Jr. Pac-Man
Encyclopedia
Jr. Pac-Man is an arcade game
released in 1983 by Bally Midway
. It is based on Pac-Man
and its derivatives, but is not officially part of the Pac-Man series—along with Baby Pac-Man
, this game was created without the authorization of Namco
. This was one of the games that eventually led to the termination of the licensing agreement
between Namco and Midway.
The gameplay of Jr. Pac-Man is similar to that of its predecessors: The player controls the titular Jr. Pac-Man (who wears an animated propeller beanie
) and scores points by eating all of the dots in the maze. Four ghosts roam the maze and attempt to capture him. The player can eat an energizer to turn the ghosts blue, making them vulnerable for a short time and allowing the player to eat them, sending their eyes back to their home base. When all the dots are cleared, a new maze is presented and gameplay resumes.
Jr. Pac-Man contains some of the most significant differences to the Pac-Man
formula, both cosmetically and in terms of gameplay. The maze is now two times the width of the display, and a virtual camera pans left and right along the maze to follow Jr. Pac-Man, sometimes allowing the ghosts to be off-screen. A total of seven mazes appear throughout the game, most of which have six energizers instead of four, and none of which have tunnels that wrap around
from one side of the screen to the other. As in prior games, bonus prizes (such as tricycles, kites and balloons) appear in each level, starting in the center of the maze and bouncing around it as in Ms. Pac-Man
. As a prize encounters dots, it changes them into larger dots that are worth more points but also slow Jr. Pac-Man down more than usual. If a prize encounters an energizer, it self-destructs, taking the energizer with it.
This game also contains several purely cosmetic changes from Pac-Man: It features a lower-case anti-aliased
font
for scores and game text, and the orange ghost's name has changed from Clyde to Tim. The game's intermissions center around the developing relationship between Jr. Pac-Man and Yum-Yum (apparently the daughter of Blinky).
Like many games of its generation, Jr. Pac-Man has a kill screen
: Reaching the 146th screen causes the game to display an invisible maze with no dots, effectively ending the game.
console. Ports for the Atari 5200
and the Atari 8-bit computers
were finished in 1984, but were scrapped along with Super Pac-Man
when the home computing and game console divisions of Atari, Inc. were sold to Jack Tramiel
. The game was later ported to some home computers such as the Commodore 64 and the PC.
A homebrew
version for the 7800 was the subject of an April Fools' Day joke on the AtariAge forums in 2009.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
released in 1983 by Bally Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
. It is based on Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
and its derivatives, but is not officially part of the Pac-Man series—along with Baby Pac-Man
Baby Pac-Man
Baby Pac-Man is a hybrid arcade/pinball game produced by Bally Midway in 1982.- Description :The development of Baby Pac-Man was not authorized by Namco, rather, designed and released entirely by Bally-Midway, and along with Pac-Man Plus, Jr. Pac-Man, and Professor Pac-Man would eventually lead to...
, this game was created without the authorization of Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
. This was one of the games that eventually led to the termination of the licensing agreement
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
between Namco and Midway.
Gameplay
Beanie
A beanie is a head-hugging brimless cap with or without a visor that was once popular among school boys.-Description:In the United States of America, beanies are made by triangular sections of cloth joined by a button at the crown and seamed together around the sides.They can also be made from...
) and scores points by eating all of the dots in the maze. Four ghosts roam the maze and attempt to capture him. The player can eat an energizer to turn the ghosts blue, making them vulnerable for a short time and allowing the player to eat them, sending their eyes back to their home base. When all the dots are cleared, a new maze is presented and gameplay resumes.
Jr. Pac-Man contains some of the most significant differences to the Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
formula, both cosmetically and in terms of gameplay. The maze is now two times the width of the display, and a virtual camera pans left and right along the maze to follow Jr. Pac-Man, sometimes allowing the ghosts to be off-screen. A total of seven mazes appear throughout the game, most of which have six energizers instead of four, and none of which have tunnels that wrap around
Wraparound (Video Games)
Wraparound, in video games, is a gameplay variation on the single-screen in which space is finite but unbounded; objects leaving one side of the screen immediately reappear on the opposite side, maintaining speed and trajectory...
from one side of the screen to the other. As in prior games, bonus prizes (such as tricycles, kites and balloons) appear in each level, starting in the center of the maze and bouncing around it as in Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. 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 licensor Namco as an official title...
. As a prize encounters dots, it changes them into larger dots that are worth more points but also slow Jr. Pac-Man down more than usual. If a prize encounters an energizer, it self-destructs, taking the energizer with it.
This game also contains several purely cosmetic changes from Pac-Man: It features a lower-case anti-aliased
Anti-aliasing
In digital signal processing, spatial anti-aliasing is the technique of minimizing the distortion artifacts known as aliasing when representing a high-resolution image at a lower resolution...
font
Font
In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
for scores and game text, and the orange ghost's name has changed from Clyde to Tim. The game's intermissions center around the developing relationship between Jr. Pac-Man and Yum-Yum (apparently the daughter of Blinky).
Like many games of its generation, Jr. Pac-Man has a kill screen
Kill screen
A kill screen is a stage or level in a video game that stops the player's progress due to a programming error or design oversight. Rather than "ending" in a traditional sense, the game will crash, freeze, or behave so erratically that further play is impossible.Video games, like any other computer...
: Reaching the 146th screen causes the game to display an invisible maze with no dots, effectively ending the game.
Home Ports
Because of the somewhat limited popularity of the game, initially the only released port was for the Atari 2600Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
console. Ports for the Atari 5200
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, commonly known as the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600...
and the Atari 8-bit computers
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
were finished in 1984, but were scrapped along with Super Pac-Man
Super Pac-Man
, released in 1982 is the third installment of the Pac-Man series of arcade games and the second starring Pac-Man himself. It is also the second game to be created by series originator Namco, as Ms...
when the home computing and game console divisions of Atari, Inc. were sold to Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel
Jack Tramiel is an American businessman, best known for founding Commodore International - manufacturer of the Commodore PET, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore Amiga, and other Commodore models of home computers.-Biography:...
. The game was later ported to some home computers such as the Commodore 64 and the PC.
A homebrew
Homebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
version for the 7800 was the subject of an April Fools' Day joke on the AtariAge forums in 2009.