Best Pac-Man Spinoffs & Clones

[racketboy]

Pac-Man Vs. is definitely my favorite spinoff, but I also enjoyed Pac-Man Arrangement and 3-Demon (DOS)

What you are your other favorite Pac-Man Spin-Offs or clones -- official or not...

[durkada]

Pac-Man Vs. is definitely my favorite spinoff, but I also enjoyed Pac-Man Arrangement and 3-Demon (DOS)

What you are your other favorite Pac-Man Spin-Offs or clones -- official or not...

Just to be an ass-hole, I'll have to say Ms. Pac-Man, especially with the speed-up hack. If memory serves, it began life not as a licensed game, but as Midway clone (who imported licensed the original Pacman). A little legal smack down later, and Namco owns the rights to the lady.

Anyway, I think Crush Roller fits the bill. I wasn't enthused by the arcade original,but the NGPC version is a little cart of sweetness.

Fantasy Zone: The Maze? Never had the pleasure of trying it, but supposedly not bad.

PacMan CE for the 360 is pretty damn good. Nah, its great.

[fastbilly1]

Hyper Pacman - best described as Pacman meets Bomberman

[aaron]

ms. pac-man

[Ivo]

Definitively check out Mad Mix. I think this is a decent remake (although I'm not 100% sure this is the same one I have)

http://espanol.softpicks.net/software/M ... -32736.htm

Other than that, my personal fave is Pacmania, the one with 3D perspective where you can jump (and catch green super-pellets that charge up your speed).


Durkada, why is the NGPC Crush Roller better than the arcade version?

Ivo.

[durkada]

Durkada, why is the NGPC Crush Roller better than the arcade version?

Ivo.

Crush Roller for the NGPC improves upon the original in virtually every aspect: sound, graphics, gameplay, variety.

The music and sound effects are more pleasing, most likely due to the more advanced hardware of the NGPC, but also because the developers had more memory to house the audio. Thus, you have better sound effects, and you have pleasing background music throughout. The original soundchip of the arcade, and the one song it played -- grating, at the least.

Graphically, despite the fact the NGPC is playing on a much smaller screen,I believe the resolution is equal to or higher than its predecessor. It certainly had, even with the limited pallet of the NGPC, more colors available. But what you will see are the many boards populated with thematicly cohesive graphics: jungle levels, snow levels, etc.

Gameplay: the original arcade is hard to begin with. I don't mind this, but nothing about it really draws me in. The NGPC has a gentler learning curve and varied paths of progress. Otherwise the core game is the same -- you paint the paths, avoid the things chasing you, and try to hammer whatever damn creature is making footprints on your fresh paint.

Variety: Well, as mentioned, there are several levels -- I can't say, off-hand, how many -- in the NGPC version. Each with its own unique graphical design and flourishes, along with a unique schmuck ruining your paint. The schmucks are achievements, I believe -- when you win a level and run over a schmuck, he becomes part of your gallery.

Monkeys: A monkey is one of the schmucks that will ruin your paint job. A monkey is also in the introductory graphic. Monekys rule.

[racketboy]

Here's the article we came up with:
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/microsof ... -offs.html

Didn't think it would end up being so long

Fastbilly1, if you want to add your pick, lemme know.

[GagaMan]

Wow, that's a meaty big list! Glad Arragement got in, I got hooked on that like no other Pac man game before has done on my GBA. Mind you, it doesn't look as though you've missed anything that's worth noting!

[fastbilly1]

Ill give you one once I get around to beating it. But now I want to build Pacman and ghost out of lego like in your marquee.

[Ivo]

I'd just like to encourage everyone to give a go at Pacz! (it is in the end of the list). You probably are posting to the thread or checking stuff from PCs, so you have all that you need to play it (its free). It's really high quality.

If anyone played it and didn't find it worth their time (to download and try), please post - I'd like to know why

Ivo.