It’s time to take a power-pill or eat some ghosts. We look at the best Pac-Man titles of all time.
Which Pac-Man video game is your favorite, and why? Let’s hope that you are able to agree with these recommendations.
Let’s go!
Baby Pac-Man (1982 Arcade)
Baby Pac-Man may be one of most fascinating titles on our list of the top Pac-Man games. This arcade game is not like any other. Take a look at the machine and you’ll see!
Baby Pac-Man can be described as a combination video game and pinball machine. Players will begin in the same maze on screen. But there are some differences to the gameplay. Firstly, there are no power balls and secondly, there are two escape tunnels within the maze that point downwards.
You can activate pinball by going down one of the tunnels. Then you play to earn power stones to go back to the maze.
It was never portable to home consoles because of its hybrid nature. The same issues that every pinball machine faces, i.e. It required regular maintenance to keep the machine in working order.
Pac-Man 99 (Switch, 2021)
Others have attempted to extend the Battle Royale concepts to other genres due to the games’ success. Tetris 99 was a competitive Tetris game that allowed up to 99 players. The Switch saw the rise of Pac-Man and paved the way for another similar game.
It’s hugely addictive, nostalgic and yet entirely new. The best part? It’s free for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers!
Pac-Man Battle Royale (Arcade, 2010)
Despite its name, this game is not a Battle Royale as we know it. Pac-Man 99 is a battle-royal game, in terms that genre. ).
It’s obvious that many seaside arcades today are shells of what they used to be – filled with ticket-dispensing machines and rip-off claw machine.
There are still some traces of the arcade heyday, but there are also some reminders. The eye-catching Pac-Man Battle Royale, which has four players, is a game that absolutely must exist.
It uses the same basic Pac-Man formula. But, it’s not only ghosts that you need to worry about. Other players, who are called Pac-Men and come in different colors, also want to eat your Pac-Man. To win, be the last Pac-Man standing.
Pac-Man Battle Royale features an audiovisual style similar to that of the neon-and-EDM Pac-Man Championship Edition. It’s addictive. But once you play it a few more times, you’ll have pretty much seen the best of it.
It’s now on all the current platforms due to its inclusion in Pac-Man Museum Plus. It’s worth getting some friends together for!
Pac-Land (Arcade, 1984)
Bubble Bobble’s music for classic arcade games is my favorite. Pac-Land has a catchy, hard to ignore theme song that I think is the best.
Even though it’s the Pac-Man’s first platformer, this sideways scrolling platformer has more to offer that its catchy music. Pac-Land is an engaging and colorful journey that takes you beyond the usual mazes.
The cartoony and beautiful visuals are a direct match for the Hanna-Barbera Pac-Man animated series. They have also survived surprising well.
Pac-Land could be ported to nearly all 8-bit or 16-bit machines in the 80’s – successfully for most of them – and helped pave their way for games like Wonder Boy and Alex Kidd.
Pac-Man World (PS1, 99)
Pac-Man World is the 3D platform platform game which features Namco’s yellow character.
This 3D video game, released just in-time for Pac-Man’s twentieth anniversary, plays heavily on nostalgia. Pac-Man’s 20th-birthday party even becomes an integral part the game’s narrative!
Pac-Man World cleverly incorporates sound effects from original games – mechanics such as eating dots (power pellets) and fruit are also present.
There are also cameos by characters from other Namco video games. Plus, you can access the original Pac-Man Game via the main menu.
Ms. Pac-Man (Arcade, 1982)
Ms. Pac-Man, strangely enough, wasn’t a sequel to the original Pac-Man. She started life as Crazy Otto, an entirely unrelated called game.
It was originally made by General Computer Corporation as a Pac-Man Cabinet conversion kit. But, legal issues caused them to present Crazy Otto and Midway, North American distributors of Pac-Man.
Midway worked together with Namco’s former president to transform the original game into MS Pac-Man. Ms. Pac-Man features different maze layouts than the original Pac-Man. Ms. Pac-Man also has moving bonus fruit, new movement patterns and different color schemes.
Pac-Man Vs. GameCube. 2003
Pac-Man VS is the creation of Mario creator Shigeru Myamoto. It’s a genius concept. It was originally made possible by GameCube connectivity.
One player uses the Game Boy Advance connected to the GameCube through a link Cable to play a standard Pac-Man game. The twist is that three players can play as ghosts, trying to catch yellow guy.
Additionally, the ghosts cannot see the entire maze at once so they must work together to trap Pac-Man.
