Puck-Man

Puck-Man

Console: Arcade
TV Standard: NTSC-J
Country: Japan
Developer(s): Namco
Publisher(s): Namco
Release Date: 1980-05-22
Players: 2
Co-op: No
ESRB: E - Everyone
Type: Action, Puzzle
Puck-Man clearlogo

The original Japanese version of Pac-Man. The player controls Puck-Man through a maze, eating Puck-dots (also called pellets). When all Puck-dots are eaten, Puck-Man is taken to the next stage. Between some stages one of three intermission animations plays. Four enemies (Akabei, Pinkī, Aosuke, and Guzuta) roam the maze, trying to catch Puck-Man. If an enemy touches Puck-Man, a life is lost and the Puck-Man itself withers and dies. When all lives have been lost, the game ends. Puck-Man is awarded a single bonus life at 10,000 points by default. Near the corners of the maze are four larger, flashing dots known as power pellets that provide Puck-Man with the temporary ability to eat the enemies. The enemies turn deep blue, reverse direction and usually move more slowly. When an enemy is eaten, its eyes remain and return to the center box where it is regenerated in its normal color. Blue enemies flash white to signal that they are about to become dangerous again and the length of time for which the enemies remain vulnerable varies from one stage to the next, generally becoming shorter as the game progresses. In later stages, the enemies go straight to flashing, bypassing blue, which means that they can only be eaten for a short amount of time, although they still reverse direction when a power pellet is eaten; in even later stages, the ghosts do not become edible (i.e., they do not change color and still make Puckman lose a life on contact), but they still reverse direction.