Retro Weekend Rewind: Pac-Man
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| Pac-Man Arcade Game |
Pac-Man Arcade
The Pac-Man Arcade Game was developed by Namco and released in Japan in May 1980. In October, of that same year, the game was licensed and distributed by Midway in the United States. Once Pac-Man hit American shore’s the video
game and cultural landscapes were never the same.  |
| Pac-Man Arcade screen |
Pac-Man on Atari 2600
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| Pac-Man Atari 2600 Box |
In 1982, Atari released Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 game console. I remember getting my wood veneer Atari 2600 for Christmas, that came bundled with Combat and Pac-Man. It was like having the arcade game in my living room…with square pellets. The graphics weren’t as good or colorful as the arcade version, if you can imagine that, but it was still fun for a six year old who didn’t want to leave the house.
Pac-Man Caleco Mini-Arcade
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| Coleco Pac-Man Mini-Arcade |
In 1982, Coleco released a line of Mini-Arcade games that included Galaxian, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and (of course) Pac-Man! These were great, because they looked like smaller versions of the stand-up arcade games they are based on.
I have an Aunt who owned the Pac-Man and Donkey Kong Mini-Arcade games. One summer I spent a week at her house playing the Pac-Man game non-stop. Because of the ear piercing sound effects, that blared throughout the house that entire week, that dear sweet woman let me keep the game. I still have it to this day.
Pac-Man Fever
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| Pac-Man Fever Album Cover |
Way back in 1982, damn Pac-Man ruled that year, Bucker and Garcia released “Pac-Man Fever”. The song was the first track on their concept album, also titled “Pac-Man Fever”, that was all about classic arcade games. Other songs included “Froggy’s Lament (Frogger), Ode to a Centipede (Centipede), and Do the Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong), as well as others.
The song “Pac-Man Fever” was definitely the most popular off the album and became a top-ten hit, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. You couldn’t escape the song in the early 80s. Bucker & Garcia even performed it live on American Bandstand and Solid Gold. If you thought the video game’s own music was hard to ignore try getting this catchy tune out of your head after your first listen.
Pac-Man Cartoon
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| Pac-Man Family |
Hey, guess what happened in 1982? That’s right Pac-Man got his own Saturday Morning cartoon! The great Hanna-Barbera produced the Pac-Man cartoon and it ran for two season from 1982-1983. It aired on aired on Saturday mornings on ABC and was the first cartoon based on a video game.
The cartoon followed the adventures of Pac-Man, Mrs Pac-Man (Pepper Pac-Man) Pac-Baby, their dog Chomp-Chomp and their cat Sour Puss. The Pac-Man family had to deal with their old enemies the Ghost Monsters and their boss Mezmoran. Two holiday specials sprung from this show: The Pac-Man Halloween Special & Christmas Comes to Pacland.
Pac-Man Cereal
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| Pac-Man Cereal Box |
The sign of any great 80s icon is when it gets it’s own cereal and Pac-Man was no exception. In 1983 General Mills introduced Pac-Man Cereal and Saturday morning’s were not the same again!
Like all great cereals of the decade, this included crunchy sweetened corn puffs with marshmallow bits. Of course the marshmallows were shaped like Pac-Man, and the ghosts: Blinky, Pinky, Inky, & Clyde. To this day, when I think of this cereal I believe “I can do it, I can do the Pac-Man!”