Squad Challenge - Pac-Man (Atari 2600)

[Sabertooth]

First go, 2491.

 

Atari Pac-Man is what it is. We all know that it could have been so much better for all of the reasons mentioned above. As I kid, I didn't much care. Had I been a little older at the time, it may have been more of a disappointment. As it was, I gratefully played the heck out of it. I also played on a B&W TV set so the colors didn't matter much to me.

 

[pizzabear]

2,231

 

 

Ha, not sure if I have it in me for more than the handful of attempts it took to get this score. I should probably plug in an actual joystick instead of the Sega pad. Lots of dumb control deaths. Blah. 

 

Stoked to participate in my first challenge on here, though. Nice scores, homies. 

Edited August 6, 2017 by pizzabear

[Starbuck66]

Think this will do it for me... spent more time frustrated that Pac Sloth wouldn't turn the corner no matter how many times I hit the direction I wanted to go.

 

[TrekMD]

Just played another round. A bit of an improvement over my previous score.

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by TrekMD

[Sabertooth]

Switched to B&W for a slight improvement: 2,619

 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I listened to Annihilator while playing Snap fits well with this as one of the last lines say, "you're a big disgrace. Don't want to see your face any more.". While I think that the game is OK I can't help but agree with most critics. When I seen and played this for the first time I already had the 5200 version...so I immediately compared it to this version mentally and really didn't like it. It actually made me thankful for what I did have that much more. The 8-bit version is not bad either but missed on ghost AI and lacks the intermissions. So, no, they are not the same.

Edited August 6, 2017 by kamakazi20012

[greenween]

Once I played the 5200 version I could never go back to this. I'm still trying tonight though.

[GRay Defender]

Here's my attempt.  BTW have you guys tried Nukey Shays Pac-Man 8K?

 

[TrekMD]

I just posted the binary in my post above with the picture of that version. 

[RickR]

Here's my attempt.  BTW have you guys tried Nukey Shays Pac-Man 8K?

 

IMG_20170806_064749876.jpg

 

 

I just posted the binary in my post above with the picture of that version. 

 

Yes, that Nukey Shay version is incredible.  Just goes to prove that with more effort and QA from Atari, they could have done something much more accurate and memorable.  Huge thumbs up to Nukey Shay for this version.  And thank you guys for mentioning it. 

[Ballblaɀer]

5146

 

Can't see myself grinding too hard on this one.  There's only so much bamp-bamp-bamp-bamp-bampbamp-bamp-bamp-WEEEOOO-WEEEOOO-WEEEOOO a guy can take!

 

(Screwed up the audio, so I muted it. Was anything *really* lost, though? Change to 720p60 to fix the disappearing ghosts.)

 

I feel like I can play better.  But... do I want to?

Edited August 6, 2017 by Ballblaɀer

[GervGirl]

My first time joining finally!!! Yay! My first and second try. With my old joystick that still sticks at times lol Playing old school. I was reminded very quickly of the cramping in the hand playing this. I remember as a kid I use to think if I just played it all the time I would build up the muscles in my hand and it would eventually not hurt when I played. Yeah that never happened. Lol

[TrekMD]

Maybe we should consider redoing this using Nukey Shay's hack. 

[GervGirl]

First go, 2491.

Atari Pac-Man is what it is. We all know that it could have been so much better for all of the reasons mentioned above. As I kid, I didn't much care. Had I been a little older at the time, it may have been more of a disappointment. As it was, I gratefully played the heck out of it. I also played on a B&W TV set so the colors didn't matter much to me.

image.jpeg

I agree! I was very young when we got it and it was because of this game that I played all the time that made me love PAC-Man as a kid! I was so young that I played this first before the arcade one. In my mind I thought they made it that way to be harder so it was more of a challenge. Lol Was not till I got older that understood. I was just amazing to be able to play these kind of games at home back then!

[btbfilms76]

Yeah we can play a perfect version of Pac Man today, we can say all the things that are wrong with it, but remember this and Space Invaders cemented Atari in video game history. You could play Pac Man on the 2600 or KC Munchkin... All the big Arcade titles were on the 2600 first. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, and go get a t-shirt.

[Starbuck66]

Yeah we can play a perfect version of Pac Man today, we can say all the things that are wrong with it, but remember this and Space Invaders cemented Atari in video game history. You could play Pac Man on the 2600 or KC Munchkin... All the big Arcade titles were on the 2600 first. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, and go get a t-shirt.

https://youtu.be/IRLDPSYI19s

Can't argue with your points, but "enjoy" might be too strong of a word... maybe "endure"? :-)

 

Also can't argue with the participation and discussion with this title either; this is one of the more lively high score threads I've seen. Even if a lot of us are giving the game crap, it's not stopping people from participating.

[RickR]

Space Invaders was the bomb.  Like Asteroids, Missile Command, and others...it was close enough to the arcade version to be awesome.

 

Pac Man was not.  Yes, we all bought it and played it.  But it was embarrassing to show to friends.  ESPECIALLY those who had KC Munchkin.  We'd been ragging on their terrible Odyssey 2 for ages...and there they were showing us up with their illegal bad-boy game that kicked the pellets on our round pizza-based hero.

[Sabertooth]

I think that this is all I have in me: 6,113. I might try again next weekend.

 

Edited August 8, 2017 by atarilbc

[GervGirl]

I just want the T-shirt!!! ????

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Well...it's not the same but might work.

 

https://m.jcpenney.com/p/pac-man-byte-me-short-sleeve-tee/pp5006870386?pTmplType=regular

[btbfilms76]

Well...it's not the same but might work.

https://m.jcpenney.com/p/pac-man-byte-me-short-sleeve-tee/pp5006870386?pTmplType=regular

its not the same... but I want it.

[Justin]

 

PRO-TIP: 2600 Pac-Man is what it is. Try turning down the sound, put on some good music (or a podcast, a movie, whatever) and let yourself enter the Zone of Flow. It can be a lot more enjoyable and you can achieve some incredible scores.

[nosweargamer]

3762

 

You know what? I like this game! Yes, it isn't anywhere close to perfect (the controls could be better, colors could be better, collision detection issues could be fixed). However, I still have fun with the game. There are several games that do Pac-Man better than Pac-Man on the 2600 (Ms. Pac, Jr Pac & Aliens) and for me it's not a must have for the system (I have it currently ranked in the middle of my rankings with 65 games ranked higher). But that being said, I find it playable and a bit enjoyable. I also like the sounds effects and Vitamins , even though I'm sure a big part of that is nostalgia.

 

I know I'm in the minority, but I was happy to play this game for the challenge and, since it's the only legal way to own it (as far as I know), I don't plan on getting rid of my copy any time soon and can see myself playing it for fun every now and then.

 

PS - Despite the poor graphics, my 7 year old daughter, who doesn't always recognize game characters, was quick to ask if it was Pac-Man I was playing. So even a 7 year old can tell it's supposed to be Pac-Man!    - - - - 

[dauber]

You know...I've never, ever played game 1! I'll have to give this a try. (I never, ever disliked the 2600 version of Pac-Man, by the way, even when it first came out and despite knowing how different it was from the original.) I'll post video in case I roll the score...

[Justin]

You know...I've never, ever played game 1! I'll have to give this a try. (I never, ever disliked the 2600 version of Pac-Man, by the way, even when it first came out and despite knowing how different it was from the original.) I'll post video in case I roll the score...

 

That is eggggsactly the spirit in which this Squad Challenge was posted 

 

 

3762

 

You know what? I like this game! Yes, it isn't anywhere close to perfect (the controls could be better, colors could be better, collision detection issues could be fixed). However, I still have fun with the game. There are several games that do Pac-Man better than Pac-Man on the 2600 (Ms. Pac, Jr Pac & Aliens) and for me it's not a must have for the system (I have it currently ranked in the middle of my rankings with 65 games ranked higher). But that being said, I find it playable and a bit enjoyable. I also like the sounds effects and Vitamins , even though I'm sure a big part of that is nostalgia.

 

I know I'm in the minority, but I was happy to play this game for the challenge and, since it's the only legal way to own it (as far as I know), I don't plan on getting rid of my copy any time soon and can see myself playing it for fun every now and then.

 

PS - Despite the poor graphics, my 7 year old daughter, who doesn't always recognize game characters, was quick to ask if it was Pac-Man I was playing. So even a 7 year old can tell it's supposed to be Pac-Man!    - - - - 

 

Nice post Phil. This was a good time for me to go back and watch your review of the game in Ep. 34. 

 

I think you've got to be able to look at a game like Pac-Man and say “yes, it's flawed, yes it was a turning point at Atari" and still be able to recognize it's play value. There's play value in TI-85 calculator games. This is a game that millions of kids played for the first time on their Atari 2600 and somehow found enjoyment in, even if there was some disappointment too. Pac-Man's release on a home console was a historical event. I can't and won't try to explain what Tod Frye and Atari were thinking at the time. It's okay to not like it, it's earned its reputation. I can say that there are a lot of memories attached to this game. What many of these 2600 homebrewers have done with Pac-Man, even with 4k, has been astonishing. For the past 15 years we've had the luxury of living in a coddled world of new 2600 homebrews. That wasn't always the case. The intent of this Squad Challenge is like hiking into the woods on a camping trip, it's to remind us what it was like to "rough it" when this is all we had. Sometimes you have to experience these games to appreciate their context and everything that’s come since.