1983 · Port · General Computer Corporation (GCC) · Arcade

Ms. Pac-Man

Port

Ms. Pac-Man is a maze-chase game and follow-up to Pac-Man. The player guides Ms. Pac-Man through a series of maze layouts, eating dots and bonus fruit while avoiding four ghosts.

Released: 1 September 1983
Platforms: Apple II Apple IIGS Atari 2600 Atari 5200 Atari 7800 Atari Lynx Game Boy Game Boy Color Game Gear Master System NES SNES Sega Genesis VIC-20 Xbox 360 ZX Spectrum
Genres: Arcade
Developers: General Computer Corporation (GCC)
Publishers: Atari
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action
Languages: English

About

Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze video game developed by General Computer Corporation (GCC) and published by Midway Manufacturing for arcades. It is a sequel to Pac-Man (1980), and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's wife, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating the larger "power pellets" lets the player eat the ghosts, which turn blue and flee.

General Computer made the game as a modification kit for the original Pac-Man, titled Crazy Otto. , GCC was forced to present the project to Midway Manufacturing, the North American distributor of Pac-Man. Midway purchased the project and enlisted GCC to use the game as a basis for the sequel to Pac-Man. Multiple names were considered for the game, including Miss Pac-Man and Mrs.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The gameplay is very similar to that of Pac-Man. The player earns points by eating pellets and avoiding ghosts (contact with one causes Ms. Pac-Man to lose a life). Eating an energizer (or power pellet) causes the ghosts to turn blue, allowing them to be eaten for extra points.

Bonus fruits can be eaten for increasing point values, twice per round. As the rounds progress, the speed increases, and energizers generally lessen the duration of the ghosts' vulnerability, eventually stopping altogether.

Development

Ms. Pac-Man was originally conceived as an enhancement kit for Pac-Man called Crazy Otto, created by programmers at General Computer Corporation (GCC). While Crazy Otto was in development, GCC settled a lawsuit with Atari, Inc. over its Missile Command conversion kit Super Missile Attack. Part of the settlement terms barred GCC from selling conversion kits without consent from the original game manufacturer.

Rather than scrapping Crazy Otto entirely, the programmers chose to present the finished game to Midway, Namco's American distributor of Pac-Man. Midway was enthusiastic that such a game had come to their attention, as they were hoping to capitalize on the success of Pac-Man with a sequel. They bought the rights to Crazy Otto and worked with GCC and Namco to prepare the game for release. In the final development, the game's name and characters experienced multiple changes. Sprites, text and minor game elements were altered to better reflect the Pac-Man series.

Reception

In the United States, Ms. Pac-Man topped the monthly RePlay upright arcade cabinet charts for much of 1982, including most months between April and December. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man also topped the US RePlay cocktail arcade cabinet charts for 23 months, from February 1982 through 1983 up until February 1984.

It was listed as the highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 by Cash Box and the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA), whereas RePlay magazine listed Donkey Kong as the year's highest-grossing title. Cash Box later listed Ms. Pac-Man as one of the top two highest-grossing arcade games of 1983, along with Pole Position. It was later listed by AMOA as one of the top five highest-grossing arcade video games of 1984.