Pac-Man (NES)

Game Profile

Move Pac-Man through the maze, avoiding ghosts and eating all the Pac-Dots. Beware though, each of the ghosts behaves differently! When Pac-Man chomps a Power Pellet, he becomes invincible, and is able to eat the blue ghosts. The more ghosts Pac-Man eats in a row, the higher the score. Don’t forget to eat the bonus fruit, too!

Released in 1980, Pac-Man is the most well-known video game in the world. In 2005, “Pac-Man” was acknowledged as the “Most Successful Coin-Operated Game in History”. Enjoy this masterpiece of gaming history today!

Game Review

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Review

USA Fri, 13 Apr 2007 by Damien McFerran

Gobble gobble

He may be as old as the hills but Pac-Man still manages to entertain after all these years. I'd previously been relying on one of those Namco 'plug in' TV games for my pill-popping fix, but thanks to the Virtual Console I can now retire that..

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User Comments

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1. Baldasacoot United Kingdom 26 Feb 2007, 10:18 GMT

I've been wondering if proper 'Arcade Cabinet' games were going to arrive on VC at any point. These previews of 'Arcade conversions' as they're billed hint at this being a reality. Am I deluding myself, or will we be seeing ACTUAL arcade games on our Wiis very soon?

__paragoomba

2. paragoomba United Kingdom 07 Mar 2007, 18:22 GMT

i love pac man, i think i'll get it :D

__Don-Bon

3. Don-Bon United States 10 Mar 2007, 05:50 GMT

This game is almost as repetitive as Pong. But I'm still getting it!

BJ

4. BJ United States 11 Mar 2007, 18:48 GMT

Does anyone remember Pac Man 2: The New Adventures. I hope they port that game out.

__Fieron

5. Fieron Canada 13 Mar 2007, 05:46 GMT

BJ: oh yeah i remember PM2, it was hillarious X3

__Mark

6. Mark United States 15 Mar 2007, 12:50 GMT

I can see my mom coming over to my house a lot more often now.. THANKS PAC MAN!

__wooden ghosts

7. wooden ghosts United Kingdom 13 Apr 2007, 12:28 GMT

Good call Nintendo! If I didn't already have Pac-man Vs, I'd be all over this. (NB: Pac-man Vs = best party game EVER. Apart from Wii Sports)

Next please: Tetris. I've been playing quick bursts of VC games while cooking dinner (dashing between the kitchen and the living room) and Tetris would be perfect. I hear the NES version is good.

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8. Kelvin United Kingdom 13 Apr 2007, 13:21 GMT

You can find umpteen versions of Pac-Man online, some of which are playable on Wii (a lot require keyboard input), so this looks like a waste to me.

__Archie

9. Archie Canada 14 Apr 2007, 04:40 GMT

Would have preferred Ms. Pac-Man more... I still maintain that it's a better game overall. But I guess I can't be too fussy

__Manaman

10. Manaman United Kingdom 15 Apr 2007, 18:12 GMT

I never really cared for Pac Man and still don't. Ms Pac Man was more enjoyable in that there was at least some variation to the maze layout.

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11. Ian Daemon United States 02 May 2007, 22:15 GMT

How can you say the "sound is sparse" in this game? I have NEVER played a game with more sound effects. The incessant wakka-wakka-wakka noise is SO annoying after a minute or two of gameplay. Pac-Man is one game that definitely keeps you reaching for the mute button.

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12. Pocketim New Zealand 06 May 2007, 04:09 GMT

Do NOT get this game, the original pac-man sucks, If you want a decent pac-man game take a look at pac-mania, it has been remade many times (e.g pac-man collection on the gba, it also has three other games on it too).

Simbabbad

13. Simbabbad France 14 May 2007, 15:17 GMT

Actually you got it all wrong, it's Pac-Mania the lesser game, most gamers will tell you that :-)

__Mark

14. Mark United States 17 May 2007, 10:39 GMT

I will get this game under one condition: if it has a high-score table. Anyone know if it does?

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15. Masuyo United States 17 May 2007, 23:26 GMT

haha! My mom loves this game! We even have a table arcade machine of it (but I have the high score >:D).

BJ

16. BJ United States 19 May 2007, 16:16 GMT

Well, I'm buying this game for my dad because he's one of the grand champions of Pac Man.

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17. Chocobo United States 20 May 2007, 22:11 GMT

What a classic. You'd have to be some sort of ub3rn00b in order to not purchase this game. Sure you can play it online for free, but I want it permanently so that no internet is required to play it. Must have.

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18. SKTTR Germany 11 Jun 2007, 09:33 GMT

this is a classic, nothing else, but i still have this version on GBA (NES Classics) and like any of those old games, you should play it with friends and family to push the highscore. that's the main motivation.

BJ

19. BJ United States 29 Jun 2007, 16:46 GMT

Man, I want Pac Man 2, so badly. I hope it will come out. For those who never played it, get it! It may not be like other games of the series, but is definetly worth buying!

__Mii be you

20. Mii be you United States 01 Sep 2007, 05:34 GMT

I love this game, but the arcade version is better, only by a little, though. (I had a hard time rating this.)

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21. Ian Daemon United States 10 Sep 2007, 20:45 GMT

@ Le Bla ... "sparse - Occurring, growing, or settled at widely spaced intervals; not thick or dense." I see nothing about variety. "sparse - of few and scattered elements; especially : not thickly grown or settled" Again, nothing about variety, but amount seems to be important.

__tank2tank

22. tank2tank United Kingdom 27 Oct 2007, 23:12 GMT

The only reason why you should buy this is if you literally have NO access to another version of Pac-man ever. Cos really, there are so many hundreds of versions of it everywhere that paying for it is just a waste of money. I mean, I'm playing it right now, a flash version of it, for free. And its better than the NES version. So don't be a fool unless you have some kind of crazy need to play it on your Wii.

__bsg

23. bsg United States 06 Nov 2007, 12:16 GMT

the NES version of pac-man isn't the best. the first two stages are slow, and the sound fx aren't nearly as good as the arcade.

__fartbarker

24. fartbarker United States 07 Nov 2007, 10:55 GMT

I'm going to have to break down and buy the classic controller just for this, the wiimote blows here.

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25. Link O' Fett United States 20 Nov 2007, 18:20 GMT

Pac-Man is a classic, but just about every game already owns this game in about 5 different forms already! Still, for 500 points, good deal.

__thatweirdguyoverthere

26. thatweirdguyoverthere United States 13 Dec 2007, 01:01 GMT

I don't see how 500 point is a good deal, personally. Why pay $5 for a game that is basically the same thing over and over? It's fun for a while, but why fork up $5 when you can find it with that GBA Pac-Man deal... that was like one of the first games I got on the GBA.

learn japanese ds

27. learn japanese ds Canada 10 Jan 2008, 01:50 GMT

If this was 250 points the would have made more cash from this for sure.

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28. StarSoldier1 Canada 17 Jan 2008, 18:46 GMT

I wish they would release the NES or SNES versions of Ms. Pac Man which had a nice list of extras. Still Pac Man is still good for a fix.

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29. uncle smuck United Kingdom 01 Feb 2008, 19:07 GMT

A great blast after the pub. Simple yet effective. But don't expect to play it more than a few times.

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30. zelda freak United States 23 Feb 2008, 21:09 GMT

Pac-Man just never gets old.

BJ

31. BJ United States 07 Mar 2008, 13:51 GMT

Yeah, especially if you're an arcade fan.

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32. hackattack United States 28 Mar 2008, 23:40 GMT

this game is soooo boring

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33. Mario maniac Australia 31 Mar 2008, 06:29 GMT

I'm tempted to get this with my remaining 600 Points... but only because I had it when I was younger. I think YouTube videos will suffice for now. = /

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34. waldojeffershead United States 06 Apr 2008, 17:04 GMT

This game is solid, I have invested some time playing it. Pac Man deserves a solid 4 stars, Ms. Pac Man is my favorite and I know there will be a day when both Mr & Ms Pac Man grace my Wii menu, but still who doesn't need a little pac man in their life? You will be surprised how much you play this game.

-WALDO

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35. slangman United Kingdom 19 May 2008, 14:51 GMT

I wounder how many versions of this game have been released lol. :P

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36. Ricardo91 United States 03 Jul 2008, 03:13 GMT

I own 5 versions already lol. :P

Even though it's just one maze repeating endlessly, I love it!

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37. Mipsymoodle United States 14 Jul 2008, 18:17 GMT

Pac-Man, let's say best game of all time, not that its that great of a game, its just that i think it is the most popular gae of all time, nobody can really HATE pac-man

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38. Beau Skunk United States 06 Aug 2008, 04:59 GMT

An all-time classic. Some younger gamers who grew up with 3D, or those that prefer it's sequals (like Mrs. Pac Man, wich has more mazes) may disregard the title, but it's every bit as challenging, and fun as anything nowadays. It's old-school, challenging, and tests your choice & decision making skills.
Regardless of what system it's on, (exept mabey the inferior low-tech Atari ports) I never tire of the game.
Even gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Super Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, and Pikmin) states that Pac Man is his favorite video game.

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39. LordJamak United States 10 Aug 2008, 02:31 GMT

I don't know what's cooler. The fact that this is Pac-Man or the fact that this, the ONLY version of Pac-Man that was on the NES, was not even officially licensed by Nintendo. I had this back in the day and now have it in about 500 forms, but I might get this again. It's Pac-Man after all...

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40. Wooji United States 14 Aug 2008, 23:21 GMT

this is a great game to play when you are bored. Not much use other than that.

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41. Terranigma United Kingdom 23 Aug 2008, 16:12 GMT

I don't kno how many times i've played Pac-man and then come back to it months later. It's a classic but it won't keep you engaged for long.

To think, there is actually a Live action Movie being made. How the hell can you make a movie based on Pac-Man!?

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42. PuppetMasterKuruku United States 30 Aug 2008, 12:11 GMT

Oh, just get Pac-Man World 2. No, not for the actual game, heaven's no, it sucks.

Get the version for Gamecube that includes Pac-Man Vs. You'll only need to play the game for a few minutes to unlock arcade-perfect Pac-Man (unlocking Ms. Pac-Man is a whole other story, unfortunately...), and you'll be able to have a blast with three friends in Pac-Man Vs.

Can't really go wrong with that, but you can easily regret getting this Virtual Console game.

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43. Supermarioman United States 18 Sep 2008, 22:15 GMT

This is the most addictive arcade game and still is, i love it, 5 stars, played Mrs. Pac-Man when I was 6 and nearly beat evry level on the game...

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44. StarFox United States 10 Mar 2009, 19:41 GMT

You can get Pac-Man almost anywhere. Why bother downloading it?

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