Page 31 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #8

Originally programmed in 1983 by H.A.L. Labs under the name "Taxman," AtariSoft's Pac-Man on
Apple II is notable for featuring an exact layout of the arcade version's maze with the correct
number of dots. Still, there are some big differences. After winning Taxman's code in court, Atari
forgot to change a few things. Pac-Man and the ghosts are the wrong colors, the bonus fruit is the
size of a Buick, and sound effects are almost non-existent (a ticking sound occurs after Pac-Man
gobbles a dot). The current and high scores are also positioned to the left of the maze. This version is
distinctive for being the only Pac-Man port to support up to five alternating players (another feature
remaining from Taxman).

Pac-Man for the Commodore 64 looks and plays a lot like the Atari 5200 version, albeit with better
controls. The maze is the same, with a total of 256 dots to eat instead of the arcade original's 240,
due to the slight increase in the maze's width. You can select the difficulty before play and alternate
turns with a second player.

Pac-Man on PC is visually a step up from the Atari 5200 version, if only for the ghosts' animated
eyes, but the colors are off and there are 232 dots to eat instead of 240. The sound effects aren't
particularly pleasing, either.

AtariSoft's Pac-Man for the TI 99/4A is even more impressive looking than the Atari 5200 game, as
this version has the correct ghost colors as well as their white, animated eyes. The maze layout is the
same as the arcade version, though like the 5200 game, the expanded horizontal area results in a
few extra dots to chomp on. The only glaring issue, from a presentation standpoint, is the lack of
intermission screens. Unfortunately, the gameplay can't quite measure up to the quality of the
visuals, as movement is sluggish and the pacing feels off. Strange but true: the back of the box refers
to the ghosts as "goblins."

The VIC-20 version of Pac-Man features bold colors, but the maze is smaller (132 dots) and doesn't
appear in its correct aspect ratio. The ghosts, Pac-Man, and bonus fruit are huge in relation to the
maze's size, so this is not the version to play if you are claustrophobic.

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