Pac-Man Arcade cheat

[Graham Mitchell]

Please forgive me because this is something I really should already know.

Apparently, in the original Pac-Man, there is a pathway you can take through the maze that will alter the movements of the ghosts and allow you to never come in contact with one, thus allowing you to get to the 256th stage. It's a classic trick, and I don't know how to perform it. Searching on the 'net reveals nothing for me about this. Can anybody tell me how this is done, or at least refer me to a site that explains it?

Thanks so much. Have pity on me; I am uneducated.

[Arcade Antics]

Sounds like one o' those rumors to me. The only confirmed gameplay trick that I know of is the hiding spot on some original chipsets.

[NE146]

You sure you just aren't thinking of a standard Pacman pattern? There are tons of those around of course.

[Graham Mitchell]

You sure you just aren't thinking of a standard Pacman pattern? There are tons of those around of course.

That's pretty much exactly what I'm talking about. See, I suck at Pac-Man, and I'm trying to get better. Anybody know where I can learn some of these patterns?

[Kid Ice]

You're in need of Ken Huston's "Mastering Pac Man". Check ebay.

[NE146]

A search for "pacman patterns" in google should find you some.. like http://www.hanaho.com/pacman/

Or check out http://rcatt.classicgaming.gamespy.com and click "gametips"-> "p-s" -> and the link to "Check out the world's best Pac-Man patterns". Supposedly there's a single pattern in there that works for ALL pacman levels.

[Graham Mitchell]

Thanks so much for your insight, guys! It's much appreciated!

I'll print these out and give it a go tonight.

[Kid Ice]

A few years ago I was playing a Pac-Man Plus, and at one corner I passed right through a monster (I didn't graze him- I went straight through him). I don't know if there's a specific pattern you can follow to reproduce it, but I repeatedly tried to do it again and couldn't. All I can say about it is that it was early in the game (1st board), I didn't eat that many dots (not enough to trigger the first bonus object to appear), and that it happened in the lower-right area of the screen.

I've had this happen occassionally (seems to happen a lot on the Namco Museum Ms. PacMan on N64). There was a rumor long ago that if the ghost's eyes aren't looking at you at the time you make contact, you will not die.

[NE146]

Nah man it just happens. Anyone who's played Pacman enough times knows you sometimes pass through the ghosts. The 'looking the other way' thing is a myth.

Anyway, is it reproducable? Absolutely! In Pacman there are a couple of stunt patterns that allow you to do this. And in Mspac there is a short pattern for the 2nd level that does it too.

Since the Red and Pink ghosts in Ms Pacman move randomly in the beginning, you can't really have patterns like you could in Pacman. However, for the most part, this little trick works fine. Do this on the Strawberry (2nd) level.

[NE146]

I posted this over at Twin Galaxies and got a lot of info about this trick:

http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6410

http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1324

I went ahead and posted a video of one for ya over there

[Graham Mitchell]

I couldn't get that video to play. Is there something funky I have to do to get it to work?

[Vigilante]

A few years ago I was playing a Pac-Man Plus, and at one corner I passed right through a monster (I didn't graze him- I went straight through him). I don't know if there's a specific pattern you can follow to reproduce it, but I repeatedly tried to do it again and couldn't. All I can say about it is that it was early in the game (1st board), I didn't eat that many dots (not enough to trigger the first bonus object to appear), and that it happened in the lower-right area of the screen.

I've had this happen occassionally (seems to happen a lot on the Namco Museum Ms. PacMan on N64). There was a rumor long ago that if the ghost's eyes aren't looking at you at the time you make contact, you will not die.

I can confirm this happened to me, once. I was moving vertically from the bottom up the right hand side, and I passed thru a ghost.

[NE146]

I couldn't get that video to play. Is there something funky I have to do to get it to work?

You need the DIVX codec.