Game Publisher: Tengen [with sub-license from Namco]

Year: 1990 [which is why it is probably rare, this was a little over a year before they lost the lawsuit from Nintendo]

Type of game: Arcade puzzle

Players: 1-2 players alternating

Story: Well sorry all, can't find the manual story for this review, I looked at tsr's NES archive and Forbidden Nintendo Information Repository, NESWorld usually had a good set of rare manuals but it is gone, so I'll need to make one up........

You play Pac Man in the Tengen's newest classic to carry him, except this time he's in a 3d environment and has more ghost after him along with a lot more tools and options at his disposal, you know you'll loose, but what will your score be before you do?

My version; I usually add my take on it in my reviews, and since I ain't one to mess up regularity, I'll attack, ergh comment more on the plot.....

Bleah its Pac Man, not much of story, you play the demented little pixelated circle that is forever cursed to be chased by ghost in all games with you in it, all the whilst you do is eat nothing but "pellets", [that puts it in perspective], heh, with this plotline I'm surprised that it was even developed, let alone a smash hit.

The game is based on the classic hit arcade game Pac Man, but unlike the Nintendo translation the screen was made to scroll in all different directions. From what I heard Allot of people were disappointed with Tengen's version of Pac Man, with setting it up to see the whole playing field on one screen, I have played Tengen's version on my pirate and I think it is as bad to worse than Atari's version, because they also have a status screen on the right side of the screen that list the fruit, score, extra men, etc., but it takes up a large portion of the screen, this here is what I would call Tengen's apology, and it more than makes up for Pac Man.

The differences between this version and the older one is that it has a difficulty select, [which is a stage select], you play each stage twice, and it has four stages, they repeat after you past the last of the four, but as you progress you have to take on more ghost with a higher A.I., it is 3D,[technically 2d], Pac Man can jump, some ghost can jump in later stages, you have special items like a speed up pellet, [which makes you faster], and a score doubler, [whenever you get it doubles the score when you eat a ghost].

Also, this game was made shortly before the fall of Tengen, the copyright is 1990, and Tengen lost the infringement suit in 1992, going by time scale between converting the program to cart, manufacturing and testing and shipping, I'm betting A lot were destroyed in the aftermath of the trial with Tengen.

They recalled and destroyed of all games not sold by retailers,[Tengen lost the infringement suit and all Tengen games were recalled to be destroyed in 1992], this explains why it is rare.

Play Control: A+

Easy to learn controls that are highly responsive, doesn't get much better than this.

Graphics: A-

It may be a Pac Man game, but its a complex Pac Man game, has some problems on later stages when it adds too many ghost and they all chase you, it gets a little blurred, but shows no slowdown, which is expected with the NES.

Sound: B+

Has A lot of simplistic blips and beeps, but its based on a arcade classic.

Music: A-

Somewhat more complex then the music I heard on the Pac Man game, rotates to a different song per stage, doesn't tire you out easy.

Theme and Fun: A+

Its still has the classical mode of play, but with added surprises, will keep you gaming well beyond the newest released version.

Frustration: D+

Has some frustration in it, they eventually throw a ton of ghost at you at high speeds, and at times the ghost on the easiest stages seem to get a intelligence boost, but hardly effects the game.

Repetition: B

Yeah, it is based on the arcade game and does have that not so new feel after a while, but the reader should be aware of repetition since he/she's buying a game based on another older game, well going by how long my older Atari 2600 version coolness lasted, I still have about 10 years left before this game player suffers burn-out.

Final Pluses: Updated cool game, excellent control, neat twist with jumping function.

Final Minuses: They throw too many ghost on, it makes the screen mess up too much in later stages, somewhat hard to get too the high score too.

Changes: They should have added a little more A.I. to the ghost instead of too many ghost for the computer to keep track of, and more animated scenes and stages would have been a nice addition, perhaps a better way to access the high score too.

Overall: A

This game was worth the $15 I paid for it, I would say because it is rare and fun, $10 is a bargain if anyone finds it at that price or less, $25 complete is about the highest price to pay for it.

Final Note On My other Review: Yeah yeah, I messed up and graded Spy Hunter too high but I'm developing my style and a better quality of analyzing games.