Pac-Land

Infobox VG
title = Pac-Land


developer = Namco
publisher = Bally Midway
designer =
release = 1984
genre = Platform game
modes = 2 player alternating
cabinet = Upright, cabaret and cocktail
arcade system = Namco Pac-Land
display = Horizontal orientation, Raster
input = 3 buttons (left, right, jump)
platforms = Arcade, Atari Lynx, TurboGrafx-16, Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, NES

"Pac-Land" is an entry in the "Pac-Man" series of arcade video games, released into arcades by Namco, and its American distributor Bally Midway, in 1984. Its primary objective is to race through various landscapes (a town, a forest, etc.), avoiding Pac-Man's familiar adversaries, the ghosts, to return a lost fairy to her home.

"Pac-Land" was released to several home consoles and computers, including the Commodore 64, the Commodore Amiga, the Atari Lynx, the Atari ST, the TurboGrafx-16, the ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPC, the MSX and the Nintendo Family Computer. "Pac-Land" remained a fixture in many video arcades through the mid-1990s, and was republished in 1996 as part of "Namco Museum Volume 4" for the PlayStation.

A hidden item (sometimes accidentally dropped by the ghosts) is a Flagship from "Galaxian", which rewards 7650 points when collected. The "Galaxian" Flagship is a long running cameo that appears in the Namco made "Pac-Man" games.

In the American release by Midway, the characters' appearances are based on the designs from the "Pac-Man" television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. In the Japanese release by Namco, the Pac-Man sprite is closer in appearance to Namco's official artwork of the character with a longer nose, Pac-Man shaped eyes, and (for this game) a feathercap. In addition, both versions feature the main theme music and "jingles" from the aforementioned series.

Objective

The game itself is split into "Trips". In each of these trips the objective is to get the fairy (that is kept under Pac-man's hat) to "Fairyland" and also return back home to Pacman's house. The majority of the trip involves moving from left to right avoiding various obstacles such as the enemy ghosts, water spurts and quicksand traps. Each trip is divided into a number of rounds, the end of which provides Pac-man with bonus points depending on how much time he has left and also his position in jumping at the end of each round.

The penultimate round of a trip ends with Pac-man entering Fairyland and returning the fairy under his hat to the Fairy Queen. In return the Fairy Queen gives Pac-man "Magic Boots".

For the final round of the trip Pacman has to travel from right to left back home. For assistance Pacman is given Magic Boots which allow him to jump while mid-air. Once Pacman completes the trip, he is greeted by Ms. Pac-man and Baby Pac-man.

Pacman then begins his next trip following the same objectives as before although harder in difficulty.

Reception

External links

*KLOV game|id=8955
*
*moby game|id=/pac-land|name="Pac-Land"
* [http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=1913 Arcade History Database entry]
*WoS game|id=0003577