History Awesome / PacMan

** Taken UpToEleven in ''Championship Edition 2''. There will now be a maximum of 4 ghost trains, and by the time the ghost maximum (now '''60''') is reached and a Power Pellet is eaten, Pac-Man soars into the air and chomps every single ghost before returning to his starting point.

** UpToEleven in [[CompetitiveMultiplayer Pac-Man Vs.]] - when you're triumphing against real people, and not predictable AI opponents. [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard But then again, you could be the ghost...]]

** Taken UpToEleven in ''Championship Edition 2 Plus''' two player mode on [[UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Nintendo Switch]]. After going through a few pac dot collecting mazes along with a light blue Pac Man (A.I. or human), you're both treated to as many boss battles at the game's timer allows. In them, both Pac men have the ability to jump from one part of the boss zones to another collecting all the pac dots while avoiding the large pixelated ghost to reveal the power pill. Once you get the power pill, the boss turns blue and you can ''smack the large ghost boss over and over again until it explodes!''

* In a Meta example, while the Atari 2600 ''Pac-Man'' was such a messy port job, ''Ms. Pac-Man'' and ''Jr. Pac-Man'' were amazingly faithful games.

** The ending after beating one of the hardest levels of the game, Reactor Core. [[spoiler: Pac-Man warps to Mollusc right after he destroys the Artifact, landing on his feet instead of the usual face-plant on every level. He then uses a SlowLaser from the Artifact to defeat the stunned Mollusc and make the ghosts [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere dash from the scene]]]].

** Taken UpToEleven in ''Championship Edition 2 Plus''' two player mode on [[UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Nintendo Switch]]. After going through a few pac dot collecting mazes with light blue Pac Man (A.I. or human), you're both treated to as many boss battles at the game's timer allows. In them, both Pac men have the ability to jump from one part of the boss zones to another collecting all the pac dots while avoiding the large pixelated ghost to reveal the power pill. Once you get the power pill, the boss turns blue and you can ''smack the large ghost boss over and over again until it explodes!''

** It also got a Google Maps version in 2015. As a result of the level design being able to turn and bend in so many ways, the controls are sadly unresponsible and [[AlienGeometries you can't tell where you're going to come out once you wrap around the screen]], but it's still a clever fun idea.

* Even if the rest of the movie isn't very good, there's something to be said about the scene in ''Film/{{Pixels}}'' where Iwatani finally gets to meet a real Pac Man in person. Even if Iwatani was portrayed by an actor and that Pac Man was a villainous golem.
* Pac-Man managed to make the playable roster in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'' It was inevitable due to Creator/BandaiNamco helping develop the latest two installments, but arguably gaming's first big mascot getting to fight with a bucketload of video game all-stars certainly feels like an honor in and of itself.

* In one episode of the cartoon, Mezmaron tells the ghost monsters to steal an armored truck and its cargo. They eventually triumph in spite of being reduced to pairs of eyes. That moment of awesomeness isn't diminished by the fact it was a MeaninglessVillainVictory.
* The episode "The Day the Forest Disappeared" had Mezmaron finally uproot the Power Forest and start to rule over Pac-Land. When Pac-Man storms his castle and defeats the ghosts, Mezmaron gloats that he's wasting his time since he's finally succeeded. Pac-Man then reveals the Power Pellet trees are obedient and will listen to him, then commands them to find a new hiding spot, undoing Mezmaron's victory at the last second.

* In one episode of the cartoon, Mezmaron tells the ghost monsters to steal an armored truck and its cargo. They eventually triumph in spite of being reduced to pairs of eyes. That moment of awesomeness isn't diminished by the fact it was a MeaninglessVillainVictory.

* In ''Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX'', there are '''dozens''', if not hundreds of ghosts (actually a maximum of 30) following you at once in this game. The majority of them line up right behind you, waiting for you to mess up a turn so they can catch up to you. Did we mention the game is quite a bit faster-paced than other games in the series? When you finally come across a Power Pellet and get to eat '''every single one of those ghosts''' in rapid succession, it is the [[CatharsisFactor epitome of catharsis]], Many reviews gave special mention to it as well.
** It looks like ''Championship Edition 2'' took this UpToEleven. There will now be a maximum of 4 ghost trains, and by the time the ghost maximum (now 60) is reached and a Power Pellet is eaten, Pac-Man soars into the air and chomps every single ghost before returning to his starting point.

** The ending after beating one of the hardest levels of the game, Reactor Core. [[spoiler: Pac-Man warps to Mollusc right after he destroys the Artifact, landing on his feet instead of the usual face-plant on every level. He then uses a FrickinLaserBeam from the Artifact to defeat the stunned Mollusc and make the ghosts [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere dash from the scene]]]].

* Even if the rest of the movie isn't very good, there's something to be said about the scene in ''Pixels'' where Iwatani finally gets to meet a real Pac Man in person. Even if Iwatani was portrayed by an actor and that Pac Man was a villainous golem.

** And, of course, any time you eat all four ghosts in one go; a moment so iconic that it's featured in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E12IMarriedMarge a third-season episode]] of the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

* While ''Championship Edition 2'' is not the first ''Pac-Man'' game to have {{Boss Battle}}s, the presentation for these is amazing. When you enter a boss area, you see a brief cutscene of ghosts fusing together to form one big menacing pixel ghost with low-pitched growls, and the area kicks off with some very ominous BGM. The boss ghost looms in the background as you race to clear each board within its own time limit while collecting [[OneUp 1-ups]] along the way, no easy feat given that you're deprived of power pills and all ghosts on the board turn angry once the fruit spawns. This goes on for several boards until ''finally'' the power pill spawns for you to collect. \\

* In ''Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX'', there are '''dozens''', if not hundreds of ghosts following you at once in this game. The majority of them line up right behind you, waiting for you to mess up a turn so they can catch up to you. Did we mention the game is quite a bit faster-paced than other games in the series? When you finally come across a Power Pellet and get to eat '''every single one of those ghosts''' in rapid succession, it is the [[CatharsisFactor epitome of catharsis]], Many reviews gave special mention to it as well.

* Being so iconic that Google made a [[https://www.google.com/doodles/30th-anniversary-of-pac-man playable Doodle of it]] for its 30th anniversary is quite amazing. Bonus points for the fact that it's the very first Google Doodle to actually be a genuine game

* In ''Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX'', eating a line of ghosts is so satisfying that it was mentioned in most of the reviews in this game.

* In all incarnations: that magical moment when you manage to eat a power pellet ''just'' as you've been cornered by ghosts on both sides, and proceed to eat them both. Alternately, when you manage to time it so that you eat a Big Dot as a ghost is coming right at you, plowing right into it before it has a chance to turn and run.

* In all incarnations: that magical moment when you manage to eat a Big Dot ''just'' as you've been cornered by ghosts on both sides, and proceed to eat them both. Alternately, when you manage to time it so that you eat a Big Dot as a ghost is coming right at you, plowing right into it before it has a chance to turn and run.