Tips for playing PacMan? You read correctly.

[jdc]

Oh boy. :embarrassed:

A classic gaming site and after all these years I need some tips on playing PacMan. I have to unlock the Pacman race in Ridge Racer 6 and Namco was kind enough to include a perfect port of the original PacMan game on the disc. THAT'S where they hid the Pacman car this time, the bastards.

I only have to get 15,000 lousy, measly, stupid points....but I suck at PacMan. Most of you could get that with one hand tied behind your back, blindfolded, the fingers of your usable hand broken and using a busted controller with a frayed cable. ;)

I can clear the first and second boards but lose a life doing it. I can sometimes get the extra life at 10,000 but get trapped by the ghosts soon after and it's game over. I just need some simple pointers.

I knew that I should have spent less time in school and more time down at the classic game arcades. :(

[Nirvana]

Do that thing were you hug the wall next to the big glowing balls that make them turn into ghosts. Then while you are hugging the wall, they will come after you. Get the ball, then eat the train of ghosts.

Sorry. That's really the only thing specific hint I can think of, and you probably already do it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Wow, I just tried it...only got 14,950 points LOL

[exit]

The only thing you can really do is keep on playing and develop your own sense of strategy. What I usually do in the early levels is try and save the power orbs. When it gets to the point where the time is very limited, I usually sit right next to one, wait for the ghost to come to me, and then show them who's boss.

Of course this I've only really played Ms. Pacman, but I'm sure the strategy is the same.

[InsaneDavid]

Wiggle the joystick, do like a quick double back when ghosts are closing in - you can throw them off and get them to reverse direction sometimes.

[KennyB]

Eat a power orb and don't go after the ghost. Try to avoid eating them. They will leave you alone and then it is much easier to clear the field

[jdc]

That's what I was wondering. Do you go after the ghosts or stay away from them?

I don't know how, but I managed 14,090 at my highest. So close but so far. Someone on a Ridge Racer forum mentioned that you can get the whole 15,000 on the first two levels.

He must be a god. LOL

[Mayhem]

I don't know how, but I managed 14,090 at my highest. So close but so far. Someone on a Ridge Racer forum mentioned that you can get the whole 15,000 on the first two levels.

You can almost make it after the first level...

240 dots x 10 points = 2,400
4 power pills x 50 = 200
Ghosts (200,400,800,1600) x 4 = 12,000
Cherry x 2 = 200

Total = 14,800

I can usually get 50-80k on the game on a good day if I can remember some patterns. I usually score a lot, lot more on Ms Pacman though for some reason.

[GrandAmChandler]

There are patterns. Buy this book:

http://my.execpc.com/~krieg/IMAGES/mpmseb.jpg

There is a couple on eBay right now. There are two editions, one has the later yellow stripe at the top of the book (pictured above) to include Ms. Pacman. Best pac-man purchase ever.

[ClubNinja]

http://www.tripoint.org/games/literature/books/masterspecial.jpg


I'm sure it will go away soon, but that hotlinker graphic is pretty amusing.

I suck at Pac-Man too. I've never broken 20K. I had a guy over last week who hadn't played in over 10 years, but still scored 110K on his first go. Nice.

[GrandAmChandler]

I'm telling you, that book is golden. Will make you a Pac-Man genius within 1 read.

[MoreEbolaForYou]

Eat a power orb and don't go after the ghost. Try to avoid eating them. They will leave you alone and then it is much easier to clear the field

Hahaha. What a great method to get a high score!

Basically...just practice eating all 4 ghosts every time you eat a power pellet.

[Kid Ice]

Right above the box in the middle where the ghosts come out of there are two sort of s-shaped tunnels. The ghosts in the original Pac Man never enter these tunnels from the bottom (at least I've never seen them do it). Knowing this can get you out of some hairy pursuit situations. Plus you can simply hang out in one of those tunnels when you need a little rest, because you know they can only come from the top.

I generally find that area and anywhere around the box the safest place. The most dangerous place, if you ask me, is the very top, and especially the bottom of the maze.

[Icarus Moonsight]

It's all in the patterns... the ghosts do different things depending on your location and heading on the board. Observe and exploit :D

[alec]

There are patterns. Buy this book:

http://my.execpc.com/~krieg/IMAGES/mpmseb.jpg

There is a couple on eBay right now. There are two editions, one has the later yellow stripe at the top of the book (pictured above) to include Ms. Pacman. Best pac-man purchase ever.

Just bought it. Really looking forward to reading it. Thanks for the advice. It will be a good addition to my library.

[Red Warrior]

I need to buy one of those books. I have a pattern that will get me to the 7th or 8th key... but then the ghosts finally catch on. Maybe there's one in that book that works for those later boards.

My highest score ever is somewhere around 275,000. Never have beaten Dad yet tho... he used to regularly score over 300,000 back in the day.

BTW, as far as strategies go, practice grouping the ghosts together before eating a power pellet. It always helps when you don't have to go running all over the board to track them down. That's definitely where all the points are. And since you're only going for 15,000, forget about eating the fruits. They're not worth the effort in the early levels... and you might get chomped in the process of going after them.

Just keep cool and learn the patterns of each ghost. Blinky (the red one) will chase you anywhere... effectively making him the most dangerous. Pinky (the pink one... durr) loves to take an alternate path and cut you off... effectively trapping you between himself and Blinky, so be wary of him suddenly breaking from the chase and going down a different path. He's usually planning a road block somewhere else. Inky (the blue one) is kinda shy. Sometimes, you can stare him down, and he'll actually break off down a different path... away from you. He's a wuss when it comes to face-offs. Finally, Clyde (the yellow one) just basically pokes around. He doesn't necessarilly chase you like the others do. Instead, he'll kinda wander into you. Sometimes it's a good thing cuz he'll change direction and go away for no reason. Other times, he wanders right into your path. All in all though... Clyde is the least of your worries.

Best of luck to ya! May the fruit be with you.

[jboypacman]

two ways you can go about playing pac-man...
1)you can eat the power pellets and go after those ghost to rack up some big points.
2)you can eat the power pellets and avoided the ghost and clear the board.
now the second way may take you longer to get that score but if your having that much trouble it may be the ticket.
good luck.

[Jumpman Jr.]

It's all about getting all four ghosts in succession after eating a power pill. That's when you really rank in the points. You've just got to wait until the right time until you get that big pill (wait until all ghosts are hot on your tail), and eat all 4 ghosts to get the big points in any level.

[Wavelflack]

Avoid missing points for high score.

[Jorpho]

Heh. Ken Uston, the Colecovision Blackjack/Poker guy.

I'm sure those patterns are available elsewhere on the Internet by now, no?

[NoahsMyBro]

One other thing nobody's mentioned yet - I'm unsure about the orange and blue, but the red and pink ghosts are definitely faster than you *on straightaways*. If you're being followed, you need to remember that when you turn, you're faster than they are, so making lots of turns can gain you some breathing room.

Also, ghosts are dropped to half-speed going through tunnels, while you still travel full-speed.