Like a lot of other AtariSoft releases, these two versions of Ms. Pac-Man appear to be cut from the same cloth, with evidence of recycled code between the two. Thankfully neither version suffers from this. Graphics are nearly identical, as much as the underlying hardware allows. Game play is even more identical, right down to the same options (player and level select only) and the same quirks (things like the ghosts staying on screen when Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man "kiss" at the end of the first intermission). Unsurprisingly, sound is not similar at all, and yet this is actually where both versions are weakest. The remarkable audio talents of Atari's Apple developers are on full display here, and yet the sound, from the metallic chomps of Ms. Pac-Man's dot eating to the rumbling growl that plays when the ghosts turn blue, really is a little too much for the game. A more subtle approach to sound, like the kind used in Moon Patrol and Mario Bros., would have worked much better here. On the Commodore, everything is simply too high-pitched, turning the game's audio into a rather distracting screech.
Audio issues aside, both versions are good quality reproductions of the arcade game. While the Atari 8-bit version feels like the best among early 1980s computer releases, these two do not disappoint, especially when the volume is kept low.