A thread about... Pac-Land

[Damon Plus]

First, let me explain this. I´ve thought of doing a topic like the "Game of the week..." you can see in other forums, but with some differences. The Lynx doesn´t have that many games and this forum is a bit slow, so it won´t be a "Game of the week.." but more a "Game of the 2-3 weeks" Also, there´s NO time limit to submit your opinion and scores. You can do it even if the next thread has been posted.

 

More important, Lynx info on the web is a bit scarce. So we can gather here all of the info about the game we can. It will be fun, I´m sure, and everyone can help. If people like the idea, I´ll continue with more games. If not, well, nobody could tell me I haven´t tried .

 

Let´s start, OK?

Game Info

 

Name: Pac-Land

Company: Atari

Year: 1991

Genre: Platformer

Multiplayer: 2-player alternatively

Other versions: Arcade, C-64, MSX, T-16, Spectrum, ST, Nes, PSX (Namco Museum volume 4)

Is the Lynx version the best one? Aside from the Arcade, I´d say yes, it is, along with the T-16 one.

 

Description

 

Pac-Man is back for his most dangerous mission yet. He must avoid deadly ghosts and perilous obstacles to help the beautiful fairy princess Buttercup find her way through Pac-Land. If he can find the mysterious Power Pellets, he will have the strength to defeat the ghosts and complete his quest. But where are the Power Pellets? And does Pac-Man have enough time to find them?

 

Screenshots

(taken from Atariage)

 

 

 

More screenshots:

http://www.atariage.com/screenshot_page.ht...areLabelID=1906

 

Opinions

(in your post, you can tell us your opinion of the game, what do you think is the best/worst aspect of the game or give it a score out of 10, and I´ll do a brief summary and include it in the initial post)

 

"It´s initial look might make you it looks too simple, but inside Pac-Land lies one of the best and most addictive platformers on the Lynx, with more secrets and depth that you could think initially. The only real negative point is that the control is a bit "imprecise" but still, a very good game. 8/10" (Damon Plus)

 

Nice try, but suffers from some control issues that aren't present in the arcade version. I find the floating logs particularly frustrating, to the point where it isn't even fun to play anymore. Also, in the arcade version, Pac-Man has those cute cartoon-style eyes. On the Lynx, his eyes are shaped like, well, Pac-Man. Like those grotesque Raggedy Ann dolls and some editions of Mickey Mouse. Ugly. 5/10" (dogcorn)

 

It's certainly a game that I can take in small doses however, as the wonderful cartoon graphics, and soundtrack make it a pleasant gaming experience so long as I don't try too hard to play this game on a serious level by purposely going for high-scores for instance. A worthwhile addition as a novelty game for the Lynx IMO (Gunstarhero)

 

 

How to play

 

When the game starts, Pac-Man is walking down the street in Pac-Town. The screen shows the current score, the high score, the number of Pac-Men remaining and the number of time tablets left. Pac-Man must complete each level before the time tablets disappear. Pac-Man can walk slowly through Pac-Town and enjoy the beautiful

scenery. If he does this, though, he will not survive long. Press the joypad twice to make Pac-Man run.

 

Along the way, Pac-Man will see many obstacles. Press the A button to make Pac-Man jump over obstacles. When Pac-Man comes to a pool, he must jump at the end of the jumping ramp. Pump the joypad as fast as you can to give Pac-Man enough power to clear the dangerous waters! Pac-Man can't swim, you know.

 

Pac-Man's favorite food is fruit. And Pac-Land is full of delicious cherries and strawberries! But he's got to find them, so keep your eyes open as you run through Pac-Land.Yellow Power Pellets make Pac-Man invincible for a few seconds. That means he can munch ghosts, especially Sue, for big points.

 

If Pac-Man survives long enough, he takes Buttercup to her home. Then, one more round and Pac-Man will see his own Pac-Family. Of course, Buttercup will get in trouble again. Then Pac-Man must go on another rescue mission. Unfortunately, every rescue mission is a little more dangerous than the last.

 

Tips

(you can submit your own tips too!)

 

Sometimes, jumping on an obstacle will reveal a hidden treasure to help Pac-Man on his way. Pac-Man can even push some things to find special treasures. If he pushes the right objects, he can find hard hats that protect

him from falling baby ghosts, invisible powers so he can run through ghosts unharmed, balloons for bonus points, even a special warp to take him to more advanced rounds! (from the manual)

 

Sure is the purple ghost who always chases Pac-Man everywhere he goes. If Pac-Man can catch her, after catching the four other ghosts, a timer capsule will appear awarding him points for his remaining time and giving him a new time bar. (from the manual)

 

At the end of every round, when Pac-Man is walking slowly, you can jump at the end to get more points. If the game stops your jump just before you touch the ground, you can get 7650 points! BTW, that´s Namco in Japanese. (Damon Plus)

 

When you find a power pellet, just wait until at least 2 or 3 enemies appear, this way you´ll sure get lots of points! (Damon Plus)

 

 

Secrets/Cheats

 

At round 2, push the third log to the left. You will end that round (starting Trip 3) and get rewarded with 80,000 points.

 

If you get the high score and enter your initials as "330NE", you will start with 10 extra lives (dogcorn, extracted from the Lynx catalog)

 

 

Highscore system and table

 

-When you eat a power pellet, you´ll get these points for eating ghosts consecutively: 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and then 7650 from the 6th ghost on.

 

-At the end of every round, you can get three different amount of points depending on when you stopped: middle-air (100 points), a moment before touching the ground (1000) and just before touching the ground (7650).

 

 

Highscore table

(starting from the beggining, specify if you used the warp cheat)

1-Damon Plus (192,110 points, round 11)

2-

3-

4-

5-

 

 

Links

 

Pac-Land info at Atariage

 

FAQs for the Arcade version, but you can use them.

 

Pac-Land on the Wikipedia

 

Atariarchives Review

 

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I hope you liked it, it sure was a hard work! What are you waiting for posting your opinion, tips and suggestions?

Edited April 2, 2007 by Damon Plus

[Atariman]

You forgot about the NES version - I have it on some 128-in-1 cart and it appears to be a U.S. rom. (not that the NES version can hold a candle to the Lynx version - I love Pac-Land on the Lynx!)

[Damon Plus]

Nes version added.

 

I expected some more comments on the thread. Maybe I didn´t choose the right game?

[Tempest]

There's also a prototype for the Atari 8-bit. Well sort of... It's more like a few concept screens, but they do exist.

 

Tempest

[+Zeptari]

Nes version added.

 

I expected some more comments on the thread. Maybe I didn´t choose the right game?

 

 

I'd say something about it, but I don't have it yet. care to send me a lynx cart or it!

 

-rick

[dogcorn]

My opinion:

Nice try, but suffers from some control issues that aren't present in the arcade version. I find the floating logs particularly frustrating, to the point where it isn't even fun to play anymore. Also, in the arcade version, Pac-Man has those cute cartoon-style eyes. On the Lynx, his eyes are shaped like, well, Pac-Man. Like those grotesque Raggedy Ann dolls and some editions of Mickey Mouse. Ugly. 5/10

 

Tips:

If you get the high score and enter your initials as "330NE", you will start with 10 extra lives. (from the Lynx Catalog)

[Cobra Kai]

I used to have this one. I played it quite a bit in the arcades as well as on the Lynx. The controls have never been a strong point in this game, even with the arcade version nothing is perfect with the Track 'n' Field button layout. These controls are mimicked fine on the Lynx by tapping the d-pad, but the nature of PacMan's movement in this don't lend to precision controls. This makes the game frustrating after a few levels, particularly when you are required to 'fly' or over bodies of water, the incessant tapping is annoying.

 

It's certainly a game that I can take in small doses however, as the wonderful cartoon graphics, and soundtrack make it a pleasant gaming experience so long as I don't try too hard to play this game on a serious level by purposely going for high-scores for instance. A worthwhile addition as a novelty game for the Lynx IMO.

Edited April 1, 2007 by Gunstarhero

[Damon Plus]

Thanks for your comments. I´ve added them to the first post.

 

I agree, those logs are just not fun at all. It´s just frustrating to loose 2-3 lives on them when you were doing a good playtrough.

[Dino]

I like this game but can't get past the rising clouds on level 11. My top score is 207,080 without using the warp cheat.

[jboypacman]

I havnt played the Lynx version of Pac-Land yet but i plan on picking up a copy sometime in the future,Thanks for the reviews.

[qberticus]

I've never had a problem with the logs, but the pools of water, suck.

[Dino]

Got past level 11. made it to level 17 and scored 249,680