Atari 5200 for Pac-Man Party?

[Atari2008]

I'm really psyched about Pac-Man's 30th anniversary so I'm thinking of having a Pac-Man tournament as part of a house warming party that I'm having in late June. My favorite home version of Pac-Man is the 5200 one, but I'm wondering if it's the most user friendly system for the tournament due to the controllers. Most if not all of the part guests won't be classic gamers and I'm assuming most aren't gamers so I want to have a system that's most user friendly while still offering arcade-quality graphics. I like 5200 Pac-Man especially the sound and bright colors, and it's unique maze layout. But even I struggle with the joystick at times, so I'm not sure how well everyone else is going to do. Should I go with the 2600 and/or 7800 instead?

 

Thank you for your input!

[CPUWIZ]

http://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=849

[Atari2008]

http://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=849

 

Thanks! I was thinking of that...and maybe Jr. Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man as well...make it a Pac-Man family party.

[atariksi]

I'm really psyched about Pac-Man's 30th anniversary so I'm thinking of having a Pac-Man tournament as part of a house warming party that I'm having in late June. My favorite home version of Pac-Man is the 5200 one, but I'm wondering if it's the most user friendly system for the tournament due to the controllers. Most if not all of the part guests won't be classic gamers and I'm assuming most aren't gamers so I want to have a system that's most user friendly while still offering arcade-quality graphics. I like 5200 Pac-Man especially the sound and bright colors, and it's unique maze layout. But even I struggle with the joystick at times, so I'm not sure how well everyone else is going to do. Should I go with the 2600 and/or 7800 instead?

 

Thank you for your input!

 

I have had controller issues with Ms. Pac-man, but not with Pac-man. When you move in a certain direction and let go of the joystick, it should keep moving in that direction. This doesn't seem to be happening with Ms. Pac-man. Perhaps, someone needs to hack the Pac-man controls into Ms. Pac-man since the former allows for better control.

[bohoki]

use the mame emulator to play the real thing

 

or use a pc joystick conversion i enjoy a sztick with suction cups on the bottom holding it on a table

Edited May 21, 2010 by bohoki

[Greg2600]

Might be harder to come by, but.....

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QW6QBY?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QW6QBY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008JIM3U?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0008JIM3U

 

Don't torture you're guests with the 5200 controllers! If you're not looking to spend anymore money, then I might try to figure out how to get mame on your TV. If you have it, Pac-Man Collection 7800 is a home run.

Edited May 22, 2010 by Greg2600

[atariksi]

Might be harder to come by, but.....

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QW6QBY?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QW6QBY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008JIM3U?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0008JIM3U

 

Don't torture you're guests with the 5200 controllers! If you're not looking to spend anymore money, then I might try to figure out how to get mame on your TV. If you have it, Pac-Man Collection 7800 is a home run.

 

$80 for Ms. Pacman only. Better to get a good A5200 controller and an entire system w/Ms. Pacman for that price.

[bohoki]

Might be harder to come by, but.....

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QW6QBY?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QW6QBY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008JIM3U?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0008JIM3U

 

Don't torture you're guests with the 5200 controllers! If you're not looking to spend anymore money, then I might try to figure out how to get mame on your TV. If you have it, Pac-Man Collection 7800 is a home run.

 

$80 for Ms. Pacman only. Better to get a good A5200 controller and an entire system w/Ms. Pacman for that price.

 

i got the ms pac one and its neat cause you twist the stick for pole position like its a steering wheel

[akator]

I've had the most recent Jakks PnP Pac-Man Namco collection for about a year. Still runs on the same 4x AA batteries I installed when I got it. Mine came from the toy section at Target for $20. They still had them at Target when I was there last month and at Walmart 2 weeks ago.

[atariksi]

Might be harder to come by, but.....

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QW6QBY?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QW6QBY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008JIM3U?ie=UTF8&tag=atariage&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0008JIM3U

 

Don't torture you're guests with the 5200 controllers! If you're not looking to spend anymore money, then I might try to figure out how to get mame on your TV. If you have it, Pac-Man Collection 7800 is a home run.

 

$80 for Ms. Pacman only. Better to get a good A5200 controller and an entire system w/Ms. Pacman for that price.

 

i got the ms pac one and its neat cause you twist the stick for pole position like its a steering wheel

 

Oh, okay so it has other games built-in like one of those flashback things. May try it out at a cheaper price however still will clog up the central TV since there are so many other consoles.

[Atari2008]

Thank you everyone for your input. I think I'm going to go for one of those plug-n-play Pac-Man collections with other games. I'll get arcade quality, and it'll be nice not to torture my guests, LOL. I used the controllers over the weekend, and I could see how it would be frustrating for most people. Still love the system though, but I'm not convinced my guests would feel the same way.

[atariksi]

Thank you everyone for your input. I think I'm going to go for one of those plug-n-play Pac-Man collections with other games. I'll get arcade quality, and it'll be nice not to torture my guests, LOL. I used the controllers over the weekend, and I could see how it would be frustrating for most people. Still love the system though, but I'm not convinced my guests would feel the same way.

 

I attended some party last month and I hooked up an Atari 600XL and had the guests play pacman, donkey kong, and joust and a bunch of people played and liked the Atari joysticks -- simple and no questions.

[Atari2008]

Thank you everyone for your input. I think I'm going to go for one of those plug-n-play Pac-Man collections with other games. I'll get arcade quality, and it'll be nice not to torture my guests, LOL. I used the controllers over the weekend, and I could see how it would be frustrating for most people. Still love the system though, but I'm not convinced my guests would feel the same way.

 

I attended some party last month and I hooked up an Atari 600XL and had the guests play pacman, donkey kong, and joust and a bunch of people played and liked the Atari joysticks -- simple and no questions.

 

Agreed, if I don't do one of the plug-n-play units, I'm going for the 7800 and or 2600 since those joysticks are easy to use and I won't have to give a tutorial, LOL.

[CV Gus]

The best home version is Opcode's CV Pac-Man Collection. Not only are the sounds and graphics superb, but the ghosts act as they did in the arcade- this includes the subtle things, like the orange ghost avoiding you for the most part, and the pink (well, purple here) ghost turning based on which way you are facing.

 

You get Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Plus, too.

 

That said, I have the Plug `n Play version of Pac-Man, and quite frankly, there's just something better about the 5200 version.

 

Maybe you should include the 5200 version, since the controllers are bound to cause some funny comments.

 

If you have Super Pac-Man for the 5200, controllers or no controllers, don't hesitate to include it. It was always my favorite of the original four!

[atariksi]

I ordered one of those Jakk's Ms. Pac-man units and it came with battery leakage inside and didn't work. So looks like I may need to get another or not bother with these.

 

That's one area where Atari flashbacks which run with AC adapter are better.

[tep392]

I ordered one of those Jakk's Ms. Pac-man units and it came with battery leakage inside and didn't work. So looks like I may need to get another or not bother with these.

 

That's one area where Atari flashbacks which run with AC adapter are better.

 

I was at Target yesterday and they had the Jakk's Pac-man for $20. No Ms. Pac-man but it has a nice selection of games. The joystick is a 4-way and has a nice arcade feel to it.

 

I'm doing this from memeory but I think it has the following. Pac-man, Pac-N-Pal, Pac-man Plus, Super Pac-man, Dig Dug, Xevious, Pole Position, Mappy, Rally-X, Bosconian and Galaga.

[MIKE5200]

Here ya go guys..I wish someone made this for the 5200

 

Happy 30th birthday

 

http://pacman.com/en/games/flash/pac-match-party

Cheers

[mimo]

Pac man collection on the 7800 is my favorite

[atariksi]

I ordered one of those Jakk's Ms. Pac-man units and it came with battery leakage inside and didn't work. So looks like I may need to get another or not bother with these.

 

That's one area where Atari flashbacks which run with AC adapter are better.

 

I was at Target yesterday and they had the Jakk's Pac-man for $20. No Ms. Pac-man but it has a nice selection of games. The joystick is a 4-way and has a nice arcade feel to it.

 

I'm doing this from memeory but I think it has the following. Pac-man, Pac-N-Pal, Pac-man Plus, Super Pac-man, Dig Dug, Xevious, Pole Position, Mappy, Rally-X, Bosconian and Galaga.

 

Well, I got a working version of the Ms. Pac-man unit and the controls aren't as good as Atari 800 Ms.Pacman (it may be an analog joystick that's being used for Ms. Pac-man). I would still prefer the Atari 800 Ms. Pac-man over this one given the variety of joystick controls available and non-battery operation. I am also used to graphics looking like A800 version rather than a thin Ms. pac-man and collision detection seems a bit off as I can almost go through the monsters sometimes. A800 version has some flicker once in a while when the monsters are lined up horizontally, but that's more tolerable than the issues with this unit. I don't think a game becomes better just by having better sound effects or better looking graphics-- playability sucks on this unit.

[tep392]

I ordered one of those Jakk's Ms. Pac-man units and it came with battery leakage inside and didn't work. So looks like I may need to get another or not bother with these.

 

That's one area where Atari flashbacks which run with AC adapter are better.

 

I was at Target yesterday and they had the Jakk's Pac-man for $20. No Ms. Pac-man but it has a nice selection of games. The joystick is a 4-way and has a nice arcade feel to it.

 

I'm doing this from memeory but I think it has the following. Pac-man, Pac-N-Pal, Pac-man Plus, Super Pac-man, Dig Dug, Xevious, Pole Position, Mappy, Rally-X, Bosconian and Galaga.

 

collision detection seems a bit off as I can almost go through the monsters sometimes.

 

This happens in the arcades as well. You can actually run head on into a monster and pass right through him on the arcade machine, if the timing is just right.