Dear Father,
I have news from Mother: for a game series that pretty much peaked with its first instalment almost 40 years ago, Pac-Man somehow remains one of the most iconic video games characters of all time. Why? You can blame the iconic simplicity of the yellow fellow's design, the purity and brilliance of the original concept, and an early-80s marketing blitz which saw Pac-Man-branded products stacked high than Pac-Man himself after a power-pill binge.
Of course, success lures the jackals and the imitators, and Pac-Man might've had more imitators than any other character in gaming history. Here are but ten o'they things.
Yours in memorium,
Roly Pissman
I have news from Mother: for a game series that pretty much peaked with its first instalment almost 40 years ago, Pac-Man somehow remains one of the most iconic video games characters of all time. Why? You can blame the iconic simplicity of the yellow fellow's design, the purity and brilliance of the original concept, and an early-80s marketing blitz which saw Pac-Man-branded products stacked high than Pac-Man himself after a power-pill binge.
Of course, success lures the jackals and the imitators, and Pac-Man might've had more imitators than any other character in gaming history. Here are but ten o'they things.
Yours in memorium,
Roly Pissman
ALIEN (1982)
Few movies would seemingly lend themselves to being interpreted through the chicken-livered lens of the Pac-Man formula, but Ridley Scott's none-more-influential Alien would be low on the list of obvious candidates.
Nevertheless, this 1982 release for the Atari 2600 did indeed attempt to reinterpret the tense, sci-fi horror as a pill-gobbling maze game, with the iconic xenomorphs standing in for Pac-Man's ghosts, and alien "eggs" replacing the dots. It wasn't entirely a rip-off of Pac-Man, mind. A bonus round managed to steal from Frogger as well.
See also: the Dragon 32 version of My Dinner With Andre.
Nevertheless, this 1982 release for the Atari 2600 did indeed attempt to reinterpret the tense, sci-fi horror as a pill-gobbling maze game, with the iconic xenomorphs standing in for Pac-Man's ghosts, and alien "eggs" replacing the dots. It wasn't entirely a rip-off of Pac-Man, mind. A bonus round managed to steal from Frogger as well.
See also: the Dragon 32 version of My Dinner With Andre.
CATCHUM (1982)
Oddly, the title of this Pac-Man clone for the CP/M operating system for Kaypro computers - whatever they were - was stylised as CatChum, rather than the more obvious interpretation of "Catch'Em" - suggesting it was a game featuring a feline companion. Maybe it was. Who knows? Even more importantly: who cares?
Kaypro's machines were text-only, thus the player's character was depicted as a letter "C" - presumably standing for "cat", "chum", or "cervix".
Kaypro's machines were text-only, thus the player's character was depicted as a letter "C" - presumably standing for "cat", "chum", or "cervix".
FRISKY TOM (1981)
Not, strictly speaking, a Pac-Man clone, Frisky Tom was nevertheless inspired by it. The player assumed the role of the titular frisky fellow, who had to connect water pipes to fill a bath, while mice attempted to knock the pipes loose and pounce upon him (in a non-sexual way).
Successfully do the plumbing, and you would be treated to the image of an attractive lady amid some "bubbly suds" - presumably to encourage the player to produce some "bubbly suds" of their very own...
Successfully do the plumbing, and you would be treated to the image of an attractive lady amid some "bubbly suds" - presumably to encourage the player to produce some "bubbly suds" of their very own...
HUNGRY HORACE (1982)
The closest thing the ZX Spectrum ever got to a mascot of its own - at least until Miner Willy emerged from the ground into a life of alcohol dependence - Horace started out as a Pac-Man wannabe before ripping off assorted other games. The dish-eyed Q*Bert clone navigated a park, collecting food while avoiding the disembodied heads of the park keepers.
Have you ever eaten food off the ground in a park? If it's something you fancy doing, here's some advice: avoid the sausages.
You see... they're actually dog poo.
Have you ever eaten food off the ground in a park? If it's something you fancy doing, here's some advice: avoid the sausages.
You see... they're actually dog poo.
TAXMAN (1981)
A thoroughly blatant clone of Pac-Man for the Apple II, Taxman had the titular character avoiding ghosts while collecting "tax pellets". If there was a comedic subtext here about taxation and finance, then it was well buried. Interestingly, Atari successfully sued Taxman's creators H.A.L. for copyright infringement, then rebranded it as Pac-Man - before re-releasing it as an official Pac-Man title. Now THAT'S a tax pellet!
DEVIL WORLD (1984)
Get this: not even the great Shigeru Miyamoto was afraid of wearing his inspiration on his lumbus. Devil World was co-created by Miyamoto and his long-term collaborator Takashi Tezuka, with the player controlling a dragon who could breathe fire when equipped with a crucifix - to ward off the Devil's minions. One of the objectives - as well as consuming the requisite dots - was to collect Bibles; the most deadly of all the books.
This is the sort of game that, were they to release it today, would generate loads of opinion pieces written by the sort of person who wouldn't set foot in a church, but thinks it's an affront to their culture that nobody has released a game in which you have to collect copies of The Quran.
"Mhurrr mhurr... free speech blah blah...."
This is the sort of game that, were they to release it today, would generate loads of opinion pieces written by the sort of person who wouldn't set foot in a church, but thinks it's an affront to their culture that nobody has released a game in which you have to collect copies of The Quran.
"Mhurrr mhurr... free speech blah blah...."
ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES (1982)
Talking of The Quran, Sega also released its own Pac-Man clone, the thinly-veiled Ali Baba And The 40 Thieves. Though the gameplay was somewhat different to Pac-Man - here, the objective was to kill 40 thieves before they broke into your money room and stole your cash - Ali Baba was nonetheless depicted as a sort of yellow spherical guy. Just like in the famous Arabian fable!
SPECTRE (1982)
The Apple II's Spectre wasn't the first 3D maze game, but it was the first to effectively translate Pac-Man into a first-person perspective. Oddly, it offered a split-screen view, with the right-hand side offering a traditional Pac-Man maze. Also: the ghosts were here depicted as those big, Space Invaders-like ships from Tron. Not shown: somebody goading Disney to sue them.
DUNG BEETLES (1982)
Possibly the only game in history to feature the word "dung" in its title, Dung Beetles - another Apple II release - slightly flipped the Pac-Man formula on its head (or, rather, its anus), with the player's character leaving a trail of dung behind them which would be followed by the roaming dung beetles.
Also, the maze was far larger than the typical Pac-Man maze, and - oddly - the player's location was shown in a magnified square, making navigation particularly challenging. Perhaps sensing that basing a game around the consumption of bodily waste, it was subsequently rebranded to both Magneto Bugs and Bug Attack.
Also, the maze was far larger than the typical Pac-Man maze, and - oddly - the player's location was shown in a magnified square, making navigation particularly challenging. Perhaps sensing that basing a game around the consumption of bodily waste, it was subsequently rebranded to both Magneto Bugs and Bug Attack.
I'M SORRY (1985)
No, I'M sorry. Doubtlessly the most bizarre reinterpretation of Pac-Man model, Sega's I'm Sorry was a satirical arcade game starring Japan's then-Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, which featured him collecting gold bars. This hilarious activity occurred while attempting to avoid enemies including various Japanese celebrities, Carl Lewis, Michael Jackson, and Madonna (who can kill Tanaka by blowing kisses at him). Yes: just like it happened in real life!
RSS Feed
