Jr Pac-man

[elenag]

I hope no one minds if I refresh a really old topic, but I have to say I looooove this game. I never knew it existed for the 2600... sad huh? But then, I'm not a collector so I'm not all that knowledgeable of games I didn't personally own or remember seeing in the toy stores during the 80's. I suppose if the game came out in 1987, that explains why I missed it because my 2600 interest was fading around that time. I was no longer buying 2600 games due to fascination with the NES.

 

I'm playing it in Stella because I don't have a physical 2600 system. I think I'll order an old style gamepad just for this game, because I'm using the keyboard at the moment, which is less than optimal. If I had this game at 11 years old, I'd have never gotten any homework done since I was a huge addict of the arcade Pac-Man as a child.

[7800Lover]

I owned the game years ago. Jr. Pac Man can be fun albeit challenging. My recommendation is to practice with one ghost and when you get good, move up two, then three, and up to the full four. Practice makes perfect.

[aftermac]

I suppose if the game came out in 1987, that explains why I missed it because my 2600 interest was fading around that time. I was no longer buying 2600 games due to fascination with the NES.

 

That's funny! I asked for an NES for Christmas 1987 ( I was 8 ) and received a 2600 Jr. instead, my first Atari.

 

I didn't receive Jr. Pac-Man until the early 1990's when all of the 2600 and 7800 games and systems were being sold at close-out stores. I would play it (and other 2600 games) for hours even though I had a Super Nintendo by this time.

Edited May 31, 2008 by aftermac

[Recycled]

It's an excellent game...but I never liked how it was so difficult from the get go. So I give it an A- instead of an A.

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

It's an excellent game...but I never liked how it was so difficult from the get go. So I give it an A- instead of an A.

 

Ahhhh, your video game critics are just awesome........

[elenag]

That's funny! I asked for an NES for Christmas 1987 ( I was 8 ) and received a 2600 Jr. instead, my first Atari.

 

I didn't receive Jr. Pac-Man until the early 1990's when all of the 2600 and 7800 games and systems were being sold at close-out stores. I would play it (and other 2600 games) for hours even though I had a Super Nintendo by this time.

 

 

I have a clear memory of those bargain baskets when new games were selling for $1 to $4 at Kay-B, Sears, and others. Such a long time ago.

 

I hate to say this but when I was 15 and the 2600 Jr was in the stores, I remember I thought of it as a goofy marketing ploy designed confuse customers with the 7800. I also felt it was a super weak effort meant to draw attention away from Nintendo, which was taking over America (deservedly so in my opinion). A lot of those feelings came from playing a stream of horribly produced Atari games during the video game crash.

 

Today, I think my opinion has softened a bit because of games like Jr Pac-Man released around that time.

[supercat]

Today, I think my opinion has softened a bit because of games like Jr Pac-Man released around that time.

 

I recall seeing the bins full of games, but I never saw any demo systems set up to play them. A shame, really, since many of the post-crash games are amazingly good, and some of them (Solaris, e.g.) might have given the NES a run for its money. But it wasn't until 1994 that I first tried Solaris. Wow that game was amazing.

[elenag]

It's an excellent game...but I never liked how it was so difficult from the get go. So I give it an A- instead of an A.

 

During the first couple weeks of trying it on and off, I was like What the F!%@, this is impossible. After a while I got drawn in. It grows on ya I think, and you become acclimated to the difficulty level somewhat. There are also tricks you can do to pull away from the ghosts:

• circling a wall so they gather up behind you, and then make for a powerpill grab
  
• going up to send them chasing upward in parallel, and going back down and cutting across under them
  
• avoiding the temptation to double back and opting for 90 degree escape routes
  
• when they're chasing you along the left or right screen edge, escaping by cutting across toward the middle of the screen
  
• using powerpills at strategic moments, 4 ghosts in the vicinity
  
• avoiding cleared corners regions (dangerous without a powerpill)
  

[aftermac]

I have a clear memory of those bargain baskets when new games were selling for $1 to $4 at Kay-B, Sears, and others. Such a long time ago.

 

I hate to say this but when I was 15 and the 2600 Jr was in the stores, I remember I thought of it as a goofy marketing ploy designed confuse customers with the 7800. I also felt it was a super weak effort meant to draw attention away from Nintendo, which was taking over America (deservedly so in my opinion). A lot of those feelings came from playing a stream of horribly produced Atari games during the video game crash.

 

Today, I think my opinion has softened a bit because of games like Jr Pac-Man released around that time.

 

Yup, a lot of my games (~30 2600 and ~25 7800 games, all still boxed) were bought at Big Lots for $1-$3. My Grandpa also bought his (now mine) 7800 there for $30.

 

Even being half your age at the time, I remember having similar thoughts. Especially, about the cheesy "The Fun is Back" commercials. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed that Christmas when I unwrapped an Atari instead of an NES. It didn't take me long to fall in love with the 2600, though. I feel bad about this now, because we didn't have much money back then.

 

In hindsight, I think it was one of the best things that happened during the Tramiel era. The Jr. was perfectly placed in the market at the time for families that couldn't afford an NES or 7800. Atari sold a TON of Jr's and a lot of great games (and some bad ones) were released that might never have seen the light of day... At least until some of our fellow AtariAger's discovered the prototypes.