Pac-Land Is The Next Arcade Archives Game Coming To Switch

Truly, this was iconic enough to be the only PAC-MAN stage in Smash Ultimate.

Ah yes, that game based on that one Smash stage everybody loved.

Surely it the other way round that smash level based on the game everyone loved.

Classic game.

I want the 2 3D games from Gamecube era!!!

I used to love playing this in Arcades as a very wee boy

would be nice to see pac man 2 the new adventures pop up around again.

my family/friends loved the absolute crap out of that one despite how poorly it did. was always something new to just find.

@CupidStunt The music is drilled in my mind

Wow. Davy Ross’ Star Bar, I vividly remember eyeing up this machine when I was a very young little boy!

I know people crap on Pac-Land alot, but it gave alot of inspiration to Japanese game design, including Super Mario Bros.

@CupidStunt Me too. Many a happy day was spent shovelling 10p into this machine.

But will the upcoming Arcade Archives and Pac-Man Museum + versions have the Hanna-Barbera cartoon references?

@Nalverus if you have one, the game is available on the Wii U Virtual Console.

Another game that is just a piece of history.

At the time, Pac-Land was very innovative, it paved the way for Super Mario Bros., but now, the only reason to play it is for having a trip down memory lane.

Nice! This game is great and was the inspiration to turn Super Mario Bros into a similar platformer. I wonder if Hamster will include both the Western and Japanese ROMs in this release as they've done before? The Western version has Pacman looking the way he does in the 80s cartoon, whilst the Japanese ROM uses a version of PacMan that an artist at Namco made that fits the official art of the character.

Just remember kids, when you bounce off the spring board, you have to mash the jump button in order to clear the water or you will drop straight in the pond/lake!

As a kid, I loved this game, because it resembled the cartoon so much, and I loved the cartoon as a kid. As an adult, I curse this game. lol

I was contemplating what I would buy alongside House of the Dead. Now I have my answer.

Loved this back in the day in the arcades, and remember liking the cartoon as well.

It looks terrible and the music is horrendous.

@victordamazio

Opinions are like etc....
I still think its tight, and different enough from later stuff to be well worth a few quid. In fact, I'll be springing fir the JPN version later.

this is awesome!!! so many secrets in this game.

I'm gonna wait for the Pac-Man Museum collection (which this game is included) but if this is the only game you care about this is still a fine purchase.

@KayFiOS @Yosher lowkey yes, that stage represents what Smash Bros. truly is: total mayhem.

(When I play with my group of friends they never let me pick the stage since they know I ALWAYS choose PAC-LAND, lol)

Will be buying this as soon as it appears. Absolutely loved Pac-Land in the ‘80s. Crisp, flat colours like Mr. Men books throughout (except the gorgeous fairy garden). Great controls (and secret bonuses). Like how you can ride around on the ghosts’ car roofs. Couldn’t get near it in our local arcade at school lunchtimes - a giant heavy metal dude with a Motörhead jacket was always hogging it.

@Nalverus Which version, SNES with Ms. Pac-Man or Genesis with Pac Jr.?

Am I the only one that didn’t know where this Smash stage came from?

Edit/hint: I was born in the 70’s, so that should be not an age issue.

I have never played Pac-Land. I don't recall seeing it in the arcade, or the store. How is it?

@Kyloctopus Didn't Super Mario Bros release before Pac-Land?

@GrailUK
I think super released after pac land and regular mario bros (that one which was included with pretty much every GBA mario) was before it.

im not sure when NES pac land came out but that could have been the one released after mario

@GrailUK Pac-Land came out a year earlier in 1984.

@Mgalens Yeah you are right. I'm thinking of single screen Mario Bros. (I need a coffee)

@masterLEON Thanks. I'm tired.

@Luigivaldo Oh you're THAT guy, are you. XD

Pac Land was so colorful and captivating with its side-scrolling platforming back then - it looked so cool next to Joust and Kangaroo, Pole Position and Crystal Castles at our local roller rink. It took a few of my precious quarters, but they never lasted long!
I'm glad it's included on the Pac Man Museum next month.

But I feel like I've played Pac Land not too long ago on my Switch... Is it on the Namco Museum collection? Now I must research.

Edit:
No, I guess this will be the first instance of arcade version Pac Land on the Switch. I must just remember playing it on my old PS1 Namco Museum vol. 4.

@Nalverus While that was decent at best, the fact that it doesn't had mouse support for either the Super NES or Sega Genesis versions makes it feel awkward to play. For a Pac-Man game it's okay but as a point and click game it just falls flat, using a controller to play just doesn't work well.

If you're not familiar, get ready to destroy your controller.
Probably the only platformer ever made (I hope) with physical controls with NO directional input device. It uses button movement.

Even on the Famicom port.

@Teksetter I think the Famicom port of Pac-Land was included in the Namco Museum console collection.

@KingMike
Definitely played this with a joystick in the arcades - I have memories of the older kids doing some nudge thing which I couldn't get the hang of.

Maybe they made different versions.
I do remember watching a youtuber play a real PCB using his supergun adapter and you could just HEAR him frantically mashing his buttons to play the game. He didn't show his control box during the video, but I can't imagine him needing to pound his buttons that much just for jumping.

I have this on my Pacman 40th Anniversary arcade machine, great game.

This is a great game, very popular in UK arcades back in the day too.
I couldn’t never get past the swimming pool, it was only 20 years or so later that I found out you can press forward twice to run!

@YoshiAngemon i've played both but own the genesis ver

@Specter_of-the_OLED nobody would really disagree with how it handled but that didn't really stop any of us. Don't know anybody that had trouble using it but none of us would say it was ideal. The allure of "what does this do" was too strong xD

@KingMike
Yes, you’re right and I saw that I’ve actually never played the Famicom port! I must have just misremembered, and was thinking of the PS1 port or maybe just the Pac Land stage in Smash.

You’re right about the weird control scheme for Pac Land, too - using the buttons for walking makes the game way harder than it needed to be!

@HammerGalladeBro No. Because of the AtGames/GCC legal issues, Ms. Pac-Man has been edited into a different character

@Ooyah @Ooyah I loved the C64 version - one of the best home computer arcade conversions ever (even the character set looked like it came from the arcades). Only thing that annoyed me was you couldn’t ride on the ghost car roof like the arcade original (if you touched one you lost a life).

Oh boy, It's the Smash Stage that replaced the GOOD Pac-Man Stage from the 3DS.

Yeah, I will get this, or the collection. I also wish Nintendo had kept both Pac-Man stages in Ultimate.

Just bought Pac-Land and the controls have been implemented beautifully - you don’t have to mash the buttons (or stick) like in the arcade if you don’t want to, there are auto-fire options that allow for constant running and also a button can be assigned to toggle running/walking (should help extend the life of your Joy-Cons).