RR: Pac-Man (NES)
By Becky. Wednesday, 23. May 2007, 05:01:45
Every Monday Nintendo adds a few more games to their U.S. list of Virtual Console games. These games are downloadable from the Wii Shop Channel. The games come from a list consisting of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Turbo Graphix, and the Nintendo 64. Every Tuesday N+ provides you with one "Retro Review" of one game off of the list. The Retro Review is designed to introduce young or new players to some of the "classics" that made gaming what it is today, while also providing a reminder to those who have already played these games, how much fun they really had. This way, whenever you want to download a new VC title, you can have at least one place to turn to see if it was good before you spend those Wii-Points. "Read More" for the review...This weeks' game: Pac-Man
Game Price: 500 Wii points
Chances are, if you've been to any pizza parlor, pub, or mall arcade, you've seen Pac-Man. A cultural icon of the 80s and even today, Pac-Man has not only penetrated arcades and consoles everywhere but also countless facets of everyday life. On May 14, the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console granted gamers everywhere the chance to revisit this gaming classic! When Pac-Man was released, most arcade video games in North America were primarily space shooters such as Space Invaders and Defender or Asteroids; the most visible minority were sports games (mostly derivative of PONG). Pac-Man succeeded by creating a new genre and appealing to both males and females. Pac-Man is often credited with being a landmark in video game history, and is among the most famous arcade games of all time. The character also appears in over 30 officially licensed games and sequels, as well as in numerous unauthorized clones and bootlegs. Wikipedia.
Introducing: The characters!Our main players in Pac-Man are a colorful bunch, consisting of a bright yellow puck and four ghosts of blue, red, pink, and orange!
-
Pac-man: Our protagonist. His goal in life is to traverse twisted mazes, eat pellets and fruit, and avoid persistant ghosts!
-
Blinky: This is our red ghost, and the first to leave the ghost holding pen.
-
Pinky: The pink ghost who leaves the pen second.
-
Inky: Contrary to its name, Inky is not black, but blue!
-
Clyde: The only ghost not to have a rhyming name. Clyde is orange.
Basic Game PremiseThe life of Pac-Man is a simple one: it merely winds its way through various mazes and munches on the Power Pellets that line the path. As soon as all of the pellets are eaten, Pac-Man can progress to the next level--but various obstacles make this task challenging. At the start of each level, the four ghosts mentioned above are released from their pen and float around the maze looking for ways to corner Pac-Man and end the game, for once he touches a ghost, one life is lost. Fortunately, there are ways to gain points that ultimately add up to extra lives--this happens when the player reaches 10,000 points. In addition, fruits such as strawberries and cherries appear occasionally for bonus points, and as you progress to the higher levels, the fruit nets you even more points! Also, around the corners of the maze are even bigger Power Pellets--use these to turn the ghosts a helpless blue, rendering them succeptable to attack!
Fun Pac-Man Factoids!- Pac-Man was supposed to be called "Puck-Man" because of his round shape--but it was feared that young hooligans might change the "P" to an "F", so the name was changed to Pac-Man.
- The original title was pronounced pakku-man (パックマン, pakku-man) and was inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeic phrase paku-paku taberu (パクパク食べる, paku-paku taberu), where paku-paku describes (the sound of) the mouth movement when widely opened and then closed in succession. Although it is often cited that the character’s shape was inspired by a pizza missing a slice, he admitted in a 1986 interview that it was a half-truth and the character design also came from simplifying and rounding out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi as well as the basic concept of eating. (taken from Wikipedia.)
- Supposedly, if you eat all the pellets, fruit, and ghosts, you will reach the 255th level that promptly glitches. The result is a split, jumbled screen! There is a t-shirt that captures this moment at Errorwear, and it is a shirt I like to wear quite often!

Ultimately, Pac-Man nets itself a good score--one doesn't even need a tutorial to explain what you're supposed to do to advance in the game, which makes it something that everyone can easily enjoy. Its addictive nature gives it tremendous replay value, and you know it will never become dated--if it's stayed this popular since 1979, then it must be doing something right! The only thing is, Pac-Man is available in tons of other venues, like those little Atari joysticks that you can find at any Wal-Mart; even the iPod have downloadable versions of Pac-Man. So, if you love your Virtual Console and don't have this game on anything else (like your cell phone), go ahead and spend the five bucks to put it on your Wii!
N+ 8/10
Cost: 500 Wii Points
Full North American Virtual Console list









Giovanni Medina # 23. May 2007, 07:14
Matthew! # 23. May 2007, 07:30
Let's do it!
Anton # 23. May 2007, 15:47
Becky # 23. May 2007, 15:49
MK # 23. May 2007, 22:51
Becky # 23. May 2007, 23:06
And...*da da daa!*
Becky learned 500 Wii points!
**TYPO fixed!**
Joel Luther # 23. May 2007, 23:23
I still think Nintendo should have given us this one for free.
Geoff Girardin # 24. May 2007, 02:12
And yes they should have.
The Last Sheikah # 24. May 2007, 17:14
Anton # 24. May 2007, 18:30
MK # 24. May 2007, 22:02