MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus

[mediamogul]

@gtbfilms

Some of the random elements are particularly tough to deal with, as it removes a bit of skill from the game that came from the player being able to plan a reaction to a known action. For example, in this game, I don't dare charge at a power pill while a ghost is moving towards it too close from the opposite side. For all I know, it'll be that ghost that doesn't turn vulnerable. I also take a quick mental snapshot of the board layout just in case the maze goes invisible. My main play strategy so far has been to clear out the incidentals first, the bonus items as they appear and then dash from power pill to power pill until the stage is cleared. So far my highest is 22380.

[youxia]

I had a little go yesterday and that reminded me about one thing: I don't really like those games where your character does not stop upon choosing movement direction. So, while I like PacMan, I don't really like playing PacMan (if you allow for such heresy :) Add to that the fact this game really is designed as if everybody in the studio was heavily into amphetamines - hyperactive and cranky.

In short, I guess I wanted to say I suck at Pac-Man Plus. Had ~7K score, don't think that will improve any further.

[mediamogul]

@youxia

It's a tough game and without a doubt the version of Pac-Man that I've always been the worst at. My only minor saving grace is the evasion practice I've got from playing lots of 'Jr. Pac-Man', my personal favorite variant. There the game play is a real challenge, due to the extra large mazes and lack of warp tunnels, forcing you to always be aware of escape routes between ghosts. However, I personally believe that it's still much easier than this. Here, the random elements just make things much more difficult and can easily snag a life or two in no time. The game does allow you to pass through ghosts at times, which is unique, but it's not really much of a help because you never know if and when it'll work. Still, the anticipation of the unknown does a good job of getting the adrenaline going and really makes for an exciting experience overall.

[GtBFilms]

@youxia said in MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus:

I don't really like those games where your character does not stop upon choosing movement direction.

That's interesting, I really like games which control like that. In PacMan it allows you to be pressing the direction for the next turn before you actually get to the turn. In my opinion it makes for a more 'fluid' play experience, once you get 'into the zone'.

A similar thing happens with the old ZX Spectrum game 'Chuckie Egg' - the character at first seems to slide about all over the place, but once you get used to it, you can use the feature to sort of glide around the levels.

I guess it's one of those features you either love or you hate!

The control mechanism I really hate is the 3D one where left and right TURNS your character, rather than actually moving them left or right, and you need to press forward to get them to actually move. When the character is facing towards the player, that messes with my brain. That and the flight ones where they have set the UP and DOWN the wrong way round!

[mediamogul]

@gtbfilms said in MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus:

The control mechanism I really hate is the 3D one where left and right TURNS your character, rather than actually moving them left or right, and you need to press forward to get them to actually move.

That is the worst. I've always been a big fan of 'The Evil Dead' horror/action/comedy film series and I couldn't believe my luck when the announced they were making a Playstation game based on it that even had Bruce Campbell doing the voice. I saved my money and waited for months for it to release. When it finally did, I was so disappointed to find it had that control scheme. I didn't get very far in the game then and I recently revisited it and I can't get very far now.

[Fruitybit]

@mediamogul That reminds me, must get A Fistful of Boomstick back out for the ps2:) Loved those games!

But back to Pac-Man plus, I’ll be having a go at this for sure!

[mediamogul]

@fruitybit said in MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus:

must get A Fistful of Boomstick back out for the ps2:) Loved those games!

In your opinion, was 'A Fistful of Boomstick' or 'Regeneration' any good? I never gave them a try after my experience with 'Hail to the King'.

[Fruitybit]

@mediamogul I did enjoy Fistful, but when I finally got my hands on it I was about to move to a ps3, so never completed it:( Hail to the King was a nightmare to play, I put it on my pi, but gave up before leaving the first room!!
If you can get Fistful, it’s a blast! Score?- A full two barrels from me.

[mediamogul]

@fruitybit said in MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus:

Score?- A full two barrels from me.

Ha, nice! I'll check it out.

[youxia]

@gtbfilms Funny, Chuckie Egg was one of my faves on the ZX and I don't remember it having this control scheme. Good excuse to dig it up tonight...

[AndersHP]

This game is insanely hard with fast ghosts, and “pinkie” being invulnerable to the big cheeses!!

...and playing it on a 8-way joystick setup doesn’t help.. damn! I won’t be contributing with much this week! :)

[mediamogul]

@andershp said in MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus:

...and playing it on a 8-way joystick setup doesn’t help.

As an experiment, you might want to try a special mapping for this. Instead of just mapping 'up' to 'up, 'down' to 'down'... etc, try mapping three of the most likely possibly inputs to each direction.

Player 1 up: up, left up, right up
Player 1 down: down, left down, right down
Player 1 left: left, up left, down left
Player 1 right: right, up right, down right

This should reduce two of the possible four incorrect positions for each desired direction. It's not a silver bullet solution like a plate restrictor or xboxdrv, but it could still make a pretty big difference.

Edit: Scratch all that. I don't know what I was thinking, but a map like that would only work with a hat switch.

[GtBFilms]

@youxia Chuckie Egg isn't quite the same, in that the character doesn't keep going when you let go of the direction button but it has the same sort of feel when you can press up (to go up a ladder) before you actually reach the ladder. And of course that works even when you are flying through the air. I'm not really explaining it very well but somehow it has a similar sort of fluidity to the movement as Pacman for me

[mediamogul]

I scored higher with 25690 in half the amount of levels by taking a more aggressive approach towards eating ghosts, but the trade-off was that I spent my lives more quickly. I love a good challenge, but I think I'm gonna leave my score here and get back to learning the ins and outs of Atari's puzzle game, 'Klax'. I've really been enjoying the beautifully detailed arcade original, but find myself playing the 2600 version a lot too. Turns out, it was the very last official 2600 title to be released. It's amazing to me that a genre largely associated with the 90s is represented on hardware that was born out of the 70s. I doubt any console will ever have that kind of staying power again.

[VictimRLSH]

Just tried playing Klax on the 2600, a very good port considering the console's crippling limitations. As for Pac-Man Plus, I can't even break 10K on that. :(

[mediamogul]

@victimrlsh said in MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus:

Just tried playing Klax on the 2600, a very good port considering the console's crippling limitations.

Yeah, it's extremely anemic, but it's unbelievable they were able to work in all the complex game mechanics and have them function accurately. Another newer generation game port that didn't fare nearly as well is the 2600 version of 'Double Dragon'. When people call out 'E.T.' as being the worst game ever made, I'm quick to point out that, while it's no prize-winner, it's not even the worst game on the system.

[Fruitybit]

@mediamogul Crikey- well played! Worthy of an Oasis Extra Life:)

[thelostsoul]

@mediamogul said:

It's amazing to me that a genre largely associated with the 90s is represented on hardware that was born out of the 70s. I doubt any console will ever have that kind of staying power again.

I couldn't resist to this. The NES Classic outselled all other consoles like Switch and PS4 last month (June 2018). I know, this is not exactly the same position as 2600, but still largely same games and hardware emulated. I don't want go into detail, as it is not relative to this topic (I should play Pac Man too...).

[youxia]

@thelostsoul Well, "last month" are the key words in this news item :)

[mediamogul]

@thelostsoul said in MAME ROW #97 - Pac-Man Plus:

I couldn't resist to this. The NES Classic outselled all other consoles like Switch and PS4 last month (June 2018).

The 2600 may have had the longest development lifespan, but I'd definitely say that counts as staying power too. A friend and I were talking about the Classic outselling the current consoles last night as we were driving to pick one up. It's a great achievement and really highlights just how popular retro-gaming has become. I saw on IGN that some people don't think it should be classified as a console and are angry that it's being included in the sales metrics. I imagine these are all current-gen gamers who's fundamental belief in reality was shaken by a 30 year old console outselling the modern contenders.