Pac-Attack

Pac-Attack is a falling tile puzzle game, often compared to games such as Tetris and Columns. The player drops down formations of blocks and ghosts onto a vertical-oriented playfield, the objective being to score as many points possible before the pieces reach the top of the screen. Blocks can be cleared by matching them in horizontal rows that touch both ends of the playfield; however, ghosts can only be cleared by placing down a Pac-Man piece, which will eat any ghosts in his path. The direction that Pac-Man is facing will show which direction he will move — if he gets stuck in a spot with no ghosts left, Pac-Man disappears. Eating ghosts will cause a “fairy meter”, located at the left of the screen, to fill up — once the meter is full, a fairy piece will appear that clears any and all ghosts below it, which can be used to cause chain reactions.

Alongside a standard single-player mode, a multiplayer mode is also included that pits two players against each other, the objective being to clear as many pieces possible while also causing additional pieces to stack up on the opponent's side. Clearing out blocks or ghosts will cause additional pieces to fall on the other player's side, and once the blocks in a player's side stack to the top, the other is deemed the winner. The game also features a Puzzle Mode, where the player is to clear out each ghost in a pre-set level in as few moves as possible. This mode spans 100 levels, and completing one will give the player a password that can be used to start at that stage again.

Pac-Attack was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in October 1993. It is an adaptation of Namco's 1992 arcade game Cosmo Gang the Puzzle, released for arcades worldwide and the Super Famicom in Japan. The soundtrack was composed by Hiromi Shibano, while the cover art was designed by Greg Martin. To help promote the game's release, Namco hosted a contest in GameFan magazine where players could submit their scores to win prizes, the grand prize being a $500 gift certificate. Some European and Japanese releases were titled Pac-Panic.

The CD-i conversion features completely remade artwork. In 1998, the Genesis version was released for the PlayStation as part of the Japan-only compilation Namco Anthology 2, alongside a remake featuring fully redone graphics and music. A Game Boy Color conversion was bundled with the original Pac-Man in 1999, titled Pac-Man: Special Color Edition. The Genesis version is also included as an unlockable in the 2001 PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube compilation Namco Museum, alongside the arcade game Pac-Mania, and in the Game Boy Advance game Pac-Man Collection the same year.

Pac-Attack was met with a divided response from critics; while some praised its simplistic gameplay, colorful graphics, and unique usage of Pac-Man characters, others criticized its lack of replay value and inferior quality to other puzzle games available, notably Dr. Mario and Tetris. The Sega Genesis version has a 70% rating on aggregator site GameRankings, while the SNES version has a 66%.

Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that the Game Gear version was "the type of puzzle game designed for Game Gear" for its addictiveness and simplistic gameplay, while GamePro found the Genesis version's multiplayer to be the game's main selling point. GameFan was the most positive towards it in their review, favorably comparing it to Tetris for its addictiveness, multiplayer modes and interesting premise for a puzzle game. Sega Visions magazine liked the Game Gear's portability and interesting usage of the Pac-Man character, saying that it was "sure to keep you busy." In a 1998 retrospective review, AllGame stated that the Game Gear version's simplistic-yet-addictive gameplay, multiplayer mode and clever usage of the Pac-Man gameplay made Pac-Attack one of the best titles for the system.