Arcade Game: Ms. Pac-Man (1981 Midway) - jadeusgames.com

Arcade Game: Ms. Pac-Man (1981 Midway)

Old Classic Retro Gaming
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A very popular legendary maze game sequel to Pac-Man. The first proper sequel to Namco’s legendary pill eating maze game, players must once again run around a number of mazes, eating all of the pills that are scattered throughout. The ever-present ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Sue) return to hamper the player’s progress. The infamous ‘Power Pills’ are also present and correct, with four appearing in each maze.

For the first time in video-game history, the game’s lead character was female. Ms. Pac-Man is almost identical to the original character with two main differences; she wears a bow in her ‘hair’, and is also wearing lipstick.

Another change from the original is that the bonus fruit items are no longer static but now move randomly around the mazes.

Namco introduced a number of changes and enhancements over the original game. The first difference is in the main character. For the first time in video-game history, the game’s lead character was female. Ms. Pac-Man is almost identical to the original character with two main differences; she wears a bow in her ‘hair’, and is also wearing lipstick.

Another change from the original is that the bonus fruit items are no longer static but now move randomly around the mazes.

Ms Pac-Man features 4 different maze layouts, which alternate every 2 to 4 screens :

The 1st maze is only encountered in Rounds 1 and 2, and has 220 dots and 4 Power Pills. There are 2 sets of tunnels in this maze equidistant from the center of the maze. You must clear this maze 2 times before moving on to the next maze.

The 2nd maze is only encountered in Rounds 3, 4, and 5, and has 240 dots and 4 Power Pills. There are 2 sets of tunnels in this maze; one set in the lower half, and the other set at the very top. You must clear this maze 3 times before moving on to the next maze.

The 3rd maze is first encountered in Round 6 and has 238 dots and 4 Power Pills. Unlike all other mazes, there is only 1 set of tunnels in this maze, slightly above the center of the board. You must clear this maze 4 times before moving on to the next maze.

The 4rth and final unique maze is first encountered in Round 10 and has 234 dots and 4 Power Pills. There are 2 sets of tunnels in this maze, directly next to one another in the middle of the maze. The turns at the entrance to the tunnels change the usual immediate accessibility of the tunnels and should be taken in to account. You must clear this maze 4 times before moving on to the next maze.

After Round 13, the game alternates every 4 rounds between the third and fourth mazes.

Finally, the ghosts’ movement patterns are also completely different to those of the original game.

Note: I used the invisibility cheat on level 4 or 5.

90 Comments

  1. 9:52 obviously you’re playing with some kind of cheat code

  2. Why didn’t they just call her PAC-Woman????

  3. This game used to make me cry when I would lose. We played this on Nintendo 64 when i was maybe 7 years old. My mom was the best at it.

  4. Ghost Monsters Can Run, But They Can't Hide From Ms. Pac-Man!

  5. I remember playing ms Pac-Man at our local pizza ranch back in like 2018 or something and it been there since I was a kid but sadly they got rid of it

  6. Why is he able to go through the ghost

  7. I just remembered that pac man was made into a whole new 3D game like Mario Brothers & many others but nothing beats the original format

  8. I wanted to search something about this game, but instead I found something else 💀, so I had to put the word gameplay after Ms pacman

  9. i love the sounds of ms pacman.. miss Arcades in 1992 we had ms pacman, rad mobile, outrun, pit fighter, art of fighting, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker , kung fu master
    good times..

  10. Ms. Pacman is CLEARLY moving through the non-blue ghosts. This must be a god mode version.

  11. Man this takes me back to the old PIzza Hut with the "sit-down" Ms Pac-Man machine.

  12. I forgot what was the first Pac-Man I played but I do know people usually consider this to be the best in the series

  13. 1:09 always thought it was funny the way the fruits would march around the map in this one.

  14. How do you go through the ghost and they don’t catch up to you on the pink and yellow level?

  15. Good morning I'm trying to find out how to download to play

  16. Bro phases through Blinky at 9:52 and then STAYED INSIDE OF PINKY AND CLYDE at 9:53. This game is WILD

    22:41 WHAT THE HELL?!?!

  17. 🤦 You're playing with the ghosts unable to kill you, and you still didn't beat my high score!

  18. I played this at a local arcade that moved at least twice in my lifetime. I noticed it at the second location and last time I was at the third location, it was there too.

    The gameplay on that particular machine was super fast paced, more so than in this video.

  19. Making a female version of Pac-Man was pointless in the face of statistical evidence that said women were already playing regular Pac-Man in large numbers. To make an obscure analogy, Ms. Pac-Man was to Namco in 1982 as the Girl's Train was to Lionel in 1957.

  20. I was always confused as to why Clyde is called Sue here

  21. I hate that freaking AtGames owns this now

  22. A local laundromat had this in the late 80s and I used to play it a lot. never realized the game was as old as me lol

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