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->''Computer games don't affect kids. If Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.''
--> Marcus Brigstocke

A well-known game developed by Namco (now NamcoBandai) from the TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, and one of the most popular games ever, ''Pac-Man'' was the first really successful MazeGame, and one of the first games to be popular with both sexes. It sparked a pop-culture phenomenon, and helped drive the early-1980s video game craze. Ironically, its [[PortingDisaster poorly implemented]] [[AtariTwentySixHundred Atari 2600]] port helped bring that craze [[TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 to an end]]. It also was the first video game to get an AnimatedAdaptation, with a reluctant Marty Ingels in the lead role.

The game depicts an abstract round yellow character vaguely reminiscent of a head with a mouth opening and closing [[ExtremeOmnivore to gobble up nearby objects]]. The player must steer the character around a maze and "eat" all of the dots and four special [[PowerUpFood power pellets]]. Four ghosts pursue the character, and their touch is fatal unless Pac-Man recently ate a power pellet.

The original game famously had no random number generator: The ghosts moved through the maze in a completely predictable pattern. It is said that the ghosts were given [[UndergroundMonkey different colors]] to enable the programmers to give each a different "personality" or movement pattern. Top players could develop and memorize specific patterns to clear levels without losing lives.

A sequel, ''[[TertiarySexualCharacteristics Ms.]] Pac-Man'', was even more popular than the original, and featured more complex mazes and randomized play. However, it wasn't actually an authorized sequel. It started life as a bootleg hack of the original ''Pac-Man'' called ''Crazy Otto'', which feature the player character as a Pac man head with legs. GCC, who created that hack, thought this game could be successful and brought the game to Midway, Namco's American distributor. Midway was impressed and, together with the hackers, edited the sprites back into Pac-Man–style sprites and released it without the permission of Namco because Midway wanted a ''Pac-Man'' game out while Namco was readying ''Pac-Man'''s true sequel, ''Super Pac-Man''. This made ''Ms. Pac-Man'' the most popular bootleg video game ever.

Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man were known for having lots of bootleg versions, many with altered mazes and graphics. They also had unofficial "speed-up kits" that, added to a legitimate machine, made the game faster and presumably harder.

The franchise continued through an endless array of sequels, including a pinball machine and lots of console adaptations. One of the most notable of these is ''Pac-Man Championship Edition'', released for the Xbox Live Arcade and iPhone -- notable because it is the only sequel to have been designed by Pac-Man's original creator, Tōru Iwatani. It is also a much faster, more intense game than the original Pac-Man, and was heralded as being "actually a videogame now" by several gaming sites.

Another notable sequel is Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. This game did away with the maze mechanic and was more like an adventure game, except instead of controlling Pac-Man you were an off-screen helper who suggested things to Pac (who had a mind of his own and was prone to moods which affected how he would respond), either by directing him to look in a general direction or by shooting things with a sling shot. You could also give him power pellets, of which you only had three but could find more around the levels. This game also included a full version of the original Pac-Man, and also either Ms. Pac-Man (SNES) or Pac-Man Jr. (Genesis). Pac-Man 2 was largely forgotten but still has a cult following.

Fun fact: it is one of the few games from the Golden Age to still make money in arcades in some form. ''Ms. Pac-Man'', ''{{Galaga}}'', and ''Pac-Man'' were released as a multiple game arcade machine in 2001, with Pac-Man being hidden or not depending on the version of the machine.

The game was originally released in Japan as "Puck-Man". It was changed for the North American release when marketing noticed how easy and tempting it would be to blot out a bit of the P to undesirably retitle the game. Either version of the name is based on the Japanese sound paku-paku for eating.

See also PacManFever.
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In 1982, {{Hanna-Barbera}} acquired the rights to produce a cartoon based on the game in America, as part of a 90-minute omnibus with ''TheLittleRascals'' and ''RichieRich''. Its characters are basically ''TheFlintstones'' and the plot is basically ''TheSmurfs''. Tropes from the cartoon include:
* BigBad: Mezmaron is the only human in Pac-Man's world. He wants to take over the Power Forest, and the ghosts work for him. It's never explained what he plans to do with all those power pellets. I doubt he can eat them; he has an air conditioner vent where his mouth should be. TheGargamel?
** As the lone recurring human character, he's our lone reference point for scale.
** Several episodes have Mezmaron mention that by taking over the Power Forest, he'll control all the "pac-power" in Pac-Land, and thus easily conquer the populace.
* CatsAreMean: The family cat, Sourpuss ([[IncrediblyLamePun seriously]]), would constantly try to play TomAndJerry-esque pranks on the dog, Chomp-Chomp. Of course, the cat would always [[HoistByHisOwnPetard fall victim to his own schemes]].
* ChristmasSpecial
* CanonForeigner: Mezmaron appears in the cartoon, but not in any of the games.
** Some have theorized that the Ghost Witch of Netor from [[PacMan2TheNewAdventures Pac-Man 2]] was an homage to Mezmaron.
* DeusExMachina: The power pellets.
* DistaffCounterpart: Sue and Ms. Pac-Man.
* TheDitz: Inky.
* FiveBadBand
* LimitedWardrobe: The ghost monsters were shown with a whole closet full of identical ghost suits to change into, after being chomped into floating eyes.
* NeverSayDie: Chomping isn't eating. Chomping a ghost turns them into floating eyes, just like in the game. Chomping Pac-Man turns him into a sad bean bag chair, though he gets better when fed power pellets.
* PowerUpFood: The power pellets, of course.
* PunnyName: Most of the landmarks, characters, etc. in the show had the word "Pac" or "chomp" in their names; for example, Pac-land's movie capital was "Pac-Hollywood", and Pac-Man's dog was named "Chomp-Chomp".
* PutABowOnHerHead: Ms. Pac-Man. One episode, "The Bionic Pac-Woman", even features Pac-Man disguising himself as Ms. Pac-Man to fool the master villain of the series, Mezmaron. Sue might fit this as well, being depicted with earrings and eyelashes, unlike the other ghost monsters.
* RecursiveAdaptation: A video game called Pac-Land was released, which was a side-scrolling platformer that was clearly based on the cartoon.
** Inky's lazy eye and Sue's purple cloak and [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics eyes]] survived into the design of the monsters in Pac-Mania. But Blinky retains his speed and aggressiveness, whereas in the cartoon he was an asthmatic coward.
*** In the ''Pac-Man World'' games, however, the cartoon is completely forgotten. There are only four ghosts, and Pinky is no longer male.
* SigilSpam: Expect the iconic "missing pizza slice" pac-shape to work its way into the design of the world. The sun, for example.

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