Article by: Alex Stuart (Linearity)
Pictured from: Pac-Man World
Created by: Namco
First appearance: 1980
Bio
Pac-Man is the character controlled by players of the singularly popular arcade game Pac-Man. He is a spherical yellow man with an apparent ability to eat without limit. In this game, Pac-Man traverses circuitous mazes while eating small, white pellets and being chased by four brightly-colored ghosts.
Pac-Man's character has not been much developed, and this can be expected from the game's capitalization on action and puzzle-solving rather than story. However, it is revealed in the arcade game Ms. Pac-Man (released by Midway without authorization from Namco, Pac-Man's original creators) that he has a romantic interest of the same name as well as a child, both of whom are round, yellow people like him. In Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, Pac-Man's various moods play a role in gameplay. In Pac-Man World, Pac-Man travels to one Ghost Island to rescue his friends from a nemesis called Toc-Man.
The original Pac-Man is among the most widely played video games ever made. Many who have played no other video game have played Pac-Man at some point. This is arguably due to the universal accessibility of its gameplay. Whatever the source of its popularity, Pac-Man is for many people a definitive video game.
Selected game appearances
Arcade
- Pac-Man (1980)
- Ms. Pac-Man (1981)
- Super Pac-Man (1982)
Super NES
- Pac-Attack (1993)
- Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (1994)
PlayStation
- Pac-Man World (1999)
PlayStation 2
- Pac-Man World 2 (2002)
- Pac-Man World 3 (2005)
References
- Wikipedia - "Pac-Man"
- Pac-Man World instruction manual
- The 1st Church of Pac-Man
- GameSpot - "The History of Pac-Man"
