5,503
edits
Pac-Man (universe): Difference between revisions
m
→Franchise description
mNo edit summary |
|||
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
The original ''Pac-Man'' is set in a static, neon-colored maze, where the wedge-shaped [[Pac-Man]] must traverse every corridor and lane at least once in order to eat every one of 244 dots 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, which will cost him a life. Each of the four ghosts has a unique way of targeting Pac-Man, giving them character beyond being simple enemies. Four of the dots in the maze are large, blinking [[Power Pellet]]s. When Pac-Man eats one of these, the ghosts temporarily turn blue and vulnerable, and will be briefly taken out of the game when Pac-Man collides with them in this state. | The original ''Pac-Man'' is set in a static, neon-colored maze, where the wedge-shaped [[Pac-Man]] must traverse every corridor and lane at least once in order to eat every one of 244 dots 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, which will cost him a life. Each of the four ghosts has a unique way of targeting Pac-Man, giving them character beyond being simple enemies. Four of the dots in the maze are large, blinking [[Power Pellet]]s. When Pac-Man eats one of these, the ghosts temporarily turn blue and vulnerable, and will be briefly taken out of the game when Pac-Man collides with them in this state. | ||
The point score — the ultimate objective of the game, like with many arcade games — increases with each dot that is eaten. The score can be further increased by eating the ghosts (with higher rewards for eating multiple ghosts in a row) or the [[Bonus Fruit | The point score — the ultimate objective of the game, like with many arcade games — increases with each dot that is eaten. The score can be further increased by eating the ghosts (with higher rewards for eating multiple ghosts in a row) or the [[Bonus Fruit]]s that appear at certain thresholds twice in each round. When a maze is cleared, the board will be reset, and the next round will begin. As the rounds continue, the ghosts become faster and more aggressive, the Power Pellet's duration becomes shorter, and higher-valued fruits appear. After round 20, the game reaches its maximum difficulty, and essentially continues endlessly until the player runs out of lives, or reaches level 256, the bugged "kill screen" which cannot be cleared. When all levels are cleared perfectly, the maximum possible score is 3,333,360 points. | ||
Despite its initially lukewarm reception in Japan, it is difficult to overstate the immense impact that the North American release of the game ''Pac-Man'' had. It quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point, grossing over $1 billion in quarters within a decade, and towards the end of the 20th century, the game's total gross in quarters had been estimated at more than 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion), making it the highest-grossing video game of all time. It established the maze chase game genre, and is also credited for laying the foundations for the stealth genre due to its emphasis on avoiding enemies rather than fighting them; ''Pac-Man'' is often cited as an inspiration for the original {{uv|Metal Gear}}. | Despite its initially lukewarm reception in Japan, it is difficult to overstate the immense impact that the North American release of the game ''Pac-Man'' had. It quickly became far more popular than anything seen in the game industry up to that point, grossing over $1 billion in quarters within a decade, and towards the end of the 20th century, the game's total gross in quarters had been estimated at more than 10 billion quarters ($2.5 billion), making it the highest-grossing video game of all time. It established the maze chase game genre, and is also credited for laying the foundations for the stealth genre due to its emphasis on avoiding enemies rather than fighting them; ''Pac-Man'' is often cited as an inspiration for the original {{uv|Metal Gear}}. | ||