Pac-Man Speed Bug?

[Tempest]

Does anyone know if the Pac-Man speed bug (where Pac-Man doesn't gain speed after each round unless he dies) is present in the 5200 port or if it's just in the 400/800 port?  What about the 5th Key bug where the ghosts won't turn back after eating a power pellet unless you eat them?  I'm trying to see which bugs are in the 400/800 version and which are in the 5200 version.

 

This may be a question for @PacManPlus

[PacManPlus]

Oh, yes.  It is in the 5200 version.  I remember pulling my hair out when working on the Hangly-Man / Pac-Man Plus hacks for the 5200 wondering what I did wrong when the player didn't speed up from 2nd Peach -> Apple.  Then I finally said to myself, "let me just try the original version and see if the same thing happens"...  and it did ?

 

[Tempest]

31 minutes ago, PacManPlus said:

Oh, yes.  It is in the 5200 version.  I remember pulling my hair out when working on the Hangly-Man / Pac-Man Plus hacks for the 5200 wondering what I did wrong when the player didn't speed up from 2nd Peach -> Apple.  Then I finally said to myself, "let me just try the original version and see if the same thing happens"...  and it did ?

 

Ok I found the first revision of 5200 Pac-Man where the ghosts don't revert back from flashing on the 5th key (neat!), but is that the only thing that changed in that revision?

 

I just want to be clear on the bugs:

 

Speed bug - All Versions (400, 5200 Rev 1, Rev 2)

Key Bug - 5200 Rev 1 only

Tunnel/Dot Bug - 5200 Rev 1 and 2

 

[PacManPlus]

That, I don't know.  I didn't even know they fixed the Key Bug.

 

Here's my fixed version: 

 

 

[Tempest]

3 minutes ago, PacManPlus said:

That, I don't know.  I didn't even know they fixed the Key Bug.

Yes, I guess there are two revisions of the 5200 version.  Why they didn't fix the speed bug is anyone's guess.  I even noticed this back in the day as a kid playing on my 400.  I always wondered why the game got so tough around the first apple then seemed to ease up a bit.

Pac-Man (rev1).bin Pac-Man (rev2).BIN

[Aking]

edited

Edited July 6, 2021 by Aking

[+darryl1970]

6 hours ago, PacManPlus said:

That, I don't know.  I didn't even know they fixed the Key Bug.

 

Here's my fixed version: 

 

 

This "bump" caused me to jump back to the "necro bump", from 2015. Man, am I late to the party!

 

Is this a commonly known bug? I used to do this all the time with my 5200. If not, here's #4. (I used the bug fix version above, wondering if it had already been caught!)

 

4. Monsters cycle vertically through the board.

 

Only Inky and Clyde can get stuck, because they regenerate off to the sides of the box. The monster needs to be exiting the box, right as the energizer wears off. Blinky and Pink regenerate in the center, so they clear the bar too soon. I used to make a game of this, and I'd try to get both monsters stuck in the center. I tried to demonstrate this, but I got ambushed!

 

Coincidentally, this has happened to me in the arcade too, but it's not the same reason. It is just a random thing that I saw in the arcade, and the monster is usually off to the side of the screen. Probably just a static shock or surge.

 

 

[+darryl1970]

6 hours ago, Tempest said:

Yes, I guess there are two revisions of the 5200 version.  Why they didn't fix the speed bug is anyone's guess.  I even noticed this back in the day as a kid playing on my 400.  I always wondered why the game got so tough around the first apple then seemed to ease up a bit.

Pac-Man (rev1).bin 16 kB · 3 downloads Pac-Man (rev2).BIN 16 kB · 3 downloads

I had no idea there were to revisions either. I wonder if there is any indicator on the outside of the cart.

[Tempest]

I believe the Pac-Man with the thin stripe on the cart for the name is the first revision and the thick stripe is the second version.  Not 100% sure though.