Jump to content
IGNORED

Baby Pac-Man


PacManPlus

Recommended Posts

@PacManPlus - couple interesting finds from 365 of Pac:

 

a Pac-Man pinball game for the Famicon that had all Pac-Man references removed when it was brought over to the US as Rock 'N Ball for the NES:

 

 

 

a Pac-Jr. (not Jr. Pac-Man) game that was hidden in the Genesis game Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures:

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/30/2020 at 1:23 AM, Trebor said:

Someone took the ghost monster's from Justin De Lucia's 20130422 UKI hack and combined it with the maze from his 20130410 UKI hack, creating the "20140422" hack version seen in that video and evidently being sold in the eBay listing noted earlier.

Ow.. my head hurts regarding all those hacks and versions bearing the same name (which is particularly common when it comes to Pac-Man games, just like Namco wouldn't bother about name infringement). Over at the tracker, back in 2015-2016 someone played one of those Baby Pac-Man hacks for a total of 423 minutes, but I'd have no idea exactly which one it is.

 

Fortunately we've got a separate entry for Bob's homebrew game, first listed with actual gameplay in 2018 (development version) and up till now has been tracked for 2037 minutes, making it the 8th most played Atari 7800 game ever. Actually 4 of the top 8 are Pac-Man games, with Centipede, Mario Bros, Robotron:2084 and Asteroids wedging in between those.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

I finally had some 'spare' time to play B.P.M. last night.  I love ALL P.M. versions.  This one is hard for me for some reason.  I have yet to be able to clear the field.  The critters are just too darn fast for me.  The highest score I have obtained to date is about 24K.  What is the secret?  And, for some odd reason, I am not too swift with the pinball portion of the game.  I usually kill at pinball video games.  Love the graphics though.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, gilsaluki said:

I finally had some 'spare' time to play B.P.M. last night.  I love ALL P.M. versions.  This one is hard for me for some reason.  I have yet to be able to clear the field.  The critters are just too darn fast for me.  The highest score I have obtained to date is about 24K.  What is the secret?  And, for some odd reason, I am not too swift with the pinball portion of the game.  I usually kill at pinball video games.  Love the graphics though.  

 

Baby Pac-Man is known for being tough in the arcade, and the 7800 version definitely carries that over.  Two basic things to work on:

 

1) Learn how to group the ghosts.  It's possible to steer them based on your actions in a part of the maze that is nowhere near them - or right next to them.  Once you can keep them in as close to a single lump as possible, your chances of survival improve greatly.

 

2) Learn how the features on the pinball table affect the maze.  Obviously building up the number of energizers on the screen is going to be helpful, but so is keeping the tunnels to the pinball playfield open.  Check out this article on StrategyWiki for more in-depth info.

 

It's one with a definite learning curve, but once you get into the swing of it, it becomes a lot more fun.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The important things to remember is that it's a very unconventional Pac-Man game, and also a very unconventional pinball game.

 

The ghosts make frequent, sudden 180-degree turns. This makes them very dangerous to be near, but also makes them a bit slower at crossing the maze. You have to play very slowly and cautiously, and make extensive use of the tunnels to bait/group them on one side of the screen, while you grab some dots on the other side. In other words, you can't approach it like other Pac-Man games where you can make long runs gobbling up lots of dots - you have to carefully chip away at the playfield while keeping a safe distance from the unpredictable ghosts.

 

The pinball table has some strange shot angles, mostly because it's very short, and the flippers are mounted at such an unusual angle. Trying to make a straight shot for the blue drop target has an extremely high chance of draining, so don't do it unless you've got a really good reason to risk it. Go for lots of cross-table shots, like the loops or the yellow drop targets above the opposite flipper.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, sixersfan105 said:

Just came across these on Facebook Marketplace (not mine). Looks like they're from the side panels on the Baby Pac-Man arcade cabinets! Someone should buy them and put them up in their game room! 

 

 

122806270_3958270127521154_6333337436753122434_o.jpg

 

Originals, or repros?  If repros, who did the work and using what printing processes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, sixersfan105 said:

No idea. Maybe contact the seller on Facebook?

I don't use Facebook.

 

The reason I was asking the questions was to point out that there's sideart and then there's sideart.  Repros generally don't bother me, but poor-quality ones do.  And, the older NOS decals get, the less likely they are to apply correctly or stay in place once they are applied, though that can be dependent on both how they were stored as well as the processes used to make them.

 

Apologies for the knee-jerk arcade collecting habit reaction; it can be difficult to switch off at times ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/16/2020 at 10:42 PM, Bratwurst said:

Just about finished assembling a prototype controller for this game. I designed a pull knob to launch the ball in the pinball portions and have buttons on the side for flippers. The action buttons are duplicated at the top so this could be used for other 7800 games.

 

qb7Cped.jpglQlTFyr.jpg

 

 

I LOVE THIS!!!!

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/18/2020 at 6:56 AM, gilsaluki said:

Great advice.  Thanks.

Took all the advice, and watched my grandson play (he figured it out real quick) and now my highest score is a quarter-million or so points!  I am loving the game now.  Key: build up the power pills quickly as possible in the pinball mode. Go play pinball as soon as the south gates open. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, gilsaluki said:

Took all the advice, and watched my grandson play (he figured it out real quick) and now my highest score is a quarter-million or so points!  I am loving the game now.  Key: build up the power pills quickly as possible in the pinball mode. Go play pinball as soon as the south gates open. 

I am lucky to ever reach 2000 points. I only played this game about 25 times though..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally getting to play this on a CRT...  And it looks fantastic.

 

image.thumb.png.5328c33505ec4e9dd14d932f4048943a.png

 

Between the lighting in my office and the camera on my phone, the image on the screen isn't being done justice.  But, in the flesh, it's pretty damned astounding.  Nice job, Bob and company :)

Edited by x=usr(1536)
  • Like 8
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...