Atari 2600
Pac-Man
| Graphics: Sound: Gameplay: Overall: |
5.13 4.73 5.93 6.17 |
| Votes: | 30 |
| Reviews: | 2 |
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| Reviewer: subsoniccc | Date: Apr 15, 2026 |
| I still have very strange nightmares about this port in particular. It's probably because it sticks out in the recesses of my mind as the worst Atari port ever.
Graphics: 3 They can't even rotate Pac-Man up or down? Come on. This looks very little like the arcade original. Maybe if you squint really hard you won't see the eyes they gave the titular character. Sound: 3 So unremarkable and average it's actually astounding it wasn't even worse. But it gets a lower rating because it sounds nothing like the original game. Gameplay: 1 This, from a pure gameplay perspective, is the worst version of Pac-Man for consoles. Not only does the gameplay quality vary depending on which Atari controller is in your hand at the given moment, but no matter which controller you choose, it'll be average at best and unplayable at worst. Overall: 1 This port is so extremely unfaithful to its source material, you start to realize why the game industry crashed in '83, even if no other game in the 2600 library is THIS bad. It still has the basic premise of Pac-Man, but feels nothing like you're there at the arcades. Avoid unless you're a gaming historian or actually owned this monstrosity back in the day and want a good chuckle. |
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| Reviewer: Pseudastic | Date: Dec 20, 2024 |
| Have you ever wondered what the worst way to play Pac-man was? Well, here's your answer. The Atari 2600 port of Pac-Man is such a disaster that it makes me wonder if the people who made it ever even played Pac-Man before.
Graphics: 5 The graphics are pretty meh. It's what you would typically expect from an Atari 2600 game. My main problem with the graphics is how the ghosts rapidly blink. It makes it hard to see the ghosts at times and the flickering also makes it hard to tell which ghost is which. Although that last part is mainly a problem to those like me, who played Pac-Man enough times to be able to guess what movement they'll make based on their color. Sound: 3 The sound is pretty awful. It's not the worst thing in the world, sure. But, it doesn't sound like anything that one would expect from Pac-Man. It honestly sounds like the people in charge of the sound for this game just started hitting random notes until it made a noise that sounded like something. Gameplay: 6 The gameplay is probably the most bearable thing about this port. It plays like a Pac-Man game. My few flaws with the gameplay are that the ghosts are hard to predict since it's almost impossible to tell a difference between them and that the map layout is completely different than the original Pac-Man, which means that you couldn't even tell which ghost is which based on their starting move patterns. Overall: 5 This Pac-Man port isn't necessarily the worst, but it also ain't the best. Due to the map layout being different, this game feels like a completely different Pac-Man game. Maybe put Pac-Cousin as the title or something and then it would be more acceptable. If you wish to play Pac-Man, you're better off looking for a different port or just buying the game off Steam. This port of Pac-Man is a mess to say the least. It baffles me that the game sold 8 million copies (according to Wikipedia), and it honestly feels more like this game was made as a cash-grab rather than a genuine Pac-Man port that is faithful to the original. I know for a fact hardware limitation isn't why this game is so bad as the Atari 2600 Ms. Pac-Man port is far better than this and it's made for the same console. |
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