Pac-Man © 1982 Atari, Incorporated.
Pac-Man comes home. Keep PAC-MAN alive. Guide him and guard him; protect him from the ghosts. Gobble dots, energy pills, truit, bells, ATARI logos, keys and ghosts to score points. Eat all the dots on the screen and the maze starts all over. Score 10,000 points and earn a bonus PAC-MAN.
The game starts with three PAC-MAN lives, which are indicated by three small PAC-MAN symbles at the lower left corner of the screen. When game play begins, PAC-MAN moves to the starting position at the center, close to the bottom of the screen. Use the joystick to guide PAC-MAN around the maze. As PAC-MAN passes over the dots, he gobbles them up and you score points (see SCORING). Also in the maze are four large energy pills and four ghosts. The ghosts are out to devour PAC-MAN, but the energy pills give PAC-MAN the necessary power to gobble up the ghosts before the ghosts gobble him up.
When PAC-MAN eats an energy pill, the ghosts turn blue with fright (see Figure 2). PAC-MAN can then chase the ghosts and gobble them up. But watch out, when the ghosts start blinking, run quickly; they're about to change back to their true colors. The more ghosts you gobble up with one energy pill, the more points you score.
For a tasty bonus treat, PAC-MAN delights in munching fruit. Cherries, strawberries, oranges, apples, and melons appear at the center of the screen. They only last a few seconds, so grab the fruit quickly to score bonus points. After munching all the fruit, PAC-MAN can collect these other valuable bonus prizes: bells, ATARI logos, and keys (see SCORING, for the specific points you can score throughout the game).
Model CX5208
Dot | 10 points |
Energy Pill | 50 points |
Cherry | 100 points |
Strawberry | 200 points |
Orange | 500 points |
Apple | 700 points |
Melon | 1000 points |
Atari Logo | 2000 points |
Bell | 3000 points |
Key | 5000 points |
First Ghost | 200 points |
Second Ghost | 400 points |
Third Ghost | 800 points |
Fourth Ghost | 1600 points |
* Novice PAC-MAN players should practice eating all the dots to clear the maze before trying to eat ghosts.
* Stay close to an energy pill before you eat it, and tease the ghosts into moving toward you. When the ghosts get close, eat the energy pill and gobble up as many of them as you can.
* Use the side openings of the maze like escape tunnels. Move to either side while quickly evading the ghosts.
* Use strategy, and try to save your energy pills until you absolutely need them. When you are in a hurry, travel a route already cleared of dots. You move 20 percent faster if there are no dots in your path.
* Look for patterns in the maze. When you find one that works well, memorize it.
Graphics: Alan Murphy
Game's ROM.