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| Mini-MunchMan | |
|---|---|
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| Publisher(s) | Grandstand |
| Platform(s) | Handheld |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Maze |
Mini-MunchMan is a handheld electronic game that was released in 1981 in the UK by the manufacturer Grandstand. [1] The game is a rebadged version of Epoch-Man from Epoch. [2]
In some markets, such as Australia, the game was badged "Mini-Arcade". [3]
Capitalising on the then-contemporary success of Namco's Pac-Man , the game was released in the same year as Grandstand's larger Munchman game and in the same yellow colour scheme (Conversely, Epoch Man is white). Mini-Munchman, however, is a pocket-sized device that includes additional features, such as a real-time clock, alarm, and stopwatch. The manufacturer later spawned a larger LCD version with greater screen area called Pocket Pac-Man. [4]
The game employs a low consumption LCD-based screen, allowing for a small form factor design incorporating alkaline button power cells. The game requires two LR-44 or equivalent cells. In-game objects are displayed on fixed, immovable LCD elements. The main score display, which doubles up as a date/time and stopwatch display, consists of a three-and-a-half-digit display and an extra small digit for tenths of a second, or lives remaining.
The object of the game is to move the character around a maze, eat all the fruit, and avoid contact with ghosts. There are two humpback bridges containing fruit items over and underneath the bridge. Each successive level is faster, increasing difficulty. Each level has a fixed route the player can follow to ensure completion without losing a life. The game tracks the player's score, with a maximum possible score of 1,999. Once this has been exceeded, the score will display as HHH.
A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place.
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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.
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The Epoch Game Pocket Computer is a second-generation handheld game console released by Epoch Co. in Japan in 1984 for 12,800 Japanese yen. It is also known as Pokekon and was one of the very few truly handheld systems to be released in the early 1980s, preceding the Game Boy by 5 years.
A dedicated console is a video game console that is limited to one or more built-in video game or games, and is not equipped for additional games that are distributed via ROM cartridges, discs, downloads or other digital media. Dedicated consoles were very popular in the first generation of video game consoles until they were gradually replaced by second-generation video game consoles that use ROM cartridges.
LCD games are electronic games played on an LCD screen. Since the release of the Zelda Game & Watch game in August 1989, several LCD games based upon the theme of The Legend of Zelda have been licensed by Nintendo to be released for both Japanese and foreign markets. While Zelda was both developed and manufactured by Nintendo, later LCD games would only be licensed by Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda game watch is an LCD wristwatch game produced by Nelsonic as part of their Nelsonic Game Watch series, and Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce is an LCD fighting video game licensed by Nintendo and produced by Epoch Co. for the Barcode Battler II platform, and released only in Japan.
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.
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Astro Wars is an electronic table top game made in Great Britain in 1981 by Grandstand under licence from Epoch Co., who sold the game in Japan as Super Galaxian (スーパーギャラクシアン), and in the United States as Galaxy II. The game originally used a red logo on the housing; it was later switched to white.
Felix and the Fruit Monsters is a video game written by John Chaytor and released by Micro Power for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1983. A sequel to platformer Felix in the Factory, it is a maze game resembling Pac-Man, but with different gameplay.
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Grandstand is a video game console and electronic game manufacturer and distributor. It was based in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and was active in the 1970s and 1980s.
Munchman is a tabletop electronic game that was released under licence in 1981 in the UK by Grandstand. It is a rebadged version of the Tomy game known as Pac Man in the United States and Puck Man in Japan. The games are all based on Namco's Pac-Man arcade game and use a VFD screen.
Nelsonic Industries was an American electronics manufacturing and development company that operated from Long Island City, Queens, New York City in the early 1980s and throughout the 1990s when it was acquired by the watch-manufacturer, M.Z. Berger. Nelsonic produced numerous toy-themed wristwatches, often targeting younger audiences with likenesses of characters from popular franchises such as Barbie, the Ghostbusters, and Mario. Nelsonic became notable during the early mid-1980s for being the first electronics company in the United States to produce game-watches. For a period subsequent to its purchase by M.Z. Berger, Nelsonic operated as a subsidiary division of its parent company and game-watches were produced that bore the Nelsonic mark. This practice ended as M.Z. Berger shifted focus to more traditional and higher-end timepieces. Today the original Nelsonic Game Watch line has entered the secondary market and individual Game Watches have become highly sought-after collectibles that often fetch high prices on eBay and other online auction websites.
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