Nostalgic Game Design Focus - Pacmania
Source
So - how does one take a game as classic as 'Pac Man' and breathe new life into it?
'Pacmania' is one good answer to this question.
It also pains me to say that the Amiga port of the game is at least a little better overall. I'll be focussing upon the Atari version, of course.
Welcome. This is 'Nostalgic Game Design Focus' a series where I get to think back and comment upon games that I had played when I was much younger - mostly from a game-design perspective.
Title: Pacmania
Publishers: Namco
Developer: Namco
Composers: Yuriko Keino, Yoshito Tomuro & Junko Ozawa
Released: 1988
While 'Pacmania' certainly wasn't one of the earlier titles that I got my hands on - it was one of those games that I just kept going back to.
While I am sure that nobody reading this truly needs to have a 'Pac Man' game explained to them, I just found that the game made for such a pleasant replayable rush. That and I 'loved' the in-game tunes.
'Pac Man' is one of those games that may never entirely go away and I like to think that this is a good thing (and only wish that the same were true for more retro titles). Even Google launched an in-browser mini-game that is faithful to the origins of the game.
Source
So what is 'Pacmania'?
I would succinctly describe this game as a maze item-collecting gauntlet where one guides a circular yellow protagonist in collecting yellow pallets while (mostly) avoiding ghost antagonists.
That is the premise for just about every 'Pac Man' game in existence.
What makes 'Pacmania' special is that it goes about this age-old formula in a somewhat different way.
Source
So lets go over the differences in brief:
It is from a top-side isometric-like perspective rather than top-down.
The player can only see a portion of the game map at any time.
Several maps in various colour palettes.
Pac Man can jump!
Certain ghosts can too!
At the center of the map one can also find powerups!
These and fruit pickups are announced.
Excellent music!
The graphics are decent - A big step-up for a 'Pac Man' game.
Source
In terms of player abilities - the following sums it up:
You can walk.
You can jump (!).
You can collect pellets, power pellets fruits and power-ups.
When power pellet is in action - you can eat ghosts.
Source
Game Controls
As you would imagine, pulling the joystick in the respective direction will get Pacman to move in that direction. While it is uncertain whether the controls allow for 8-way movement, the maps only ever permit for 4-way movement - which is definitely fine for a 'Pac Man' game.
Pressing the 'fire' button would result in a jump. Now these jumps are incredibly handy as they really do a lot to help you get out of most jams where you are locked in by ghosts.
They do have their limitations though. For one thing you need to get familiar with timing your jumps right as 'while' it is possible to jump over two pellets, it is all too easy to miscalculate a jump and either grab that power pellet that you don't really need at the moment - or worse, you land on a ghost and lose a life.
That being said, you can also change directions while jumping - which can also be handy.
What was 'not' handy is that the game didn't feature a 'drop shadow' which made jumping in any direction that is not left or right a little more tricky than it needed to be.
Source
Of Powerups
For as far as I recall there are only a few power-up types that exist in the game. Fruit don't really count - though they do add nice points bonuses.
Power Pellets - These classic powerup are strategically placed at various extremities of a given level. When collected, all ghosts that were previously chasing you turn a pale blue and try to escape - at a slower pace.
The overall effect lasts for around 8 seconds and you get to munch through as many ghosts as you can reach in the meantime. Every time you do so the timer stops briefly, as do you (munching takes time I guess - those points are yummy!).
Source
When a ghost gets munched it becomes a disembodied pair of eyes that speeds back to ghost base near the center of the map - where it will get a new body to chase you down with. Interestingly these zooming eyes keep moving even while Pac Man is munching through other ghosts - which might have been an intentional nerf to this power - in which case I'm not sure that it was necessary.
When the effect is about to wear off, the ghosts begin to blink between pale and normal forms.
One thing that I love about using these pellets is that 'Pacmania will actually switch to another more subdued tune actively playing at the precise same point that it is replaced! That is a very nic touch on Namco's part and it also helps explain why the game had three composers. Hmmm.
While on the subject, it was also great howthe game would take the sound of Pacman dying and really roll it into the beginnning of the each level's song.
Its like "Oh-my-gawd-I'm-dead-Lets-try-again!" and I love it.
Source
Red Power Pellet - These can cometimes show up at the center of the map instead of fruit (or other kinds of food). These not only provided a 'Power Pellet'-like effect that last just 2 short seconds - but it also increases points for ghosts munched for the rest of the level.
Lime Power Pellet - I 'think' they're close to the same colour as Power Pellets except that they show up at the center of the map. My personal favourite, these allow you to move at a much faster speed. Likewise, it also helps you to jump much further. Naturally, combining this with a 'Power Pellet' can be lots of fun - for nobody except Pac Man. ;c)
Source
Of Ghosts and Challenge
One cannot talk about a Pac Man game without talking about the ghost antagonists - and Pac Mania is no exception.
Within this game there are three ways to tell ghosts apart.
Their Colour - In the Atari port one finds red and green ghosts. Other ports include purple and grey. They still exist in the Atari port - but since the Atari game was designed with 16 colours (as compared to the 26 colour port that the Amiga enjoyed), I imagine that they decided to have several ghost types share the same colour.
Green ghosts, as you get far enough into the game, get to 'also' be able to jump.
Their Eyes - Fortunately for Atari users, ghosts with identical colors could still be told apart through their eyes.
Simply put, those with angry eyes were more dangerous than others.
Their Behaviors - While their colours and their eyes do already give a fairly good indication of what to expect - their behavior is the final factor by which they may be told apart.
Besides green ghosts being able to jump to some degree, a certain angry-eyed red ghost can move just a little bit faster than Pac Man. Another one (which I believe is the 'purple ghost' in other ports) is eventually also able to jump (and 'cannot' be jumped over).
Source
A Word on the Amiga Port
As mentioned earlier, it pains me to note the overall superiority of the Amiga port. There are a couple of things that I really think that the Atari port could have done without, or could have done better:
There was no need to waste almost half the screen mostly on static art - especialy in a game which traditionally shows players the whole game map. I deliberately include an Amiga screenshot earlier to illustrate this reason - and also to illustrate the second reason.
The colour palette of Amiga's port is simply better. This is strange as the Atari ST is definitely capable of more colours on screen - certainly sufficiently to give the Amiga more of a run for its money than this port suggests.
That being said, I'd contest the notion that the music of this Amiga's port sounds better - but perhaps this is a matter of taste.
Furthermore I'd go as far as to suggest that the AI of the Atari port is better overall (I certainly don't remember too many instances of multiple ghosts moving in precisely the same location while munching on them).
'shrugs'
Source
Speaking of AI
One thing that is pretty well done is the AI. One can really feel the difference betweenthe various kinds of ghosts - with the angry ghosts more likely to hound you for longer.
The AI of most ghosts tend to get fired off when they reach the various intersections. This means that jumoing over a ghost over a long stretch is better than doing so over a short one as it will simply take them longer to react.
The exception is the "purple" ghost - who seems to react far more often - which can be a real pain for Atari players.
Source
A Quick Word on Atmosphere
The graphics are alright, they don't particularly inspire - and perhaps this is due to the more limited 16 color limit dedicated to the game. The sound, on the other hand, is quite rich (although I don't particularly care for the Jungly Steps level tune).
This is a game that most people would find easy to get into. While its relative lack of variety of gameplay doesn't peg it as being suitable for 'days of fun', its certainly a fresh enough take on the game to provide minutes-to-hours of fun on a regular enough basis.
And this is one of the charms of retro games that easily fit onto 1.44 Megabyte disks. They offer a sweet byte of entertainment without latching upon your time too deeply. You can always return to it whenever you get an itch for that kind of game.
Ah... but now I am straying away from 'Pacmania' specifically. :c)
Source
To conclude, if you are a fan of 'Pac Man' games and you haven't played 'Pacmania' yet then its definitely worth a play. Its not a perfect game but it is an interesting game that is both relatively replayable and fun.
As per normal, here is a YouTube video produced by somebody else - which gives a fairly good feel for the game and how it plays.
Does it get any more classic and nostalgia-inducing than 'Pac Man'? I hope that you enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I did. :c) Do you have any comments or feedback? Do get in on the discussion down below!
Also, if you found this post interesting and would like to share this with your followers and friends then a resteem is always appreciated.
Sincerely,
Previous Post: GDC Update - Going Rogue with Stencyl!
 | This post has been upvoted and given the stamp of authenticity by @qurator. To join the quality content creators and receive daily upvotes click here for more info. |