Did you think Atari 2600 Pac-Man was bad when you first got it?

[socrates63]

I saved up my allowance for three months to buy the 2600 Pac-Man when it first came out. I think I was in fifth grade. I was extremely disappointed. I was expecting to see something that resembled the arcade version and this was nothing like it at all. 
 

It was going to be another three months before I could save enough money to buy my next game, so like it or not, I played it everyday for three months. I guess I enjoyed playing it as a kid, but that did not erase the day 1 disappointment. 
 

I appreciate 2600 Pac-Man now. It’s only disappointing when I think of it as a port of the arcade game. Clearly it’s not a port given how different it is to the arcade version. Thinking of it as an original game, the game is pretty good and fun. 

[nosweargamer]

I didn't play it on day one, but I was excited when I finally did. I actually really enjoyed it and thought the sounds were cool. When I got my 7800, I was eager to get a copy. I didn't hear about it's bad reputation until after 2000! So I blame Y2K. I also blame Y2K for E.T. bad rep....

[socrates63]

Y2K! Has it been twenty years?? It caused some serious anxiety back in the day. I was at Microsoft at the time and we were busy fixing up Windows so the world wouldn't explode on January 1.

I agree that ET's infamy is undeserved.

@nosweargamer you didn't react adversely to seeing a game that didn't remotely resemble its namesake arcade version? I'm guessing that by the time you played it, you already knew what it looked like?

[nosweargamer]

11 minutes ago, socrates63 said:

 

@nosweargamer you didn't react adversely to seeing a game that didn't remotely resemble its namesake arcade version? I'm guessing that by the time you played it, you already knew what it looked like?

I was pretty young when I first played it, so it could've been that I was really open minded about it. Or maybe sub-consciously I didn't expect 2600 games to look close to their arcade counterparts. Just look at Space Invaders and Donkey Kong. Both looked quite different from the arcade, but I enjoyed them on the 2600.

I think the color scheme really hindered Pac-Man. It was too jarring of a difference. If they made the maze lines blue and background black, it may have been better received. Just a thought.

[TrekMD]

1 hour ago, nosweargamer said:

I think the color scheme really hindered Pac-Man. It was too jarring of a difference. If they made the maze lines blue and background black, it may have been better received. Just a thought.

That is something the Nukey Shay hack fixes.  I really enjoy playing that hack because it just adds the missing arcade elements even if the maze is still the same.  I posted a video of it a few posts above this one. 

[nosweargamer]

55 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

That is something the Nukey Shay hack fixes.  I really enjoy playing that hack because it just adds the missing arcade elements even if the maze is still the same.  I posted a video of it a few posts above this one. 

Ah, nice! I think if that was how the original release was, it wouldn't be such a big deal today. After all, even though DK looks terrible in his game, and gets mocked for it, there isn't nearly the same amount of heat for that game. However, if they changed the colors of the background and girders too much, like they did in Pac-Man, maybe there'd be more complaining about what a terrible port it was.

[socrates63]

I never considered the color of the game before, but looking at that video of the Nukey Shay hack, it really changes the perception of the game. Different maze and sound but the colors really evoke the sense of the arcade Pac-Man 👍

[HDN]

I've always thought that maybe the color was a factor. Glad to see I'm not the only one.

 

 

 

 

[TrekMD]

The colors were always a factor to me.  That's why I like Nukey Shay's version so much.  It not only fixes the color issue but brings back the bonus items, etc.  I'm attaching it here in case anyone wants to try it out.

Pac-Man Atari 8K.bin

Edited August 15, 2020 by TrekMD

[HDN]

4 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

The color were always a factor to me.  That's why I like Nukey Shay's version so much.  It not only fixes the color issue but brings back the bonus items, etc.  I'm attaching it here in case anyone wants to try it out.

Pac-Man Atari 8K.bin 8 kB · 0 downloads

I've always played Pac-Man in B&W to look a bit more arcadey. Can't wait to load this one on the Wii!

[TrekMD]

Cool, enjoy this version!  If I want to play Atari Pac-Man, this is the version I play.  🙂

[HDN]

@TrekMD Just tried the rom today. It's impressive, but I think I like the original more. Something about it is just captivating. The ghosts are a little hard to see when they are blue but I don't know if that's my tv or not. Thanks for the ROM!

 

 

 

 

[TrekMD]

You're welcome.  It is indeed impressive. 🙂

I'm the opposite when it comes to Atari's Pac-Man.  I never played Atari's Pac-Man again once Ms. Pac-Man was released.  It wasn't until I saw Nukey Shay's hack that I gave it a spin again.  🙂

[HDN]

2 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

I'm the opposite when it comes to Atari's Pac-Man.  I never played Atari's Pac-Man again once Ms. Pac-Man was released. 

I can't deny Ms. Pac-Man is a better video game, but the original on VCS just has so much character that makes me want to come back to it. I can just play the arcade version of Ms. Pac-Man and get a very similar experience. Pac-Man in the arcade and at home on the 2600 are so radically different that there's a reason for me to play the 2600 game. That's what I love about old arcade ports. All the little differences between them.

[TrekMD]

15 minutes ago, HDN said:

That's what I love about old arcade ports. All the little differences between them.

I like that as well but, even then, I expected the game to at least have a semblance of the arcade.  I have quite a few different ports of Ms. Pac-Man (2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx, Genesis, NES...) and each of them has their own flavor.  I love that because it is the same game but with its own special character. 

[RickR]

I always thought it was ironic that Atari, the company that would sue anyone that made a game that even barely resembled Pac Man, released a port that barely resembled Pac Man. 

[HDN]

1 minute ago, TrekMD said:

I like that as well but, even then, I expected the game to at least have a semblance of the arcade. 

I can see that. I was raised in an era where the original was just as accessible on compilations as the 2600 version was on my wii emulator. I could see how you could have been disappointed back in the day if this was all you had. 

[TrekMD]

Ironic indeed!  Here they made a clone of the arcade Pac-Man but anything that remotely looked similar got them sue-happy!    LOL

[HDN]

40 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

Ironic indeed!  Here they made a clone of the arcade Pac-Man but anything that remotely looked similar got them sue-happy!    LOL

I need to get me an Odyssey 2 sometime. My dad used to own one back in the day. I'm on the waiting list at my local video game store. Gotta play me some KC Munchkin!

[TrekMD]

If you have a 7800, there's an excellent port of KC Munchkin for the system. 

 

[HDN]

49 minutes ago, TrekMD said:

If you have a 7800, there's an excellent port of KC Munchkin for the system. 

 

I need to get me a 7800 as well.

[socrates63]

All this Pac-Man talk got my juices going to play a few rounds. This game ain’t easy. 
 

By the way, my TV has geometry issues. Still waiting for the 240p Test Suite cartridge to arrive so I can calibrate it. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by socrates63

[Justin]

8 minutes ago, socrates63 said:

All this Pac-Man talk got my juices going to play a few rounds. This game ain’t easy. 

 

If you're going for a High Score, here is the score to beat:

 

[socrates63]

Thanks, Justin. I reached 5600 and change after I posted the photo. As I mentioned in my intro, I have no gaming skillz. I think I can reach the low 6000s, but 9131 gives perspective and a good target to shoot for. 

And I was even using my 4-way joystick 🕹️

Edited August 19, 2020 by socrates63

[HDN]

Thanks, @Justin. I typically play on mode 5 or 6, so it'll take a bit to adjust to the default mode again. According to my high score notebook I keep, my top score on default mode is 7088. I can do better than that.