Pac-Man Review from 1982

[Bryan]

I mentioned this before, but I wanna see a 2600 Ms. Pac-Man done the same way as the 2600 Pac-Man.

That would be funny..

[Goochman]

So why are Space Invaders and Asteroids so well regarded despite having nearly no look or feel of their arcade counterparts? Like Pac-Man, they feature only the most broad and vague gameplay similarity to their parent inspiration.

 

Early arcade translations didnt have an expectation of being accurate - esp with the vector Asteroids display. By the time Pac Man was going to be released a ton of amazing games had been released and something as "simple" as Pac Man should look pretty good. Pac Man and ET just gave Atari that 1-2 punch into the grave gaming wise IMHO

[jetset]

So why are Space Invaders and Asteroids so well regarded despite having nearly no look or feel of their arcade counterparts? Like Pac-Man, they feature only the most broad and vague gameplay similarity to their parent inspiration.

 

Asteroids and SI are much, much closer to the coin op. 2600 PacMan doesn't even remotely look the coin op.

[+LS650]

 

Asteroids and SI are much, much closer to the coin op. 2600 PacMan doesn't even remotely look the coin op.

 

Although Invaders and plenty of others may differ, they have their own strengths, whereas Pacman 2600, well, doesn't.

[NE146]

As a 70's child Space Invaders addict (for the record, I'm pretty sure I've gotten close to current 110k "world record" in the game a number of times when I was a kid.. when I could roll over the score at will for hours), Space Invaders was THE game that made me seek out a VCS. I can't say I was disappointed much in the translation. Yes it was much more primitive from the arcade and didn't have any of the tricks, but I liked it for what it was, just as much as I liked handheld Entex Space Invaders later (which ironically had some tricks the VCS didn't have, like counting shots. ) It was fun in and of itself.

 

I was more disappointed in 2600 Asteroids though, not because of the graphics, which were fine and vcs standard. But because the rocks only moved up & down to your left and right at the beginning of each stage.. I was like "WTF IS THIS?!" I got over that though eventually and enjoyed it. And yes I know about the "fast" asteroids option which makes some of the smaller rocks travel diagonally for some minor variation.

[+save2600]

^ Some people here have said they actually like VCS Space Invaders better than the arcade!

 

Asteroids definitely disappointed back then though. Least we have Space Rocks today.

[WildBillTX]

I never liked Asteroids in the arcade with the button controllers. It was a lot more fun to play on the 2600 with a joystick. I liked the fast mode with the shields. I never like the "cotton candy" rocks either. It would have looked closer to the arcade if the rocks were hollowed out like some of the graphics hacks or Space Rocks.

 

In the early 80's it was a miracle of game programming to get the 2600 to play something as complicated as Asteroids or Centipede. I think by the 80's Atari was paying more attention to families with young children than the die-hard gamers.

Edited January 14, 2015 by WildBillTX

[cybercylon]

They should have called the 2600 version of asteroids Sherbet Shoot. Did Skittles exit then. Maybe Skittles Zapper.

 

That said, I also did like the 2600 version better for the controls. I think the TIA sound annoys me much more than the graphics.

 

I actually preferred the 2600 version of Space Invaders. Yes, it looked and played somewhat different, but it still had the spirit of Space Invaders, and I liked the design of some of the aliens.

[Bryan]

I was more disappointed in 2600 Asteroids though, not because of the graphics, which were fine and vcs standard. But because the rocks only moved up & down to your left and right at the beginning of each stage.. I was like "WTF IS THIS?!" I got over that though eventually and enjoyed it. And yes I know about the "fast" asteroids option which makes some of the smaller rocks travel diagonally for some minor variation.

I always figured they were cheating with the motion so they wouldn't have to reposition the sprites much- just keep 'em in columns!

[Jinks]

I always figured they were cheating with the motion so they wouldn't have to reposition the sprites much- just keep 'em in columns!

I didn't see asteroids in the arcade was a little bit too young so this was hard enough the way it was.

[BrianC]

The Atari 800 version has the wider range of movement of the Asteroids, but is too slow and easy. It also has input lag for shields/hyperspace/flip. Shields don't even time out in that version. 2600 version is much better.

[WildBillTX]

I remember playing that version in a freinds dorm room, frustrating. The 7800 version is awesome though.

 

With some of the later 2600 hacks (like Sadisteroids or Asteroids DC+) some larger rocks move diagonally in fast mode. I dont know how they reprogrammed it to do that. The #1 thing I hated most about the 2600 version was that there was no short pause after you cleared the screen of rocks. Another batch suddenly appears, many times nailing your ship with no time to respond. That's something that Space Rocks fixed (thanks Darryl!).

[Chris++]

Some people here have said they actually like VCS Space Invaders better than the arcade!

 

Absolutely! I'm one of those people. The diverse variations make the normally repetitious game-play a lot more interesting. Admittedly, what it really comes down to, in all likelihood, is that I played the VCS conversion (a lot -- it was our first cartridge, apart from Combat) at least a year before I even saw the coin-op.

 

Regarding VCS Pac-Man, I've always said that it's not a bad game, but it's not Pac-Man. That was the real problem, in terms of significantly harming Atari's reputation for the first time, rather than any unforgivable play deficiencies. People had willingly bought the Golf cartridge without complaining, for instance.

[The Usotsuki]

Maybe they shoulda pushed for, "if we can't use the 2600 port, what about Pac-Man Plus's 7800 port?" As that would be a fair compromise, não? Looks and feels like the arcade game, has the advanced features of the 2600 version.

[+save2600]

 

People had willingly bought the Golf cartridge without complaining, for instance.

 

I hear 'ya about VCS Space Invaders… find it fascinating that a home version could be considered as good or better back then, but there's no escaping the variety of gameplay as you mentioned. Strip the variety away though and you're right back to a relatively good (above average for the time, especially compared to Pac-Man or Asteroids), but flawed home conversion.

 

Golf is one of *those* games I impatiently purchased at Sears when I had some money burning a hole in my pocket one day. Must've been between $10-$20 and was one of the least expensive games available behind that damned locked glass case.

 

Glad I bought it though. Turned out to be a pretty fun game that even my Dad didn't mind playing with us.

[7800Lover]

That would be funny..

 

Or how about a 2600 Jr. Pacman done in the style of the 2600 Pacman? Or dare I say try a version of Super Pacman?

Edited January 17, 2015 by 7800Lover

[bkrownd]

For the record, I hated the 2600 Pac Man at the time, but the only thing I actually liked about the arcade version was the eye-candy of colors and sounds and that's the main thing that's missing in the 2600 version. I never liked maze games much.

 

Anyhow, I remember the supervisor in our apartment building knew we had a 2600, and one day she decided to get one to play Pac Man. She came down the hall afterwards, and asked us "WTF?" was something was wrong with her 2600, or did ours look the same? She thought it was so crap she returned the 2600 and paid for an Atari 800 for the better Pac Man game, with no real intention of using it as a computer.

[akator]

Anyhow, I remember the supervisor in our apartment building knew we had a 2600, and one day she decided to get one to play Pac Man. She came down the hall afterwards, and asked us "WTF?" was something was wrong with her 2600, or did ours look the same? She thought it was so crap she returned the 2600 and paid for an Atari 800 for the better Pac Man game, with no real intention of using it as a computer.

 

That's cool. I wish I had met landlords/apartment managers/supervisors like that

Edited January 17, 2015 by akator

[Saneless]

I wonder how many people initially passed on Ms Pac-Man because of Pac-Man.

I did. Had zero interest in any further pacs on the 2600 after playing the original.

[mbd30]

They should change the name of Atari 2600 Pac-Man to "Video Game Sound Effects Pack For Use In TV Shows and Films Vol. 1". Atari 2600 Donkey Kong is "Vol. 2".

[Dutchman2000]

I have the utmost respect for all of the Atari programmers. This was Tod's first VCS game and is very impressive from a technical standpoint. But the bottom line is that customers don't really care about how hard it was to program the game or the difficulties the 2600 hardware imposed. They were expecting the the same pac-man game they had been playing in the arcades, and that is not what they got. The game was similar but not quite the same. Monsters became ghosts, fruit bonuses became a single vitamin pill and the maze is not really a maze. Had it been called "munch man" it would have been scrutinized less I think, but the public was expecting pac man and that is where the public was disappointed.

[WildBillTX]

I have the utmost respect for all of the Atari programmers. This was Tod's first VCS game and is very impressive from a technical standpoint. But the bottom line is that customers don't really care about how hard it was to program the game or the difficulties the 2600 hardware imposed. They were expecting the the same pac-man game they had been playing in the arcades, and that is not what they got. The game was similar but not quite the same. Monsters became ghosts, fruit bonuses became a single vitamin pill and the maze is not really a maze. Had it been called "munch man" it would have been scrutinized less I think, but the public was expecting pac man and that is where the public was disappointed.

 

By 1982 Pac Man was a mainstream phenomenon. It wasn't just your popular video game that only die-hard arcade gamers knew about. It brought families with kids and females into the mall arcades and pinball halls that were usually the domains of male teenagers.

 

It deserved a first class treatment from Atari and didn't get it. I do feel for Todd, he did the best he could with the 2600 hardware/software limitations and the heavy pressure from quick buck Atari and Warner executives who wanted it finished ASAP. Besides the sound effects and missing fruit he could have least tried to make the maze as close as the arcade version like Ms Pac Man did. That was the biggest complaint I heard his version besides the sound effects, flickering ghosts and missing fruit.

Edited January 21, 2015 by WildBillTX

[Bryan]

It deserved a first class treatment from Atari and didn't get it. I do feel for Todd, he did the best he could with the 2600 hardware/software limitations and the heavy pressure from quick buck Atari and Warner executives who wanted it finished ASAP. Besides the sound effects and missing fruit he could have least tried to make the maze as close as the arcade version like Ms Pac Man did. That was the biggest complaint I heard his version besides the sound effects, flickering ghosts and missing fruit.

Don't feel bad for Todd. He was smart and made a fortune on it.

[Retro Rogue]

It deserved a first class treatment from Atari and didn't get it. I do feel for Todd, he did the best he could with the 2600 hardware/software limitations and the heavy pressure from quick buck Atari and Warner executives who wanted it finished ASAP. Besides the sound effects and missing fruit he could have least tried to make the maze as close as the arcade version like Ms Pac Man did. That was the biggest complaint I heard his version besides the sound effects, flickering ghosts and missing fruit.

It wasn't done ASAP, he had the normal dev time. He couldn't do anything more graphics wise given the system's limitations vs. the project specs (it needing to be a 2-player game with only a 4K ROM). Likewise the ghosts flickered on purpose.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Retro Rogue

[Goochman]

It wasn't done ASAP, he had the normal dev time. He couldn't do anything more graphics wise given the system's limitations vs. the project specs (it needing to be a 2-player game with only a 4K ROM). Likewise the ghosts flickered on purpose.

 

Simple things like a black background and the bonus item being something other than a block called a vitamin were inexcusable for such a hot title. I get the 4k 2 player restrictions but he blew it on alot of other levels.