Pac & Pal

Infobox VG
title = Pac and Pal


developer = Namco
publisher = Namco
designer =
release = 1983
genre = Retro/Maze
modes = Up to two players, alternating turns
cabinet = Upright and cocktail
arcade system = Namco Super Pac-Man
cpu = 2x M6809 @ 1.536 MHz
sound =
display = Vertical
input = 4-way joystick; 1 button
platforms = Arcade

"Pac & Pal" is an arcade game that was released only in Japan by Namco in 1983. The game ran on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware, and the object of the game was for Pac-Man to eat all the items before he was caught by the ghosts. Most of the items are fruits from the original "Pac-Man" game with a few new additions. Their value varies, starting with cherries at fifty points. The items had to first be unlocked by turning over cards distributed around the maze (instead of eating keys like in "Super Pac-Man"). Very few units still exist, as this is the possibly rarest Pac-Man title.

"Pal" character

Introduced in this game is an exclusive character: Miru; written in Katakana as ミル, the "Pal" of the title. She is a green female ghost (denoted by her hairbow) that looks like a gooseberry with legs. When an item is unlocked, she will either try to give it to Pac-Man or take it into the ghost house where it would be lost forever. This might help in clearing the level, however, and if she brings the last one there, it automatically clears the level. She is not affected by the other ghosts. In order to get the maximum points from the items, Pac-Man had to eat them first, or intercept them from Miru.

An alternate version of this game features Chomp Chomp, Pac-Man's dog from the animated cartoon series, in place of Miru, and the game's name is changed accordingly: ( [http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8957 Pac-Man & Chomp-Chomp] ).

New feature

Another new feature for a "Pac-Man" game (besides Miru) is a shooting capability. Instead of having energizers, two of the collectible items were the level's particular bonus symbol, which line up at the bottom of the screen as each new level is reached. The first two are the flagship from "Galaxian". Later symbols included a red car from "Rally-X", a trumpet, a snowman, and even other Pac-Man. When Pac-Man eats these, instead of the ghosts turning blue, he turns blue, and momentarily has the power to shoot a ray, smoke, musical notes, freezing rays and little Pac-Man at the ghosts (who turn purple, sometimes blue). This stuns them and yields the familiar point value of 200, 400, 800, and 1600 for each ghost shot. While ghosts are stunned, Pac-Man can pass right through them. The effect soon wears off, though.

Every few levels have a bonus round with the maze containing only cards that yield an increasing number of points, until the player flipped over a card with Blinky under it. At that point, the round is over, but no lives are lost. Each level also has a simple musical background, unlike the other "Pac-Man" games before it.

External links

*KLOV game|id=8952
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* [http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=thumbs&id=4131 Image of Flyer]