| Ms. Pac-Man | |
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| Developers: | Midway Games (arcade) Atari (Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800) AtariSoft (?) Tengen (Sega Master System, Game Gear, Sega Genesis) Jakks Pacific (Ms. Pac-Man (Plug and play) |
| Publishers: | Midway Games (arcade) Atari (Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800) AtariSoft (?) Tengen (Sega Master System, Game Gear, Sega Genesis) Jakks Pacific (Ms. Pac-Man (Plug and play) |
| Genre: | Maze |
| Release date(s): | 1981 (Arcade) 1983 (Atari 2600) 1983 (Atari 5200 1987 (Atari 7800 1991 Sega Genesis) |
| Number of players | 1-2 alternating turns (most versions) One player Atari 2600 |
| Input methods | 4-way Joystick |
| Platforms | Arcade Game, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Master System, Plug and play unit |
Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade game released in 1981. It was developed and published by Midway as a sequel to Namco's Pac-Man game. However, Ms. Pac-Man was an unauthorized sequel created without Namco's permission. However, the game became popular like the original game and Namco decided to make it an official sequel.
Gameplay[]
Ms. Pac-Man in the arcade game's first maze.
The player controls Ms.Pac-Man and, similar to the original game, she must eat all the dots to proceed to the next level. As per usual, four monsters are in pursuit (although one has been renamed to “Sue” this time around), which, if they catch her, she will lose a life and the game will end when there are no more lives in reserve. However, eating an energizer will turn the tables on the monsters for a short time, allowing her to eat them, and there is also at least one escape tunnel per maze that Ms. Pac-Man can enter to slow them down.
With this sequel, though, there were several changes, one being that there are several new mazes this time around (unlike with only one maze with the original Pac-Man). Several of the mazes also have two escape tunnels (which Pac-Man only had one), plus the bonus prize is no longer situated below the monster pen, as it emerges from an escape tunnel and bounces around the maze; if it is not eaten it will eventually make its way back to an escape tunnel and disappear.
Ports[]
The game was also ported around to many home consoles, computers and other platforms over the years.
The Atari 2600 version of the game, even though the ghosts (what they were called with this port) still had a bit of flicker, the mazes looked slightly different and the game was for only one player, it was still considered to be a vast improvement over the much maligned port of Pac-Man for the system The port also had four selectable skill levels.
The Atari 5200 version looked even closer to the arcade original, had eight starting skill levels and could support two players like the original. The Atari 7800 version also had eight skill levels and was for up to two players as well, although the game gave players five lives (rather than three) to begin with, plus the “Energy pill” (rather than being called an “energizer”) was worth only 40, rather than 50 points this time around.
Sega Genesis cover.
Versions were also created for the Sega Master System, Game Gear and Sega Genesis, the latter of which had several settings, being Normal, Easy, Hard and Crazy. A Pac Booster could also be used to give extra speed to Pac-Man and/or Ms. Pac-Man. Different maze selections also included ones from the original arcade game, as well as Mini mazes, Big mazes, which where so small the entire maze wouldn’t appear on the screen at one time (which the game had to be paused and the player[s] had to scroll up or down with their controller to see the entire maze), and Strange, being oddly-shaped mazes.
There were also many game choices with up to two players, being alternating turns (which the second player would be Pac-Man), competitive, where both players are onscreen at the same time, but when one eats an energizer, the other player will be frozen, not being able to move, nor eat dots or ghosts (as they are called in this version), and two players cooperative, where neither is penalized when an energizer is eaten.
There were also additional prizes included that were not on the arcade original, such as what appeared to be a hand in the later levels, which these prizes were worth over 10,000 points. Also, one level in the Big mazes only has two energizers, while others had as many as six. Several continuances were also allowed after a game ended, as long as a player made it to at least the 10th screen, and the game would always end if the player completes the 32nd level (which the original game had 255 levels), which an additional intermission will play, showing Pac-Man and Ms.Pac-Man waiving, then heading offscreen, leading to a static end screen with them on a beach with their many offspring.
A plug and play unit was also released by Jakks Pacific, containing several other Namco games with the unit.
Needs more info on other ports, along with missing ones (like computer ports from AtariSoft]]