Would a decent Pac Man 256 port be possible on the 7800?

[+swlovinist]

Just curious if pac man 256 could be done well on the 7800. Thoughts?

 

 

Edited August 23, 2015 by swlovinist

[Andromeda Stardust]

Just curious if pac man 256 could be done well on the 7800. Thoughts?

 

 

Not with parallax scrolling...

 

May I ask why you think this title would be a good fit?

Edited August 23, 2015 by stardust4ever

[+swlovinist]

Not with parallax scrolling...

 

May I ask why you think this title would be a good fit?

 

I have been impressed with some of the amazing homebrews/conversions that have been made over the years. I know that the 7800 can handle alot of sprites on the screen at one time, but have not seen alot of isometric games. I am not a programmer, and did not know that parallax scrolling was a challenge for the system. I am more interested if the core game could be represented well in a conversion. Just wanted thoughts with the experts who know the systems capabilities better than me. Thats all.

Edited August 23, 2015 by swlovinist

[Andromeda Stardust]

Well truthfully, games like Zaxxon and Desert Falcon employ parallax scrolling. That is not the challenge here. The challenge would be fitting the full size maze in with only 160 pixels of horizontal resolution. The jaggy edges of the walls would also look pretty bad. I could see the game working in a standard vertical orientation however.

 

I also question the point of this game from a design perspective. I watched the video and it appears the glitch sprites overtake the maze slowly and it is more of a marathon to eat your way to the top which never arrives. This fundamentally changes the game mechanics in that the object is not to eat all of the pellets but to stay ahead of the scrolling glitches while either avoiding or consuming the ghosts via power pellets. Good for a score attack once in a while but I fail to see the point other than "let's see how we can remix the Pacman concept."

 

I would rather see something akin to Pacman championship edition ported over to classic platforms than this.

Edited August 23, 2015 by stardust4ever

[+swlovinist]

Well truthfully, games like Zaxxon and Desert Falcon employ parallax scrolling. That is not the challenge here. The challenge would be fitting the full size maze in with only 160 pixels of horizontal resolution. The jaggy edges of the walls would also look pretty bad. I could see the game working in a standard vertical orientation however.

 

I also question the point of this game from a design perspective. I watched the video and it appears the glitch sprites overtake the maze slowly and it is more of a marathon to eat your way to the top which never arrives. This fundamentally changes the game mechanics in that the object is not to eat all of the pellets but to stay ahead of the scrolling glitches while either avoiding or consuming the ghosts via power pellets. Good for a score attack once in a while but I fail to see the point other than "let's see how we can remix the Pacman concept."

 

I would rather see something akin to Pacman championship edition ported over to classic platforms than this.

 

I have recently played alot of Pac Man 256 and have to say that the game is alot of fun to play. While the game mechanics are different than the original, I feel that the game does not sway too far from its original roots to not be fun. I love the classics, but it is refreshing when something different comes along that still captures a classic game feel. I loved Pacman Championship edition and would love to see a version of that on the 7800 as well.

[Jaynz]

As a huge Pac-Man fan.. not even remotely interested in this title. It wouldn't be impossible to make, but I would much rather see that effort go to a more deserving game.

[Shawn]

Side scrolling like Jr. Pacman but without the ability to go back once the screen has shifted would be doable I think.

[+save2600]

Eww... too much screwing around with the original Pac-Man formula for me!!

 

Hate, hate, hate the look of that isometric scrolling maze. Championship Pac-Man OTOH (have it on a Roku box), is pretty cool. Reminds me of something you might see on the Jaguar. Pac-Man 2000, now you're talking.

[ZylonBane]

Well truthfully, games like Zaxxon and Desert Falcon employ parallax scrolling.

 

No, they don't. Both those games only have a single layer of scrolling.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

No, they don't. Both those games only have a single layer of scrolling.

sorry I used te wrng phrase. I meant to say isometric graphics ie games pitched at a 45 degree angle like 16-bit clasics SMRPG or Sonic 3D Blast. Or retro Zaxxon and Desert Falcon and Congo Bongo among others...

 

I think if 256 were ported to 7800, vertical scroll would feel more natural than horizontal.

[Feralstorm]

Seems like an interesting 'endless runner' Pacman concept. I think a 7800 version would work better on a traditional scrolling screen rather than the seemingly pointless eye-candy isometric design seen there.