Professor Pac-Man

Last updated
Professor Pac-Man
Prof pacman flyer.png
1983 arcade flyer
Developer(s) Bally Midway
Publisher(s) Bally Midway
Programmer(s) Rick Frankel
Composer(s) Marc Canter
Series Pac-Man
Platform(s) Arcade
Release
  • NA: August 12, 1983
Genre(s) Quiz
Mode(s)2 players can play simultaneously
Arcade system Midway Astrocade

Professor Pac-Man is a quiz arcade game that was produced by Bally Midway and is the seventh title in the Pac-Man series of games, which was released in August 1983. It is also the last of only seven games from Bally Midway Manufacturing to run on their Midway Astrocade hardware. Only 400 cabinets were made; [1] many of these were returned to the manufacturer and converted to Pac-Land cabinets. [2]

Contents

Description

Designed to capitalize on the perceived quiz game niche, Professor Pac-Man presented simple visual puzzles, and required the players (or "pupils", as they are called by the game) to solve each within a short time limit. Despite the game's usage of Namco's popular Pac-Man character, Professor Pac-Man did not fare very well in the arcades, due to its slow pace and its abandonment of the famous maze-based gameplay that made the previous titles so popular. [3]

Gameplay

Screenshot Profpacman.png
Screenshot

The game is for one player or two (in a two-player game, the player who is the first to answer a question correctly receives its points) and consists of answering multiple-choice questions before the time runs out. The timer is the original Pac-Man, eating a row of pellets. The more pellets left when the players answer correctly, the higher the scores awarded. As the questions progress, Pac-Man eats the pellets more quickly. Bonus questions are awarded after a player answers between two and six questions correctly on his or her first try. The game ends when a player runs out of fruits (the game's equivalent of lives, which also serve as a difficulty indicator). Fruits are lost for a wrong answer on a regular question (but not a bonus question), and fruits can also be earned for answering a bonus question correctly (but not lost if answered wrong).

Midway had also originally planned to release three different versions of this game: Family (appropriate for all ages, but geared towards younger players), Public (appropriate for general audiences, but geared towards arcades and bars), and Prizes (for casinos). [2]

The game has more than 500 questions and supported the ability to load new questions, [4] but no new questions sets were ever released. [2]

Although most of the questions have nothing to do with Pac-Man, certain questions (asking: "How many left/right turns to the fruit?") show the original Pac-Man maze (with a regular wall in the place of the ghost regenerator) and a line of pellets leading to a fruit in the center, and another question (which first requires the player to study a city scene) asks "Where would you go to play Prof Pac-Man?", while others require the player to fill in the blank lower-right square of a 16-square grid, with four different fruits (or Pac-Men facing different directions) in each row. On the questions which first require the player to study table settings ("Which was the correct sequence?" or "How many plates were (shape)?"), fruits would appear on the plates and Pac-Man would move from right to left as he ate them, if they were answered correctly, and for the questions which first require the player to study the light-up keys on giant telephones of various colors ("Which number was dialed?"), the receiver would come off the telephone and Pac-Man would appear to speak into it (again, if they were answered correctly).

Development

The original idea for Professor Pac-Man came from world champion foosball player Johnny Lott and Ed Adlum, the publisher of RePlay . Their proposal involved traditional Pac-Man maze gameplay, with the player being prompted with a quiz question when eating a power-up. Midway accepted the proposal, and Dave Nutting Associates developed the game. However, maze gameplay was removed before release and Lott and Adlum were not notified. It failed to create much interest in the marketplace. [2]

The game was written by Rick Frankel, with graphics by Mark Steven Pierce and Sue Forner, and sound and music by Marc Canter.

Legacy

A Professor Pac-Man character appears in the Pac-Man World series. He looks similar to the character depicted in the Professor Pac-Man arcade game, except with the addition of a white mustache and a design closer to the official Pac-Man design. Despite Ms. Pac-Man and other characters being replaced in recent titles, Professor Pac-Man remains intact, implying he lacks any legal issues despite not being originally created by Namco.

Related Research Articles

<i>Pac-Man</i> 1980 video game created by Namco

Pac-Man, originally called Puck Man in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.

<i>Ms. Pac-Man</i> 1982 video game

Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade video game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is a spin-off sequel to Pac-Man (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's wife, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating the larger "power pellets" lets the player eat the ghosts, who turn blue and flee.

<i>Pac-Man Vs.</i> 2003 video game

Pac-Man Vs. is a 2003 maze video game developed by Nintendo and published by Namco for the GameCube. In the game, one player takes control of Pac-Man, who must eat all of the pellets in the maze, while the others control the ghosts to try to catch them. The objective is to be the first to reach a set number of points, selected before the game begins. The player controlling Pac-Man uses the Game Boy Advance to play, while the others use the television to control the ghosts. The game requires the GameCube - Game Boy Advance link cable in order to play.

<i>Pac-Man Plus</i> 1982 video game

Pac-Man Plus is an arcade game that was released by Bally Midway in 1983. It is part of the Pac-Man series of games.

<i>Jr. Pac-Man</i> 1983 video game

Jr. Pac-Man is an arcade video game developed by General Computer Corporation and released by Bally Midway on August 13, 1983. It has the same gameplay as prior entries in the series, but the maze in Jr. Pac-Man scrolls horizontally and has no escape tunnels. The bonus item which moves around the maze changes dots into a form which slows Jr. Pac-Man as they are being eaten.

<i>Pac-Land</i> 1984 video game

Pac-Land is a 1984 side-scrolling arcade platform game developed and released by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Bally Midway, and in Europe by Atari Games. Controlling Pac-Man, the player must make it to the end of each stage to return a lost fairy back to its home in Fairyland. Pac-Man will need to avoid obstacles, such as falling logs and water-spewing fire hydrants, alongside his enemies, the Ghost Gang. Eating large flashing Power Pellets will cause the ghosts to turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for points.

<i>Super Pac-Man</i> 1982 video game

Super Pac-Man is a 1982 maze chase arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Midway, and is Namco's take on a sequel to the original Pac-Man; Midway had previously released Ms. Pac-Man, which Namco had little involvement with. Toru Iwatani returns as designer.

1980 saw the release of a number of games with influential concepts, including Pac-Man, Battlezone, Crazy Climber, Mystery House, Missile Command, Phoenix, Rally-X, Space Panic, Stratovox, Zork, Adventure, and Olympic Decathlon. The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, while the best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch. The Atari VCS also grew in popularity with a port of Space Invaders and support from new third-party developer Activision.

<i>Rally-X</i> 1980 video game

Rally-X is a maze chase arcade video game developed in Japan and Germany by Namco and released in 1980. In North America, it was distributed by Midway Manufacturing and in Europe by Karateco. Players drive a blue Formula One race car through a multidirectional scrolling maze to collect yellow flags. Boulders block some paths and must be avoided. Red enemy cars pursue the player in an attempt to collide with them. Red cars can be temporarily stunned by laying down smoke screens at the cost of fuel. Rally-X is one of the first games with bonus stages and continuously-playing background music.

<i>Pac & Pal</i> 1983 video game

Pac & Pal is a 1983 maze chase arcade game developed and published by Namco. It is part of the company's Pac-Man series and the third to have been produced in-house. Players control Pac-Man as he must eat the items in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts that pursue him. Pac-Man is assisted by a green-colored creature named Miru, the titular "Pal", who brings the items back to the center box. Pac-Man can also collect power-ups that allow him to briefly stun the ghosts.

<i>Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2</i> 1996 video game

Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 is a 1996 compilation arcade game developed and published by Namco. It is a collection of four of Namco's popular games: Pac-Man (1980), Rally-X (1980), New Rally-X (1981) and Dig Dug (1982). Alongside the original games, three new "Arrangement" games based on each game are included.

<i>Pac-Mania</i> 1987 video game

Pac-Mania is a cavalier perspective maze game that was developed and released by Namco for arcades in 1987. In the game, the player controls Pac-Man as he must eat all of the dots while avoiding the colored ghosts that chase him in the maze. Eating large flashing "Power Pellets" will allow Pac-Man to eat the ghosts for bonus points, which lasts for a short period of time. A new feature to this game allows Pac-Man to jump over the ghosts to evade capture. It is the ninth title in the Pac-Man video game series and was the last one developed for arcades up until the release of Pac-Man Arrangement in 1996. Development was directed by Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani. It was licensed to Atari Games for release in North America.

<i>Pac-Man Championship Edition</i> 2007 video game

Pac-Man Championship Edition is a 2007 maze video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It has since appeared on several other platforms, including iOS, Android, and the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable as a PSP mini title available on the PlayStation Store. It is an HD reimagining of the original Pac-Man arcade game; players navigate Pac-Man through an enclosed maze, eating pellets and avoiding four ghosts that pursue him. Clearing an entire side of the maze of dots will cause a fruit item to appear, and eating it will cause a new maze to appear on the opposite side.

<i>Trog</i> (video game) 1990 Maze arcade game from Midway, later ported to NES and DOS

Trog is a maze arcade video game developed and published by Midway Manufacturing in 1990 in North America under the "Bally/Midway" label and later by Williams Electronics in Europe. In the game, players control one of four dinosaurs chased by the titular cavemen. Its gameplay includes elements of Pac-Man—collect all items in a maze, eat a special item to turn the tables on pursuers—but supports up to four players at once. Initially envisioned as a hybrid puzzle/strategy project, its original concept was later reworked into a Pac-Man-like title after poor reception from testers and features claymation graphics, advertised as "Playmation" by Midway. Conversions for the Nintendo Entertainment System and MS-DOS were released by Acclaim Entertainment in 1990 and 1991 respectively, reducing the number of simultaneous players to two. Both the arcade and NES versions garnered positive reception from critics.

<i>Pac-Man Battle Royale</i> 2011 video game

Pac-Man Battle Royale is a 2010 maze battle-royale arcade game in the Pac-Man series. Developed and published by Namco Bandai Games, it was made in celebration of Pac-Man's 30th Anniversary. The game sees up to four players control multi-colored Pac-Men as they try to compete to be the last Pac-Man standing.

<i>Worlds Biggest Pac-Man</i> 2011 video game

World's Biggest Pac-Man is a browser game created by Australian website designer Soap Creative along with Microsoft and Namco Bandai Games. It is a Pac-Man game which differed from the original by having multiple players play together in a series of user-created, customizable and interlocking mazes. The game was announced at the Microsoft MIX Developer Conference on 13 April 2011.

<i>Pac-Man Championship Edition 2</i> 2016 video game

Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is a maze arcade game in the Pac-Man series which was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on September 15, 2016; an updated version featuring an exclusive 2-player co-op mode, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus, was released for Nintendo Switch on February 22, 2018. It was developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, and is a direct sequel to Pac-Man Championship Edition, making it an indirect follow-up of Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+.

<i>Pac-Man 99</i> 2021 video game

Pac-Man 99 was a maze video game with battle royale elements developed by Arika and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the Nintendo Switch. It was released through the Nintendo Switch Online service on April 7, 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Ellis, David (2004). The official price guide to classic video games: console, arcade, and handheld games (1st ed.). New York: House of Collectibles. p. 401. ISBN   0375720383.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Terpstra, Arjan; Lapetino, Tim (2021). Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon (First ed.). London: Titan Books. p. 189. ISBN   1789099390.
  3. ↑ Buchanan, Levi (9 March 2009). "Off-Brand Pac-Man". IGN Retro. IGN. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  4. ↑ "The Rites of Spring". Video Games. Vol. 1, no. 10. July 1983. p. 49.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.