MS. PAC-MAN

Screen "warp" tricks: Putting Ms. Pac-Man through a wall (by pushing UP+DOWN) is a neat effect, but there’s a better way to put that trick to work for you- as a screen warp!  Other neat things might appear such as a blue Ms. Pac-Man or a 5th monster!  On some screens you can exit this “mystery” warp tunnel and go back into the maze- this can be a good pause feature as well (see video). {Scott Stilphen}

Screen 1: Go to the upper-right corner and face up.  Press LEFT+RIGHT and hold them for a second.  Ms. Pac will go up and off the screen.  You won’t be able to see her, but if you keep moving around you’ll find the spot where your score counter will increase very quickly and you’ll “finish” the board.  Take time to experiment on this screen.

Screen 2: Go to the same corner and repeat the trick.

Screen 3: Again go up to the same corner, but face up one “lane” over- across from the power pill but still in the corner “box”.  Press UP+DOWN together and release quickly.  You should see a blue monster about half-way down the screen, vertically below where you were.  When you see this, the trick should be working.

Screen 4: Go left and up through long corridor next to tunnels.  Hold UP+DOWN until she clears the barrier and the upper wall.  A blue monster should appear in the corridor.  If the buttons are held too long, Ms. Pac will reappear on the bottom of the screen.  If you see the monster and nothing is happening, quickly press LEFT+RIGHT and then LEFT and it should work.

The PAL version contains some Vanguard graphics – specifically the player's ship and explosion graphics, as well as the “Continue?” text (pictures #1 and #2).  According to GCC programmer Mark S. Ackerman, game data tables were usually partially overwritten with data tables from other games, in an effort to save bytes.  {Dave Harvey, TV Gamer September 1984}

BUG: Some (all?) prototypes may have some problems running on an original “heavy” 6-switch VCS model.

 

  

 


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