Pac-Man Geneology
Pac-Man, as a Namco mascot, has appeared in many different games
spanning many generations of hardware, both in the arcades and at home. By no
means is this a complete list.
1979 - Puck Man - Clear the maze of dots while avoiding the multi-colored
monsters!
1980 - Pac-Man - The hungry yellow "Man" comes to America and gets a new
name.
1982 - Ms. Pac-Man - Arguably the most popular video game sequel of all time, this one
introduces Pac-Man's girl, along with the idea of changing mazes and bonus
fruits that don't stay still. Ms. Pac-Man later became the star of other
games, listed in her entry.
1982 - Pac-Man Plus - A souped up edition of Pac-Man, featuring different bonuses
and a few other surprises.
1982 - Baby Pac-Man - A unique combination of video game and pinball
machine.
1982 - Super Pac-Man - Pac-Man gets hefty in this fast-paced sequel. The maze now has
areas that have to be unlocked, and new energizers which grant Pac-Man
invincibility (temporarily, of course).
1983 - Jr. Pac-Man - Another young edition to the Pac-Man family expands (literally) on
the ideas introduced in Ms. Pac-Man. Too big to fit on the screen, each
maze scrolls as Junior moves about. Also, the bonus treats can actually do
more harm than good if not eaten in time.
1983 - Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp - Also known as Pac & Pal, this little-seen sequel introduces a new character, either a pig named Chomp Chomp or a ghost named Miru
depending on the release, supposedly Pac-Man's friend but also a bit of a
handful. Game play required more strategy and memorization than previous
titles, which is probably the reason for the game's lack of
popularity.
1983 - Professor Pac-Man - A complete departure from the rest of the series, this game
requires players to solve visual puzzles rather than eat dots and avoid
ghosts.
1984 - Pac-Land - Abandoning the maze, Pac-Man stars in one of the first
side-scrolling platform games, a genre later popularized by the Super Mario
Bros. series.
1987 - Pac-Mania - Pac-Man gets the 3D treatment, sort of, in this game featuring a
three-quarters viewpoint (the same used in games like Marble Madness and
Paperboy). Pac-Man also gets the ability to jump, as well as bonus
treats that do more than just award extra points. But then there are two more
ghostly adversaries, who also know how to jump.
1993 - Pac-Attack - Pac-Man gets his own Tetris-like puzzle game.
1994 - Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures - This platformer is apparently meant to be the "proper" sequel to
Pac-Man, though really it has more in common with Pac-Land. The
home versions of this game have ways to play the original Pac-Man and
Ms. Pac-Man, and the Sega Genesis release even offers a new game called
Pac Jr., which is similar to, but not the same as, Jr.
Pac-Man.
1995 - Pac-in-Time - Another side-scrolling platformer.
1996 - Pac-Man Arrangement - In celebration of their pioneering video game titles, Namco went
back and "remixed" six of their more popular games, spicing them up with new
graphics, new sound effects and music, and new elements of
gameplay.
1999 - Pac-Man World - Pac-Man truly goes 3D this time in this adventure game. Two
sequels followed.
2000 - Pac-Man: Adventures in Time - Another 3D treatment that sends Pac-Man into new mazes based on
different periods of history.
2002 - Pac-Man Fever - Pac-Man joins several other Namco game characters (including Ms.
Pac-Man) in playing a video board game.
2005 - Pac 'n Roll - Pac-Man debuts on the Nintendo DS with this game that isn't
entirely unlike Marble Madness.
2006 - Pac-Man World Rally - It seems no video game character collection is complete without a
racing game, and this is Pac-Man's.