The list that I’ve been putting together of games every person should play — the retro gaming essentials — has thus far mostly taken on a personal bent, focusing primarily on games I personally enjoy a great deal. These are, after all, games I am personally recommending to as wide an audience as possible. It would stand to reason they are my personal favorites.
My relationship with Pac-Man is … more complicated than that.
Have I derived fun from playing the series? Absolutely. I have fond memories of playing the games in arcades and pizzerias growing up. The games were just always THERE, whether one played them or not, always in the background, running through gameplay footage and piping noise out into the room. Pac-Man games were a constant. They were reliable. They were present.
That’s comforting.
But gun to my head, is any Pac-Man game getting listed when I’m asked for my personal favorites?
Eh, probably not. At least not for a long time.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t think people should play, or that folks won’t get enjoyment out of them. These are, by definition, ESSENTIAL games.
And the best game in the series is Ms. Pac-Man.
Ms. Pac-Man
Genre: Maze
Released: 1982
Platform: Arcade
No. 5 on Time’s 50 Best Video Games of All Time
Ms. Pac-Man morphing into what it eventually hit mass markets as is some kind of crazy story, at least in regards to copyright and how unregulated that all was in the video game industry back in the early 80s.
The short version of the story is that a group of dudes got so good at Pac-Man they decided to code a more challenging version of the game just for shits and giggles. Of course, they eventually figured out other people would be interested in their version of the game too, so they made plans to make money with their “update” by selling directly to machine owners (and leaving the original developers/distributors out of the process), which is the kind of audacious move that can only be born out of wild ignorance.
Which is a very “we’re in the early stages of this”, “Wild West,” “anything goes” mindset, yes? Kind of a perfect microcosm of the video game business (at least in 1980) in general, actually.
This improved version of Pac-Man was originally supposed to be called “Crazy Otto” which — again, considering the nature of this whole story — is pretty apt.
So yeah, Midway (who owned North America distribution rights) didn’t appreciate that nonsense, but DID appreciate the coding, so they went into business with these randos, asked for a few changes here and there, and bing, bang, boom, Ms. Pac-Man was born.*
* The rights to this property (and that of “Missile Command”) have taken MANY more twists and turns than this, which I still chalk up mostly to that initial copyright audacity by the aforementioned “randos,” who founded “General Computer Corporation” and actually did a fair bit of programming for Atari back then. Anyway, if you want to read more, check out the Wikipedia article on it.
What made it better than the original Pac-Man?
Well, pretty much everything.
The most obvious change is making the main character female, and even though it doesn’t change how the game plays exactly, it’s inclusive as hell and the industry still hasn’t caught up to this.
How ridiculous is that?
Anyway, other changes include the mazes boasting solid colors, making them easier to see. The warp tunnels on either side of the screen have multiplied, as have the designs of the mazes themselves, adding variety to the play. But arguably the most important change is in the behavior of the fruit (which now bounces around) and of the ghosts (who are now less predictable). This changes the game play, making things much harder on the gamer, who can no longer manipulate the ghosts into behaving in particular ways or count on the fruit to just be there.
It adds up to be the consensus best-reviewed game in the series and the best possible classic Pac-Man experience there is.
So what makes it worth playing today?
It’s a better, more fulfilling experience than the original Pac-Man, and friggin’ everyone should play Pac-Man.
Let’s be real here, this is must-play. Whether you have pizzeria nostalgia or not, it should be at the top of your list.
Dave’s Score: 10/10
Check out the whole Retro Gaming Essentials list here!
How to play
Whew, this has been ported a LOT. You can still find it in arcades pretty much everywhere, on your phone in the app store, and on a billion different compilation/play at home setups.