Ghost House to slow them down. When switching between scattering and chasing phases, the Ghost Monsters will stutter in place for a split-second before continuing pursuit.
In later rounds, the game difficulty increases: while the point value of the target items increase up by 10 points every round, the duration of Power Dots and Super Power Dots gradually decrease and keys unlock walls that are farther from the key's position.
Many Arcade1UPs featuring Super Pac-Man have been released (see this page for full list). There have been several directly Super Pac-Man-themed machines produced; the game has also been included as an extra on other Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man cabinets.
Atari 400/800/XL/XE
Retail release was canceled. A prototype has been found and dumped.
Atari 5200
Another canceled port, with a dumped prototype.
Nearly identical to the Atari 400/800/XL/XE version.
Commodore 64
Game Boy Color
Included in Ms. Pac-Man: Special Color Edition, which also featured Ms. Pac-Man.
IBM PC
Two separate versions were released: an CGA version and an EGA version (the latter having more colors).
Similar to the Commodore 64 version, but a loop of strange music is played instead of the traditional siren; the same music was used in the IBM PC port of Jr. Pac-Man.
Runs at a very slow framerate.
Mobile
There were two unique ports released for different regions. The first, more common version for European carriers, [1] features a "Deluxe" mode with enhanced graphics; the second version, for American carriers, [2] includes an “Enhanced” mode with new levels and power-ups, aswell as a "Time Trial" mode with just the bonus stages.
The American version was originally exclusive to Sprint, but it's expanded over the years.
Nintendo Switch
Two versions were released. The game was featured in Pac-Man Museum +, as well as being released standalone as part of the Arcade Archives series.
Palm OS
Based on the American mobile port, with the “Enhanced” and "Time Trial" modes included.
PlayStation
Included in Namco Museum Vol. 2 (international versions only - not in the Japanese release).
PlayStation 3
Two versions were released. The game was included in Pac-Man Museum, and was featured in the PS one Classics release of Namco Museum Vol. 2.
PlayStation 4
Two versions were released. The game was featured in Pac-Man Museum +, as well as being released standalone as part of the Arcade Archives series.
PlayStation Portable
Featured in the PS one Classics release of Namco Museum Vol. 2.
PlayStation Vita
Featured in the PS one Classics release of Namco Museum Vol. 2.
Plug & Play TV Games
Many different Plug & Plays featuring Super Pac-Man have been released (see this page for full list), the earliest being the Super Pac-Man Collection from 2006.
PV-2000
Renamed "Mr. Packn" for unknown reasons, most likely legal-related.
There are no bonus rounds or intermissions.
Sord M5
Renamed "Power Pac" for unknown reasons, most likely legal-related.
Three versions were released. The game was included in Namco History Volume 3, and would later be featured in Pac-Man Museum and Pac-Man Museum +.
Xbox 360
Included in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade and Pac-Man Museum.
Xbox One/Xbox Series
Included in Pac-Man Museum +.
There is a rare handheld LCD game under the name Super Pac-Man (published by Grandstand), but it just features the original Pac-Man inside the case; despite using the proper artwork and branding. Two homebrew versions of Super Pac-Man were also released for the Atari 7800 and the ColecoVision.
A port of Super Pac-Man was briefly planned for the Atari 2600, judging by an internal Atari memo, but never got far into completion.[3] Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions would have presumably been released as part of Pac-Man Museum, but both ports to those systems were canceled.
Play Online[]
These versions of Super Pac-Man are either listed in the public domain or are considered abandonware. Clicking the game title will lead you to a playable online version of it from archive.org (mobile compatibility may vary).
the first Pac-Man sequel to be solely developed at Namco, as Ms. Pac-Man was developed in conjunction with General Computer Corporation.
the first Pac-Man maze game to not run on the original game's hardware, instead using its own dedicated arcade board.
The North American version of Super Pac-Man reduces the speed of the Super Speed ability.
While some ports of Super Pac-Man like Ms. Pac-Man: Special Color Edition and several Atari prototypes base the Super Speed off the American version, most re-releases of the game use the original Japanese speed.
The U.S. release of Super Pac-Man was publicly unveiled at the Amusement & Music Operators Association Expo (AMOA) from November 18th to 20th of 1982.[4] The game was announced alongside Baby Pac-Man and Pac-Man Plus; all three games appear to have been concurrently released in November of 1982, shortly following the expo.
Toru Iwatani stated that he does not share fond memories for Super Pac-Man, quoting that the game was "boring" and that Pac-Man was too big.[5]
During the development of Ms. Pac-Man, one of the game's early titles was also named "Super Pac-Man".[6]
Marketing during the Bally Midway era allude that the Pac-Man featured in this game is a separate character from the original Pac-Man.
Early marketing material for Super Pac-Man from Bally Midway allude that the Pac-Man featured in the Super Pac-Man game is a separate character from the original Pac-Man, instead portraying a superhero taking on Pac-Man's form.[7][8] In material referencing this separate character, the Super Pac-Man game's logo is used for their packaging. Later marketing material following distribution rights returning to Namco disavow the separate character treatment and instead portray the Super form as an alternate form for Pac-Man.
Hanna-Barbera's Pac-Man TV series features a character named Super-Pac, who is based off Pac-Man's super form featured in this game.
Super Pac-Man is referenced as a separate character in various merchandising products, such as Pac-Man Cereal (in the box and several commercials), Golden Books and various sales flyers.[9]
Pac-Man's Final Smash in the Super Smash Bros.series involves eating a Super Pellet and a Power Pellet, referencing the Super Pac-Man form he takes on in this game.
This is the only time Pac-Man's super form has appeared in its true arcade form since its inception.
The Sidam European marquee for Super Pac-Man reuses the original Japanese marquee artwork of the original Puckman machine.
In the Namco E3 2005 press kit, a screenshot of Super Pac-Man is included with assets relating to Namco Museum 50th Anniversary.[10] This implies that the game was planned to be featured in the compilation, but was removed for unknown reasons.
A rough draft page from the unreleased D.C. Pac-Man comics, featuring Super Pac-Man.
In 1981, D.C. Comics began production on a comic featuring Superman and Pac-Man for the Japanese market; however, the comic was ultimately never released. An additional D.C.-illustrated image, possibly from a different comic entirely, features Super Pac-Man rather than Superman. Very little further information on the D.C. Pac-Man comics is known, though it is possible that some details of the comics predate Super Pac-Man as a video game.
In an e-mail exchange shown in the Bandai Namco v. AtGames lawsuit, Namco cited a legal issue surrounding the Super Pac-Man IP related to "Marvel" - presumably referring to the comic book company.[11] While not elaborated upon further, it is possible that this was actually referring to the D.C. Pac-Man comics, with Namco potentially mixing up the company name with Marvel. It is believed that the Super Pac-Man legal conflict was eventually resolved.
It is possible that the strange release circumstances of Super Pac-Man on home consoles (e.g. the renamed Power Pac/Mr. Packn ports) are also related to this legal conflict. However, this may moreso be related to Tomy owning the Pac-Man trademark in Japan at the time.
Strangely, the first registry in the U.S. Copyright Office for Super Pac-Man credits two copyright holders: Bally Midway, and "Raymond Rohauer". It is not explained who Rohauer is, with the only matching party being the somewhat controversial film collector of the same name. As to why Rohauer would potentially hold ownership of Super Pac-Man is unclear (and may have flat-out been a mistake); though it could be tied to the legal issues mentioned above.
The Midway/Rohauer registry was superseded by a Namco U.S. copyright for the game around 1987.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Arcade
Atari 5200 (prototype)
Commodore 64
Game Boy Color (Ms. Pac-Man: Special Color Edition - scroll mode)
Game Boy Color (Ms. Pac-Man: Special Color Edition - full screen mode)
IBM PC (CGA version)
Mobile (Americas, "Arcade" mode)
Mobile (Americas, "Enhanced" mode)
Mobile (Europe, "Classic" mode)
Mobile (Europe, "Deluxe" mode)
PlayStation (Namco Museum Vol. 2 - horizontal mode)
↑"Regarding 11 IPs, Super PAC-MAN has to be changed to other IPs. (Since it includes Marvel’s IP) And, we will come back to you with another candidate." Bandai Namco Entertainment vs. AtGames Holdings Ltd, Hsiung Declaration Exhibit 1 (pg 4)
Galaxian Boss: 150 points
-superpacman-gameplay-type1-border1.png "Namco Museum Vol. 2 (USA)-superpacman-gameplay-type1-border1.png (5 KB)")
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![U.S. side art (left). [SVG]](/wiki/File:Super-pacman-side-art-left.png "Super-pacman-side-art-left.png (267 KB)")
![U.S. side art (right). [SVG]](/wiki/File:Super-pacman-side-art-right.png "Super-pacman-side-art-right.png (260 KB)")
![U.S. coin door art. [SVG]](/wiki/File:Super-pacman-coin-door-art.png "Super-pacman-coin-door-art.png (368 KB)")
