History Pinball / BabyPacMan

* OffModel: The ghosts don't look like they do in the other ''Pac-Man'' arcade games. In fact, the sprites look like the UsefulNotes/Atari5200 port of ''Pac-Man''.

* ProtagonistTitle

* CanonImmigrant: As with ''Mrs'', ''Jr.'', and ''Professor'', Baby later joined the series' official canon starting with ''Videogame/PacMan2TheNewAdventures'' and ''Videogame/PacManWorld''. The game itself, on the other hand, did not.

Because of the very unorthodox setup of the game, on top of Namco terminating their licenses with Bally/Midway, ''Baby Pac-Man'' never received a home console port that aimed to replicate the dual video-pinball gameplay of the original game. It wouldn't be until 36 years later, when Bob [=DeCrescenzo=], aka [=PacManPlus=], an icon in the ''Pac-Man'' homebrew scene for Atari's systems, announced that a full port of ''Baby Pac-Man'' had begun development on the UsefulNotes/Atari7800, releasing in 2019.

Because of the very unorthodox setup of the game, on top of Namco terminating their licenses with Bally/Midway, ''Baby Pac-Man'' never received a home console port that aimed to replicate the dual video-pinball gameplay of the original game. It wouldn't be until 36 years later, when Bob [=DeCrescenzo=], aka [=PacManPlus=], an icon in the ''Pac-Man'' homebrew scene for Atari's systems, announced that a full port of ''Baby Pac-Man'' had begun development on the UsefulNotes/Atari7800.

Because of the very un-authoradox setup of the game ontop of Namco terminating their licenses with Bally/Midway, Baby Pac-Man never received a home console port that aimed to replicate the dual video-pinball gameplay of the original game. It wouldn't be until 36 years later when Bob [=DeCrescenzo=], aka [=PacManPlus=]- a famous icon in the ''Pac-Man'' homebrew scene for Atari's systems announced a full port of ''Baby Pac-Man'' had begun development on the UsefulNotes/Atari7800.

* OffModel: The ghosts don't look like they do in the other ''Pac-Man'' arcade games. In fact, the sprites look like the Atari5200 port of ''Pac-Man''.

Because of the very un-authoradox setup of the game ontop of Namco terminating their licenses with Bally/Midway, Baby Pac-Man never received a home console port that aimed to replicate the dual video-pinball gameplay of the original game. It wouldn't be until 36 years later when Bob DeCrescenzo, aka PacManPlus- a famous icon in the ''Pac-Man'' homebrew scene for Atari's systems announced a full port of ''Baby Pac-Man'' had begun development on the UsefulNotes/Atari7800.

* PinballSpinoff

** Ghosts may linger inside the Ghost Pen for a few moments after being eaten, instead of exiting immediately after reforming.
** Unlike the video-only Pac-Man games, the red ghost is always in "Cruise Elroy" mode no matter how many pellets remain.

* BonusFeatureFailure: The Pacscalator function activated by shooting the pinball into the saucer after a power pellet was earned on that side. While it's great for being able to return to the pinball to scoop up some pellets, because you start closer to the bottom, the ghosts have more time to reach the bottom where the Pacscalator deposits you and kill you as a result, unless you happened to activate one of the lower pellets and chomp on one, eat some ghosts, and escape back into the pinball section.

* BonusFeatureFailure: The Pacscalator function activated by shooting the pinball into the saucer after a power pellet was earned on that side. While it's great for being able to return to the pinball to scoop up some pellets, because you start closer to the bottom, the ghosts have more time to reach the bottom where the Pacscalator deposits you and kill you as a result.

** Unlike every other game in the ''Pac-Man'' franchise, the ghosts in this game can reverse direction at will, making them significantly harder to evade. Expect to be ambushed and cornered ''lots''.

* EveryTenThousandPoints: Averted, strangely for a ''Pac-Man'' game. To win lives, the player must hit the center blue drop target enough times without draining the ball. An extra life can also be obtained by completing three stages.

* EveryTenThousandPoints: Averted, strangely for a ''Pac-Man'' game. To win lives, the player must hit the center blue drop target enough times without draining the ball, successfully doing so will reap a huge bonus and award an extra Baby... sometimes.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Unlike every other game in the ''Pac-Man'' franchise, the ghosts in this game can reverse direction at will, making them significantly harder to evade.

** Ghosts are programed not to be able to enter the escape tunnels- making them the only truly safe spot where Baby cannot be attacked, provided he hasn't visited the pinball section yet. This becomes harder to do in Mazes 2 and 3 because of their shorter tunnels.

* EveryTenThousandPoints: Grants an extra life.

* MazeGame: The video portion of the game, which

** Ghosts are programed not to be able to enter the escape tunnels- making them the only truly safe spot where he cannot be attacked, provided he hasn't visited the pinball section yet. This becomes harder to do in Mazes 2 and 3 because of their shorter tunnels.

By most accounts, ''Baby Pac-Man'' is the hardest ''Pac-Man'' game ever made. Not only does the player start off with no offensive capabilities, but earning just one power pellet requires hitting a single target six times. Skillful pinball playing helped ease things along, but the small size of the pinball table made it fairly easily to drain the ball. Yet by far the most frustrating aspect of the game is the disregard for the rules of ghost movement established in earlier ''Pac-Man'' titles -- the ghosts are more aggressive than in the other ''Pac''-games, with the red one moving significantly faster than the player does, and ''all'' of them can reverse direction at any time.

* IShallTauntYou: On the top of the pinball portion, Baby is shown doing this to an unhappy red ghost.
* MazeGame: The video portion of the game.

* EarlyGameHell: Very few people have seen past the first level.

** In the first maze, if Baby says just above the bottom right exit tunnel, the Ghosts will stay above Baby, being completely unable to get past the large wall. This trick doesn't work with the left tunnel as the cyan ghost will eventually sneak past the long horizontal wall to the left and catch Baby.

* NintendoHard: This is the hardest ''Pac-Man'' game ever, and with good reason. The ghosts just hunt Baby Pac-Man down instead of following a fixed pattern (with the red ghost moving faster and the magenta one moving slower, and the two other ghosts moving at Baby's speed). The table itself is smaller than an average pinball table, making it very easy to drain the ball. Added to the fact that the only way to earn power pellets is to play the pinball portion. Your only saving grace is the pellets in the maze will not slow Baby, unlike the official games.

* NintendoHard: This is the hardest ''Pac-Man'' game ever, and with good reason. The ghosts just hunt Baby Pac-Man down instead of following a fixed pattern. The table itself is smaller than an average pinball table, making it very easy to drain the ball. Added to the fact that the only way to earn power pellets is to play the pinball portion.

* SpinoffOffspring: The player character, Baby, is Pac-Man's second child.

* SpinoffBabies: Though different than how it's usually done since Baby Pac-Man is a completely separate character.