Ms. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man
Company type	Video game
Industry	Video games
Predecessor	Pac-Man
Founded	1982; 44 years ago
Founder	General Computer Corporation (GCC)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Masaya Nakamura (Namco president)
Products	Maze video game
Owner	Bandai Namco Entertainment (successor to Namco)
Parent	Midway (publisher)

is a maze video game created by General Computer Corporation (GCC) and released by Midway for arcade machines in 1982. Serving as a follow-up to Pac-Man (1980), it marks the first entry in the franchise not developed by Namco. Players maneuver the titular character, Pac-Man's spouse, through labyrinths to consume pellets while evading four distinctively colored ghosts. Consuming power pellets temporarily empowers players to eat the ghosts.

Initially developed as a modification kit for Pac-Man under the title Crazy Otto, GCC approached Midway due to previous legal conflicts with Atari, Inc.. Midway then purchased the project and transformed it into the official sequel. Several titles were proposed before choosing Ms. Pac-Man for its simplicity in pronunciation. Although development proceeded without Namco’s direct authorization, company president Masaya Nakamura contributed to the character’s design. Similar to the original Pac-Man, Namco received royalties for each arcade cabinet sold.

Praised for its improved gameplay mechanics and featuring a female lead, Ms. Pac-Man is frequently considered superior to its predecessor. It is recognized as one of the greatest video games ever made and stands as one of the most lucrative American arcade releases. The game's popularity spawned extensive merchandising, numerous ports on various consoles and handheld devices, an associated animated television series, along with multiple sequels and remakes that generated a spin-off franchise. Ownership rights are maintained by Namco’s successor, Bandai Namco Entertainment, although ongoing legal disputes between Namco and GCC have influenced control over the title and character.

Gameplay

The core gameplay mirrors that of Pac-Man, where players accumulate points by consuming pellets while avoiding contact with ghosts, which results in losing a life. Eating an energizer (commonly called a "power pellet") turns ghosts blue, enabling them to be eaten for bonus points. Bonus fruits appear twice per level to provide additional scoring opportunities. As players progress through rounds, game speed increases and the duration of energizer effects gradually reduces until they eventually disappear.

Differences from Pac-Man

After intermissions, four different mazes rotate: pink (levels 1-2), light blue (3-5), brown (6-9), and dark blue (10-13). Beyond level 13, the third and fourth mazes alternate every four levels.
The first, second, and fourth mazes include two warp tunnels instead of only one.
Maze walls are filled with solid colors rather than outlined designs, enhancing visibility of paths.
The orange ghost is renamed Sue (who later appears purple in Pac-Land) instead of Clyde.
Ghost movement incorporates semi-random patterns to prevent predictable clearing strategies; Blinky (red) and Pinky (pink) initially move randomly, while Inky (cyan) and Sue follow previous routes until their first reversal.
Fruits bounce within the maze and travel through warp tunnels; after their initial appearances, fruit types appear randomly starting from round eight.
Upon losing a life, Ms. Pac-Man spins dramatically instead of folding inward like Pac-Man in the original game.
Three intermission scenes narrate the developing relationship between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, inspiring games such as Baby Pac-Man and referenced in Jr. Pac-Man.
Ghosts slow down in warp tunnels only during the first three rounds.
All audio effects and music tracks were newly composed for this title.

Development

Ms. Pac-Man began as an enhancement kit for the original Pac-Man known as Crazy Otto, created by developers at General Computer Corporation (GCC). During this process, GCC resolved a legal dispute with Atari, Inc. concerning their unauthorized Missile Command conversion kit, agreeing to refrain from distributing conversion kits without permission from the original game’s publisher.

Rather than abandoning the project, GCC pitched Crazy Otto to Midway, the American distributor for Namco’s Pac-Man. Seeking to build on the success of Pac-Man with a follow-up, Midway acquired the rights and partnered with both GCC and Namco to complete the game. Throughout development, the name, characters, and graphical elements were modified multiple times to better fit within the established Pac-Man universe.

Initially titled Super Pac-Man and featuring Pac-Man himself as the protagonist, the focus shifted towards a female lead inspired by the counterpart character in Crazy Otto. The name evolved through several iterations including Pac-Woman, Miss Pac-Man, and Mrs. Pac-Man, before finally settling on Ms. Pac-Man to enhance clarity and marketability. Programmer Steve Golson recalled that these changes took place within a fortnight, with the final renaming finalized just three days before production commenced.

According to Midway executive Stan Jarocki, one motivation behind developing Ms. Pac-Man was to recognize the substantial female demographic among players of the original game. A 1982 estimate suggested that women constituted a majority of Pac-Man players, a fact supported by marketing data indicating strong female engagement. This insight guided Midway’s decision to introduce a female protagonist.

Doug Macrae, co-founder of GCC, remembered that Namco president Masaya Nakamura personally reviewed the character design, approving it but requesting that the character’s hair be removed. Although there was some internal resistance at Namco regarding an externally developed sequel, Namco continued to receive royalty payments from Midway, who in turn negotiated further compensation for GCC.

Toru Iwatani, creator of the original Pac-Man, has never publicly commented on Ms. Pac-Man.

Release

According to reporter Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times, Ms. Pac-Man was unveiled publicly on February 3, 1982, during a press event held at Castle Park Entertainment Center in Sherman Oaks. The game was anticipated to be available in numerous arcades shortly after this debut.

Atari, Inc. produced versions for platforms including the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, and Atari 8-bit computers. Under the Atarisoft label, ports were also released for systems such as the VIC-20, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC compatibles, Apple II, and TI-99/4A. Unlike its predecessor, most home versions of Ms. Pac-Man retained all three intermission animations from the arcade original. The Atari 2600 adaptation notably reduced flickering issues that had affected the earlier Pac-Man port.

In 1983, Coleco introduced a tabletop version designed as a miniature arcade cabinet equipped with a built-in joystick and a multicolor vacuum fluorescent display. This version earned runner-up honors for Stand-Alone Game of the Year at the 1983 Arcade Awards.

Hardware

Over time, Ms. Pac-Man has been reissued in new arcade cabinet formats. In 2001, Namco launched an arcade board commemorating their 20th anniversary featuring both Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga, with the original Pac-Man included as a hidden bonus. The 2005 25th Anniversary Edition allowed players to select any of these three titles from a main menu. For Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary celebration, Ms. Pac-Man appeared within Pac-Man's Arcade Party. Its successor compilation, Pac-Man's Pixel Bash (2018), expanded the roster to 19 games but restricted access to Ms. Pac-Man to Free Play mode only.

In June 2020, Tastemakers’ Arcade1Up announced plans to include Ms. Pac-Man in their lineup of 3/4 scale arcade cabinets alongside other Bandai Namco classics such as Galaxian, Pac-Mania, and Pac-Man Plus.

Jakks Pacific also released a standalone battery-operated console that connects directly to televisions and features five classic games including Ms. Pac-Man, all housed within an integrated joystick controller unit.

Software ports

The game has been adapted across numerous home consoles and portable platforms over time; highlights include:

Release date	System	Developer/Publisher	Notes
1990	Nintendo Entertainment System	Tengen	An unlicensed version featuring additional content such as four maze variations (original size plus bigger, smaller, and "strange") and a speed boost option called Pac-Booster; supports simultaneous two-player mode with player two controlling Pac-Man; ends at level 32 with an intermission.
1991	Atari Lynx	Atari Corporation	Introduced new maze designs along with a fourth intermission sequence and a temporary speed power-up.
1991	Sega Genesis/Master System	Tengen	Port based on NES version incorporating all extras; European release by Time Warner Interactive in 1995.
1993	Game Gear	Namco	Reissued by Majesco Sales in 2000.
November 1993	Nintendo Entertainment System	Namco	Officially licensed NES port by Namco.
1994	Super Nintendo Entertainment System	Namco	Featured as an unlockable minigame within Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (exclusive to SNES).
1996	Super Nintendo Entertainment System	Williams Entertainment	Ported Genesis version from Tengen with added features.
1996	CD-i	Namco	Included in European release of compilation titled Arcade Classics.
June 1996	PlayStation	Namco	Part of collection Namco Museum Vol. 3, retaining extras from Tengen ports.
1998	Windows	Microsoft	Included in compilation titled Microsoft Revenge of Arcade, later re-released as Microsoft Return of Arcade in 2000.
1999	Game Boy Color	Namco	'Special Color Edition' featuring two new mazes plus bonus game Super Pac-Man.
1999/2001	Nintendo 64/Dreamcast/Game Boy Advance/PlayStation 2/GameCube/Xbox	Namco	'Namco Museum 64' on N64; later versions released on other platforms under the name Namco Museum.
February 26, 2002	Game Boy Advance/PlayStation 2/Xbox/GameCube/Windows	Namco	'Ms. Pac-Man' included as an unlockable minigame in Pac-Man World 2.
$circa$ 2003	J2ME/BREW	Namco	First release for mobile phones.
2004	Xbox	Microsoft	'Xbox Live Arcade' disc inclusion.
February 2005	PlayStation Portable	Namco	'Namco Museum Battle Collection' entry.
August 2005	(Multiple platforms)	(Namco)	'Namco Museum 50th Anniversary' compilation inclusion.
January 9, 2007	(Xbox 360)	(Namco Bandai Games)	'Xbox Live Arcade' release featuring online leaderboards and achievements; forward compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S.
July 11, 2008	(iOS)	(Namco Bandai Games)	'App Store' release; removed in 2022.
2010	(Android)	(Namco Bandai Games)	'Google Play Store' release; delisted in 2022.
2014	(PlayStation 3/Windows/Xbox 360)	(Bandai Namco Games)	'Pac-Man Museum' downloadable content; compilation removed in 2020.
April 19, 2016	(PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Windows)	(Bandai Namco Entertainment)	'Arcade Game Series' downloadable via Microsoft Store, Steam, and PlayStation Store.

Concerning legal matters, the most recent official playable appearance of Ms. Pac-Man was part of a crossover event for Pac-Man within the mobile game Sonic Dash in 2018. Her last official cameo occurred as a minor background element during the "Pac-Land" stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate later that year.

Ownership

On October 29, 1981, GCC assigned rights for Ms. Pac-Man to Midway in return for royalty payments. At that time, Midway possessed licensing rights from Namco to distribute both games and merchandise related to Pac-Man throughout North America. After achieving commercial success with the title, Midway entered into legal disputes with GCC over royalty payments related to merchandise sales; these were resolved by a settlement reached in 1983 whereby GCC members received royalties from Midway for commercial exploitation of the game.

In 2008, Namco (now operating as Bandai Namco) established an additional agreement with stakeholders from GCC. While Bandai Namco currently holds copyright ownership and intellectual property rights for Ms. Pac-Man, some royalty entitlements and obligations remain unsettled.

AtGames dispute

In August of 2019, AtGames, known for producing microconsoles featuring classic arcade titles, acquired royalties owed to GCC. When AtGames sought licenses for products involving Ms. Pac-Man, Bandai Namco initiated legal action alleging that AtGames misrepresented its licensing authority and manufactured unauthorized mini-arcade cabinets bearing the character’s likeness—claims included false advertising, unfair competition practices, and copyright infringement.

The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice on October 27, 2020 after Bandai Namco requested dismissal; during proceedings it was noted that all parties had privately resolved their differences. Details regarding settlement terms and current status of royalties related to ‘’Ms. Pac-Man’’ have not been publicly disclosed.

Beginning with the release of ‘’Arcade Archives’’ ‘’Pac-Land’’ in 2022, Ms. Pac-Man has been replaced by a newly created character named Pac-Mom across several titles including ‘’Pac-Land’’, ‘’Pac-In-Time’’, ‘’Pac-Attack’’, and the remake ‘’ Pac-Man World Re-Pac ’’. This substitution also appeared in the 2024 launch of ‘’Tinkle Pit’’. Although Bandai Namco has not issued an official explanation for this change, industry insiders speculate it is intended to circumvent ongoing legal complications involving AtGames.

Reception

In the United States market during much of 1982, ‘’Ms. Pac-Man’’ dominated monthly RePlay charts for upright arcade cabinets—leading most months from April through December—and alongside ‘’Pac-Man’’, topped cocktail cabinet charts continuously for nearly two years from February ’82 through February ’84. It was recognized as highest-grossing arcade game of that year by both ‘’Cash Box’’ magazine and Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA), although ‘’RePlay’’ magazine listed ‘’Donkey Kong’’ as top earner instead. Subsequently ‘’Cash Box’’ ranked it among top two highest-grossing arcade games in ’83 alongside ‘’Pole Position’’, while AMOA placed it within their top five highest earners for ’84.

By late ’80s figures show ‘’Ms. Pac-Man’’ had sold approximately125,000 arcade units generating around $1.2 billion revenue by ’87; estimates rose to $1.5 billion ($1 billion inflation-adjusted) by mid-90s.’’ The Commodore64 port published by Atarisoft received acclaim from ‘’InfoWorld’’ which regarded it comparable quality-wise to their best-selling Atari8-bit version; meanwhile Genesis port achieved sales exceeding one million copies within U.S.

The arcade edition garnered Certificate of Merit recognition as runner-up Coin-Op Game of Year at January ’83 Arcade Awards ceremony.

Non-arcade versions

In January ’84 at Arcade Awards event honoring achievements during ’83 calendar year,’’ Ms.PacMan’s Atari2600 port won Videogame Of The Year award jointly with ‘Lady Bug’. ‘’Computer Games’’ magazine lauded Commodore64 conversion calling it “spectacular” though noting limitations affecting Atari5200 & IBM PC variations despite overall enjoyment; later reviews classified other home computer adaptations as “classic,” designating ‘Ms.PacMan’ greatest maze title ever made.

Regarding Super NES edition released mid-90s,’’ three out of four reviewers at Electronic Gaming Monthly praised enduring gameplay appeal combined with added enhancements while one criticized it as cash grab lacking lasting value; GamePro acknowledged original’s charm but questioned port’s worth due to cumbersome controls & repeated platform appearances.

The Atari Lynx adaptation received favorable business press: STart magazine emphasized well-suited new mazes & lightning power-ups fitting handheld screen constraints; CVG Magazine awarded score of79% praising fun nonviolent challenge; Raze magazine gave79% lauding presentation quality; IGN rated it8 outof10 calling decent conversion & solid standalone title.

Game Gear port earned positive remarks from GamePro who believed fans familiar with original ‘PacMan’ & arcade ‘Ms.PacMan’ would enjoy portable iteration equally well.

Retrospective recognition

By mid-90s,’’ Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that ’91 Genesis version remained among top twenty best-selling titles on platform.’’ That same year,’’ Next Generation magazine ranked arcade original twelfth among “Top100 Games Of All Time” highlighting improved AI behavior,multiple maze layouts,and broad demographic appeal.’’ In ’97,’’ EGM placed Genesis & Super NES versions eighty-ninth on “100 Best Games Of All Time,” noting simultaneous two-player mode plus new mazes revitalized classic formula.

By close of millennium,’’ Next Generation ranked ‘Ms.PacMan’ forty-first among “Top50 Games Of All Time” emphasizing enduring replay value.’’ In ’09,’’ Game Informer placed it tenth within “Top200 Games Of All Time,” praising superiority over original ‘PacMan’. Entertainment Weekly named it one of ten best Atari2600 games released during system’s lifespan in ’13.

In ’16,’’ Ms.PacMan ranked fifth on Time magazine’s “The50 Best Video Games Of All Time.” Most recently,in2022,’’ The Strong National Museum Of Play inducted ‘Ms.PacMan’ into its World Video Game Hall Of Fame cementing its historic significance within gaming culture.

External links

Ms. Pac-Man profile at Arcade History
Ms. Pac-Man Atari 2600 version details at Atari Mania
GCC 2004 reunion audio Presentation by General Computer Corporation veterans discussing the company background and Ms. Pac-Man's creation
Twin Galaxies Ms. Pac-Man arcade high score leaderboard