Is it wrong that I like Pac-Man for the Atari 2600?

[MissingNo_1231]

I know it's a horrible port of a brilliant game. I know it helped cause the video game crash.

But there's something about it that's a lot of fun.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I like Ms. Pac-man and Pac-man on the 2600 too. Too be honest though, the only other console port I've ever played of a Pac-man game has been Ms. Pac-man on the Genesis. I don't really like that version, because of the way it only shows portions of the actual screen. While I understand it's closer to the arcade, I prefer to see the whole screen at once.

I'd rather play it on an arcade over a console though.

[Diosoth]

From what I read recently, the flickering and such were a side effect of getting the game to actually WORK on the hardware, which couldn't support all 4 ghosts without having them flash on and off in a cycle.

And I know there are better games on the system, but how pretty do people expect 2600 games to look?

[shopkins]

Nah, it's not wrong. We knew it was different than the arcade when I was a kid, but we still had a lot of fun with it regardless. I was surprised to enter the Internet age and realize there was so much hate for it.

[Arcade Antics]

And I know there are better games on the system, but how pretty do people expect 2600 games to look?

Given that there's a version of Pac-Man for the 2600 that looks like this:
http://www.kudla.org/raindog/pacf2m2.gif

The fact that the original, rushed to market version that looks like this:
http://www.kudla.org/raindog/2600pac.gif

...is inexcusable. Not to mention that it sounds and plays like crap too. :)

[Draven]

I loved it. Can't anyone remember the excitement of having Pac-Man at home (even though it was inferior to the arcade version)? It's crazy that this game was slammed so hard. I can't remember anyone being this upset about other crappy ports (and believe me, there are a ton that are less faithful given the technology available at the time of the game's release). Sure, Pac-Man is THE classic game, but cut the developers some slack. It could have been ALOT worse!

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I have the 2nd version.

[tom]

I liked it, played it for hours back in the days

[PentiumMMX]

I have fond memories of it for the simple fact it was the first video game I have ever played. That, and it's not as bad as people make it out to be

[MissingNo_1231]

It's actually the only Pac-Man game I own, oddly enough. Found it at Goodwill for like $2.50.

Pac-Man in the arcade was actually the second ever video game I played. First was Galaga.

[davepesc]

Given that there's a version of Pac-Man for the 2600 that looks like this:
http://www.kudla.org/raindog/pacf2m2.gif




That looks like a hack of Ms. Pac-Man, is it?

Either way, the official Pac-Man is a horrible port, but I enjoyed it as a kid. It's funny, the flickering never bothered me as a kid, but it gives me headaches now. I always hated how there's no up/down animation for Pac-Man, though

[MissingNo_1231]

the flickering doesn't bug me too much, though it's a bit of a bother.

My main issue is that since my 7800 (that's what I play it on), has a sort of fuzzy connection due to using my SNES cable to connect it, sometimes I have trouble discerning when the ghosts have gone back to normal after I eat one of the big pellets. Or rather, big square.

[Sniderman]

Try this. A from-the-ground-up Pac-man for the 2600 using only 4K. Not a hack, but a fresh build, just to show that it was entirely possible to program a fairly close Pacman with the limits of a 4K cart. I prefer it to the Ms. Pac hack actually.

http://www.pdroms.de/files/526/

ROM also is at AA

[MachineGex]

Thanks for the link Sniderman. Can that be played with the Starpath or do you have to convert it some how?

[videogametrader]

I believe that Atari was trying to capitalize like it did with Space Invaders. Was pac-man a horrible game? Probablly not for the time it was released. But it should not have been called Pac-Man. Because it wasn't. It is apparent that Atari rushed the game to market, and it back-fired.

[tom]

i thought the flickering was because they were ghosts, sort of part of the game....

[Nature Boy]

I love that version of Pac-Man. It's a part of my gaming childhood!

The 'proper' versions that have been remade are nice, but nostalgia cares nothing for a real looking version of Pac-Man on the VCS. Give me the flickering ghosts and weird sound effects any day.

If I want to play a real version of Pac-Man I'll use my MAME emulator, not my VCS emulator :)

[ShinobiMan]

I'm a child of the 8-bit era, and I love the 2600 Pac-Man. It's so iconic, and still fun. I can understand the hate, but why hate when you can love?

Besides, it's all people had back then and they had to make do with what they had. Kinda like the way I felt with the X-Men game on Genesis. I wanted oh so badly to be playing the X-Men Arcade game, but I still enjoyed the Genny version.

[kainemaxwell]

i thought the flickering was because they were ghosts, sort of part of the game....
I always thought so too. Enjoyed it as a kid, same with the other infamous title, E.T.

[CelticJobber]

Nah, it's not wrong. We knew it was different than the arcade when I was a kid, but we still had a lot of fun with it regardless. I was surprised to enter the Internet age and realize there was so much hate for it.


Same here, I was shocked to learn that it was so widely hated online.

[The Clonus Horror]

I liked it as a kid--my grandmother and I would play it. Now that I think of it, I didn't really ever complain about any game I got. Also, it was a HUGE deal in the NES era when you were able to even RENT video games from our local video stores (even Radio Shack). It really was a case of availability. You didn't complain because it was all you had. Even in my teen years, where you're critical of EVERYTHING for no reason, I remember thinking Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl was a fun game because my friends and I would laugh at the sound effects and the troll. I didn't follow gaming in college '94-'99 and then bought a PSOne after renting WWF Smackdown. Now that I think about it, I didn't start being overly critical of games until I started looking at sites like Gamespot, and even then I disagreed with most of their reviews. I guess, in this world, being brought up a game "scavenger" has taught me to appreciate more than hate. Granted, it's easier to love retroactively. I guess if I have or try a game I don't really like, I'm more apt to say: "Meh, it's not really my thing." I do find the AVGN entertaining however, but in an MST3K kind-of-way.

[dendawg]

Is it wrong that I like Pac-Man for the Atari 2600?


Yes. You, sir, and everyone in this thread who agrees with you, are abominations to humanity and at bare minimum should be banned posthaste!

Nah, not really. :-D

2600 Pac-Man isn't that bad of a game, but it sure as hell ain't that good, either.

[Cobra Commander]

Man, people will find anything to bitch about.

[DigitalSpace]

I've spent a little more time with it than I thought I would, but it's still terrible.

[Blitzwing256]

This is the age of the whiny internet where anything that isn't perfect becomes a "meme" games like atari pacman and et, as well as nes hydlide deadly towers and super pitfall, all of which are excellent games (despite hardware/programing limitations) for thier time are picked on by people who in most cases never played them when they were new.

Pacman was the first game I owned as a kid, and in fact other then number munchers/oregon trail was the first game I really played, and frankly I thought it was awesome...sure when I eventually played the real arcade version it was quite a bit different, but the 2600 game had just about everything the arcade did, it was tough...had 4 ghosts...had the little energy thing that lets you eat the ghosts...and even had the "vitamin" in the middle of the board. it got hours and hours of fun from me and my family, and is still enjoyable to play today, The sound effects are the most recognized sound effect in video games ever (tied with donkey kong atari). Pac-man and et certainly didn't cause the crash, you can blame that on garbage like attack of the beefsteak tomatoes....horrible metoo games released in droves.

[thom_m]

Pac-Man is one of the 2600 classics around here. It's the only version of it a LOT of people played - for, as I said somewhere here, evenn though videogaming is not a part of brazilian culture as it seems to be in the US, the VCS is a HUGE 80s childhood icon in brazil, cherished even by those who never played videogames again.

So sure, now I know it's a crappy conversion, but it's the Pac-Man we brazilians grew up with, and learned to love. Like celticjobber and shopkins, I was surprised with all the hate for it. And I still want to get myself a copy again.

[swlovinist]

I love both versions. Obviously the original version has a fond memory. For me, it was the Atari game that was in my possession for cheap(at a yard sale when I was 10 for $1). It was a part of my childhood. It was part of my atari experience. Back then it was entertainment from hearing my family fight. Now, it is nostalgia that reminds me that all of my childhood didnt suck.

And now I am going to go into my game room and play a game :)

[Quickclaw]

Did I hear the music for the 2600 version of Pac-Man in "The Wrestler"? Or was it the two-screen DK game?

[RASK1904]

yes!!

[Sonicwolf]

I found the 2600 version to detract from the natural allure of the original arcade game of Pac Man. Its just hideous and badly executed.

[Cryomancer]

I too am a fan of the 2600 version. At the time I was also a fan of the arcade version, and later I learned to freakin love Jr. pac-man on the 2600.

[ScottK]

I thought the game was really fun back then. I loved it, but then again I think I played the 2600 version before I played the arcade one. Now E.T. on the other hand, just plain sucked.

[Haoie]

Oh you fiend.

I say we all suggest the worst games imaginable for you to try.

[CRV]

2600 Pac-Man is perfectly playable. I think if the mazes had been the same colors as the arcade game, people would have a less violent reaction to it.

Some people act like 2600 Ms. Pac-Man is SO much better. It IS better, of course, but is it really much more of an accurate representation of the arcade version than the first one was?

[TurboGenesis]

Nah, it's not wrong. We knew it was different than the arcade when I was a kid, but we still had a lot of fun with it regardless. I was surprised to enter the Internet age and realize there was so much hate for it.


Same here, I was shocked to learn that it was so widely hated online.

Count me in too. I always thought for a long time this was a herald game on the Atari 2600… at least in my community. Then on the internets, it was different. Hate for Pac-Man was up there with hate for ET (which my family regret getting that game lol )

Atari's plan have worked on my family. My mother buy my sister her 2600 because of this game. I played it as a child but really don't get into games as I was around the age of 7 and was more interested in toys like Star Wars and GI Joe (Transformers weren't even out yet). My mother and my sister have spend many hours to play this game back then and they love it… When I get my NES in 1987, my mother ask if there was a Pac-Man game for it and we would get one a year later…

In other things, I cannot play regular Pac-Man(any version) any longer after discovering Pac-Man CE on the Xbox 360. CE is video game drugs and I am an addict.

[BydoEmpire]

Nothing wrong with that, I enjoy 2600 Pac Man, too. It's a solid game, even if it doesn't look like the arcade game.

According to "Once Upon Atari" the original was done in 2K. Todd Frye went to management several times saying if they'd give him more space he could do a better version, but Atari wanted it to be as cheap as possible. I think it's a pretty impressive technical achievement. The subsequent versions (and Ms Pac Man) had more ROM space to work with so it's not surprising they look and play better.

[scooterb23]

It was our family's favorite game back in the good old days. We didn't care if it looked like the arcade game or not, we just had a ton of fun playing it.

I know my mom and I would play it all afternoon during rainy summer days, she was able to hit about 275,000 I got to about 325,000.

[slapdash]

According to "Once Upon Atari" the original was done in 2K. Todd Frye went to management several times saying if they'd give him more space he could do a better version, but Atari wanted it to be as cheap as possible. I think it's a pretty impressive technical achievement. The subsequent versions (and Ms Pac Man) had more ROM space to work with so it's not surprising they look and play better.

Not QUITE right... They gave him 4K, but he wanted 8K. And yes, Ms. Pac-Man got 8K, and that's why it looks so much better.

But there have been a couple Pac-Man games done in 4K that prove that it could have been more like the arcade. Of course, the authors had more example code and time to work with than Frye did, so that may not be entirely fair.

[BrianP]

I live in rural Newfoundland. I never really experienced an an aracde untill about the mid 90's. So all these Atari, NES, SMS, Genesis "arcade ports" I had grown up playing I never did play the arcade originals for.
Pac-Man being one of them.
I grew up like so many other kids with Pac-Man for the 2600 and thinking Pac-Man was so cool and he was easy to draw so bonus!
Didn't know that the REAL Pac-Man was much better.
Early 90's roll around and a friend of mine gets the pirate 31-1 cart for the NES (which was surprisingly popular here in NL I remember many people having it, as well as the 42-1 cart) and it had Pac-Man on it, though I believe it was called Goblin (? correct me if I'm wrong). And we were confused. We assumed since they changed the name, they also had the change the game, due to the fact it was a pirate, or something...
Then as the years pass I'm not sure when, I think it might have been MS:Return Of Arcade on the PC that showed me, Wow, so what I know as Goblin (?) is really Pac-Man and what I know as Pac-Man is... Shyte?
hmmm..

Summation
2600 Pac-Man. Playable game. I guess worth the time and money you sunk into it in the 80s, but worthy of being called Pac-Man? No. if ever there was a cheap pirate knockoff, the 2600 version shoulda been it.

[Nature Boy]

Of course, the authors had more example code and time to work with than Frye did, so that may not be entirely fair.

I think 'not entirely fair' is an understatement. The only way to *really* see if it would have been possible would be to totally duplicate the environment at the time, and that just can't happen.

Based on what we know now, I think the game is a fantastic achievement, and is proof that knowing what goes on behind the scenes totally changes my opinion on things.

[chrisbid]

vcs pac-man for me represents the dividing line between old atari (vcs) and new atari (2600). in the days before pac-man, just getting an arcade port on the vcs was a treat and people were mostly happy. accuracy was pushed aside and programmers instead pushed the unique qualities of the 2600 in ports of defender, asteriods and space invaders. pac-man took the same approach, but after pac-man was released, atari changed its strategy to more closely represent the arcade original.

so if you compare pac-man to early games, the extra primitive graphics and sounds fit in quite well, and the game is well done. if you compare it to later atari games and activision/imagic/m-network/etc games, its not a pretty sight.

[Enigmus]

Beleive it or not, I am a Pac Man freak. I own Namco Museum for PSX and Xbox, which contain Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Pac Man Arrangement, Pac Mania, and Pac Attack, I have Ms. Pac Man for 2600 and NES, there's a restaurant I go to a lot that has a Ms. Pac/Galaga Machine (which I also use the secret code to play Pac Man on there all the time), and I have Namco Museum DS which has, of course, Pac Man.

So, basically speaking, I got Pac Man Fever. :-D