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Chapter 15. Games
M
s
. Pac-Man
is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an
unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in
1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time,
leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licenser Namco as an official title.
This game introduces a female protagonist, new maze designs and
several minor gameplay changes over the original game.
START A GAME OF MS. PAC-MAN
1
On the home screen, press
Start
>
All Programs
>
More
>
Games
>
Ms. PAC-MAN
.
2
Start
New Game
.
3
Set Ms. PAC-MAN Option
: Number of Lives, Bonus Life at, Difficulty,
High Score, Sound.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of Ms. Pac-Man is largely identical to that of the original
Pac-Man. The player gathers points by eating dots and avoiding ghosts
(contact with one loses a life). Power-pellets or energizers change the
ghosts which reverse their course and can be eaten for bonus points
(200, 400, 800 and 1600 points if all 4 are eaten before they change
back to their normal colors). Fruit bonuses can be consumed for
increasing point values, twice per level. As the levels increase, the speed
and difficulty increase as well.
There are, however, some notable differences:
•
There are now six different mazes (four styles, with 5 colors) and
"filled-in" walls (compared with the original Pac-Man's hollow walls).
Each maze has two pairs of "warp tunnels" connecting the right
and left sides of the maze (except for the third maze design which
only has one set of tunnels). The maze is changed after each
intermission.
•
The ghosts have pseudo-random movement, which precludes the
use of pre-set movements (patterns) to beat each board.
•
Instead of appearing in the center of the maze, "fruits" enter the
maze through one of the warp tunnels and bounce around the ghost
pen. They eventually leave through another tunnel if not eaten. The
point values increase through the banana (5,000 pts), after which
fruit appears in a somewhat random pattern.
MS. PAC-MAN – DEMO
