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Pac-Man (universe): Difference between revisions
You could always put it on the page for Miis themselves, Erik
(Wrote the full Franchise Description section. (I don't know why the Miis never got their own universe symbol and identity, because I can't write a history for them as well because of that...)) |
Guybrush20X6 (talk | contribs) (You could always put it on the page for Miis themselves, Erik) |
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''Pac-Man'' became one of few games to have been consistently published for over three decades, with many remakes and sequels released on numerous platforms. This is not to mention the influx of unauthorized ''Pac-Man'' clones that took place soon after the original release, nor of the ill-fated port of the game for the Atari 2600 (which ironically was a contributing factor to the infamous 1983 video game crash in North America due to the debilitating technical limitations of the console). An American-produced derivative titled ''Ms. Pac-Man'' garnered a great deal of success of its own due to improvements over the original title, and despite its development happening without Namco's consent, Namco received the rights to the property and subsequently included the feminine take on ''Pac-Man'' in various ''Pac-Man'' compilations and ports. As the series progressed with continued releases that explored different genres, the iconic yellow wedge shape that ordinarily defined the title character onscreen was phased out for a design closer to his appearance on the promotional artwork printed on the arcade machines themselves - an abstract, spherical humanoid with rudimentary limbs and a massive face with a stick-like nose that varied in length between appearances. This was done in ''Pac-Land'' in part to tie in with a Hanna-Barbera animated series about Pac-Man that ran for two seasons in 1982 and 1983. | ''Pac-Man'' became one of few games to have been consistently published for over three decades, with many remakes and sequels released on numerous platforms. This is not to mention the influx of unauthorized ''Pac-Man'' clones that took place soon after the original release, nor of the ill-fated port of the game for the Atari 2600 (which ironically was a contributing factor to the infamous 1983 video game crash in North America due to the debilitating technical limitations of the console). An American-produced derivative titled ''Ms. Pac-Man'' garnered a great deal of success of its own due to improvements over the original title, and despite its development happening without Namco's consent, Namco received the rights to the property and subsequently included the feminine take on ''Pac-Man'' in various ''Pac-Man'' compilations and ports. As the series progressed with continued releases that explored different genres, the iconic yellow wedge shape that ordinarily defined the title character onscreen was phased out for a design closer to his appearance on the promotional artwork printed on the arcade machines themselves - an abstract, spherical humanoid with rudimentary limbs and a massive face with a stick-like nose that varied in length between appearances. This was done in ''Pac-Land'' in part to tie in with a Hanna-Barbera animated series about Pac-Man that ran for two seasons in 1982 and 1983. | ||
The steady stream of ''Pac-Man'' games was more-or-less halted for roughly six years after ''Pac-Mania'' for the arcades in 1987, before resuming on consoles with ''Pac-Attack'' in 1993. Through releases on a variety of competing platforms, including the PC, the formerly maze-based series explored genres as varied as puzzle, adventure, platformer, party, racing, and even pinball. It could be argued that ''Pac-Man'' as an IP was easily more relevant as a forerunner to modern video games than as a starring video game franchise, due to the tendency of modern ''Pac-Man'' games to cater to young child demographics and garner at-times-lukewarm reception, but Namco nonetheless honors the character as its company mascot, and introduced an updated design in the computer-animated series ''Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures'', which began airing in 2013. In an odd twist of fate, Pac-Man was involved both in another company's crossover fighting game - [[Capcom]]'s ''Street Fighter X Tekken'', wherein he was a playable character exclusively in PlayStation versions - and in a ''[[Mario (universe)|Mario]]'' game - as a playable racer in 2005's ''Mario Kart Arcade GP'', a racing arcade game developed jointly by Namco and Nintendo - before he was included for the first time as a playable fighter in Nintendo's [[Super Smash Bros. (universe)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series of crossover fighting games]] in 2014. This was also a joint Nintendo-Namco effort. | The steady stream of ''Pac-Man'' games was more-or-less halted for roughly six years after ''Pac-Mania'' for the arcades in 1987, before resuming on consoles with ''Pac-Attack'' in 1993. Through releases on a variety of competing platforms, including the PC, the formerly maze-based series explored genres as varied as puzzle, adventure, platformer, party, racing, and even pinball. It could be argued that ''Pac-Man'' as an IP was easily more relevant as a forerunner to modern video games than as a starring video game franchise, due to the tendency of modern ''Pac-Man'' games to cater to young child demographics and garner at-times-lukewarm reception, but Namco nonetheless honors the character as its company mascot, and introduced an updated design in the computer-animated series ''Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures'', which began airing in 2013. In an odd twist of fate, Pac-Man was involved both in another company's crossover fighting game - [[Capcom]]'s ''Street Fighter X Tekken'', wherein he was a playable character exclusively in PlayStation versions - and in a ''[[Mario (universe)|Mario]]'' game - as a playable racer in 2005's ''Mario Kart Arcade GP'', a racing arcade game developed jointly by Namco and Nintendo, along with it's sequels - before he was included for the first time as a playable fighter in Nintendo's [[Super Smash Bros. (universe)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series of crossover fighting games]] in 2014. This was also a joint Nintendo-Namco effort. | ||
The original ''Pac-Man'' is set in a static, colored maze, where the original wedge-shaped Pac-Man must traverse every corridor and lane at least once in order to eat every pellet distributed across the screen. Pac-Man is at constant risk from four differently-colored "ghosts" that roam the maze with the intention to collide into him, but whenever Pac-Man eats through all four of the larger Power Pellets in a maze, the ghosts temporarily turn vulnerable, and will be briefly taken out of the game when Pac-Man collides into a ghost in this state. There is essentially no end to the number of mazes Pac-Man can clear, and the point score - the ultimate objective of the game like with many arcade games - can be further increased by eating fruits that bounce through the stage occasionally. While elements of this classic formula have been referenced in later Pac-Man games based on different genres, games have since depicted Pac-Man in a colorful world not unlike ''Mario'' and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (universe)|Sonic]]''. | The original ''Pac-Man'' is set in a static, colored maze, where the original wedge-shaped Pac-Man must traverse every corridor and lane at least once in order to eat every pellet distributed across the screen. Pac-Man is at constant risk from four differently-colored "ghosts" that roam the maze with the intention to collide into him, but whenever Pac-Man eats through all four of the larger Power Pellets in a maze, the ghosts temporarily turn vulnerable, and will be briefly taken out of the game when Pac-Man collides into a ghost in this state. There is essentially no end to the number of mazes Pac-Man can clear, and the point score - the ultimate objective of the game like with many arcade games - can be further increased by eating fruits that bounce through the stage occasionally. While elements of this classic formula have been referenced in later Pac-Man games based on different genres, games have since depicted Pac-Man in a colorful world not unlike ''Mario'' and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (universe)|Sonic]]''. | ||