The team at Hamster continues to diligently release classics on a weekly basis for its Arcade Archives series, and the next to hit the eShop is a familiar name. This week's release (on 6th January) will be SUPER PAC-MAN, priced at $7.99 / €7,99.
The Super in the name is due to this being a sequel to the original arcade, and to be fair it's a cooler name than Pac-Man 2. Some of the details are below, with the press release going big on block capitals:
"SUPER PAC-MAN" is an action game released by NAMCO in 1982. It's an additional power-up to NAMCO's flagship title, "PAC-MAN"! Eat SUPER POWER PELLETS to become invincible and get a speed boost! Eat a POWER PELLET after that and become SUPER PAC-MAN to take out all the ghosts at once!
It'll have all of the usual Hamster benefits, but it's worth bearing in mind that this may not be the most economical way to play it on Switch. Last year Bandai Namco confirmed that PAC-MAN Museum+ will arrive on Switch early this year, featuring 14 games in the series (including this one).
Whatever option you choose it's nevertheless pleasing to see classics like this given renewed life on Nintendo's system.
Comments 36
Super Pac-Man...is not as interesting as Pac-Man.
wasn't there a Pac-Man Museum collection coming out at some point? I think I'd just wait for that, rather than getting any of them individually.
EDIT (whoops looks like the article mentions the museum too )
I haven't played this but I assume there's a reason Ms. Pac-Man is regarded as the better sequel to Pac-Man (even if it originated as a bootleg game).
I'd rather play the Hamster port than whatever Bandai Namco will release.
As an owner of a Super PacMan arcade cabinet I'll get this and pacman museum+. Such an underrated installment in the franchise. Unfortunate most can't come to grips with the speed button.
it's saddening to know that since At Games bought the royalty rights to Ms. Pac Man, Namco will NEVER allow it to be re-released on consoles again 😞
@CharlieGirl It's absurd in that everyone loses. Why buy the rights and then dry-dock the game? For those who don't know, Ms. Pac-Man is currently available as a standalone title on the PlayStation store. I think it's $3.99.
Wait what's the difference between this and regular Pac-Man? What's so super about it? Sorry but this is the first time I heard about Super Pac-Man.
@Burning_Spear It also makes a compelling case for MAME.
I've never played this and I'm not sure I'd ever heard of it until it now. It will be perfect for the Caravan mode leaderboards so I'll be buying it tomorrow for sure.
Play it when the Museum Collection comes out
@Burning_Spear: I agree.
Super Pac Man is more fun than people give it credit for.
Super Pac-man is awesome. Everybody just quickly disregard it because it is not Ms. Pac-man which is absurd.
With that said, I'll wait for the Museum. it's a better buy.
@CharlieGirl Then how were they able to release the Ms. Pac-Man Arcade1up cabinet that I still see in stores? I read they reached some kind of settlement in 2020, but the terms of it are unknown. Are we sure there's no chance of ever getting Ms. Pac-Man?
Apparently nobody ever saw Pac-Man's Final Smash. Will give this a try for sure, on both Arcade Archives and the upcoming Pac-Man Museum +.
I wish that Hamster could somehow strike a deal with Warner for those old Midway/Williams arcade games. I would love to have Tapper, Marble Madness, Timber, Rampage, Roadblasters, Gauntlet, and Arch Rivals!
I remember seeing this in an arcade and watching it. I 'wowed' when Pac-man grew massive and started eating everything hahaha. Fun game for sure.
I get people can't see the point of stand alone releases when there is a compilation due out, but I'm sure there will be folk that just want a specific game that's special for them. Not everyone are gaming addicts lol.*
*ofc I'm getting the museum lol.
@BanjoPickles God yes. Switch needs Midway and Atari arcades
@Not_Soos I think one company owns the name and the other owns the game. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. And so nothing gets released unless both parties agree. I would imagine it's not worth it for Bandai Namco to share revenue on a compilation release. Act would probably argue that Ms. Pac-Man would drive the majority of sales. It's probably easier to negotiate a royalty split for the 1-Up arcade machine.
@GrailUK
"*ofc I'm getting the museum lol."
"ofc"?
@Burning_Spear What if they sold Ms. Pac-Man as an Arcade Archives game or as DLC for Pac-Man Museum+? That way they would only be getting their split of the royalties.
@Mario500 OF Course (I'm guessing)
@CharlieGirl it’s on Xbox
@Mario500 short for of course...but this reply kinda defeats the object lol
This was supposed to be the big sequel to Pac-Man that was supposed to surpass the original, but the big sequel was Ms. Pac-Man instead, not made in Japan.
@Specter_of-the_OLED Watch a video to understand, it is similar in the sense that Pac-Man goes in a maze eating food, but aside from that, it has a lot of different mechanics, it's way different than the original, not bad, but it was so different that it was forgotten.
Ms. Pac-Man succeeded because it was more similar to the original.
It's a good game but expensive for $8.
@Specter_of-the_OLED
You try to get the fruit and stuff. Also, there are keys that you need to collect to open certain areas but there is a Super Pac-Man powerup which is a cool thing and the blockages don't matter and you can't get hurt from ghosts I think.
I hope Pac-Man Museum+ won't be like the old one. It was handled by a different developer than Namco Museum Virtual Arcade and the XBLA Ms. Pac-Man and it shows. They even had the bright idea of releasing a worse version of Ms. Pac-Man as DLC when better versions on XBLA and Steam exist.
@Burning_Spear yes and it was on the Xbox store as well for the same price. They are not holding it hostage like some people think.
@GrailUK
Yes! Oh, and I totally forgot Paperboy!
I liked Lady Bug and Mouse Trap much better than Super Pac-Man.
I was visiting someone's house and saw they had a full-size machine, I said "Wow Pac-Man!" But then was disappointed when I realized it was Super Pac-Man. I played a few games but it just doesn't have the magic.
@BanjoPickles uhhh and please don’t forget Defender , Joust, Wizard of War, Gorf, Robotron 2084, Hydro Thunder, Vindicators, Klax, Spy Hunter, Smash TV, Bubbles, Sinistar, Toobin, Satans Hollow, Mortal Kombat II & III, Xybots, NARC, Cyberball, Total Carnage, Xenophobe, Hard Drivin, Wacko, Super Off Road and San Francisco Rush!! 😁
@joey302
Man, what I wouldn’t give for a Switch release of the Midway Treasures trilogy!
@joey302 and while I’m dreaming, I’ll totally take a rerelease of Activision Classics as well!
@BanjoPickles oh hell yea would love to have the 2600 Activision collection on a current gen console! Good stuff! Lol
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