Pac-Attack (known as Pac-Panic in PAL territories) is a falling blocks puzzle game developed and published by Namco in 1993 in North America and Europe for various platforms, but most notably the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game is one of few Pac-Man titles not initially developed with the character in mind, instead being a reskin of Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle, which was released for arcades worldwide and later the Super Famicom. Despite the change in characters, both games play practically identically.
In Pac-Attack, clearing blocks and chomping spooks is the name of the game. L-shaped clusters consisting of blocks, ghosts, and every few sets, Pac-Man, rain down from above and into a vertical playing field. Blocks can be arranged into rows and cleared a la Tetris, but the ghosts can only be rid of when eaten by our yellow hero. In order for him to do this, you must stack pieces in such a way that Pac-Man will be able to cruise along and munch as many ghosts as possible. He travels along flat surfaces and will change direction if he hits a wall, continuing till no ghosts are left uneaten. In Normal and Versus mode, chowing down on enough ghosts causes a fairy to appear, and she’ll clear away several rows of ghosts for you.
The game presents three ways to play: Normal Mode, where you play alone for score as pieces gradually speed up, ending when too many pieces clog the cluster exit; Versus Mode, where you chomp ghosts in order to send them to your opponent to fill up their area to the top; and Puzzle Mode, consisting of 100 stages where you must eat every ghost on screen with a limited set of Pac-Men at your disposal, and must contend with new types of blocks, namely metal ones that need to be cleared twice and purple ones that float.
In 1998, Pac-Attack made a peculiar appearance on the Japan-only PlayStation title Namco Anthology 2, a collection of four console-exclusive Namco titles plus remasters of each. The remake completely overhauls the game’s graphical style and music, as well as altering the Versus and Puzzle Mode significantly; Versus Mode now has you sending silver lines to your opponent, which can only be cleared by destroying more lines, and Puzzle Mode has been retooled into Road to Godhand, which, in addition to forcing you to clear all ghosts to complete a stage, also requires a set amount of ghosts to be eaten consecutively. This version strangely also made its way to Pac-Man World 2 (albeit with Road to Godhand omitted), as its first and currently only international appearance.
Pac-Attack game provides examples of:
- Alliterative Title: Pac-Panic for the European and Japanese Game Boy releases.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Both versions included in Namco Anthology 2 feature clockwise rotation alongside the original counter-clockwise. The remake includes quite a few more that greatly increase your odds of survival:
- A bar at the left of the screen that shows how many clusters until Pac-Man will appear.
- The currently held cluster can touch either corner of the playfield from the first frame it appears if there is space for it.
- Three small windows to the right displaying your best number of ghosts eaten at once, most lines cleared at once, and number of fairies canceled.
- After Pac-Man is dropped into the field, the larger Pac-Man in the top right will tell you how many more ghosts it’ll take to fill up the fairy meter.
- Fairies now erase blocks in addition to ghosts.
- Canceling fairies now grants you half of the fairy gauge back.
- Ghosts now only flash blue when Pac-Man is able to reach them, meaning any walled-off ones will stay red (or purple if you’re player 2).
- In Road to Godhand, you can choose to see the solution to a puzzle after failing it.
- Ascended Glitch: The SNES version’s Puzzle Mode has a leftover stage selector accessed after failing the current stage, unintentionally allowing players to move between puzzles without using the password menu. The selector returns in the Namco Anthology 2 remake, now usable when selecting a difficulty in Road To Godhand, with the password system removed altogether.
- Challenge Run: The hidden difficulty known as Godhand in the Namco Anthology 2 remake is this. In contrast to the secret difficulties in the SNES and Genesis versions, the player is alerted to its presence as soon as they enter the menu, with the game mode “Road to Godhand”. Starting from level 900, one must survive long enough to exceed level 999, with the falling speed maxed out and Pac-Man only appearing after every tenth piece. Upon completion, players are awarded point bonuses according to the number of ghosts eaten at once, lines cleared at once, and fairies canceled, before proceeding to the special ending, and get a definitive “G.H.” for their level stat on the high score table, instead of 999 with any other difficulty.
- Difficulty by Acceleration: Like in most falling block puzzle games, the speed of the pieces accelerate the longer you play.
- Dolled-Up Installment: Of Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle. The change from Cosmo Gang to Pac-Man characters seems to have been done in the name of brand appeal, as the former series wasn’t (and still isn’t) nearly as well-known abroad, despite both its games and original redemption machine getting releases worldwide.
- Easter Egg: Two hidden difficulty levels, the name generator for the SNES version, a sound test and hidden variant of Puzzle Mode* for the Genesis version. For the Namco Anthology 2 remake, there is an alternate introduction scene and two hidden Versus Mode modifiers.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: The Easy level in Normal Mode disables filling up the Fairy Meter via eating ghosts, only allowing a one-time use when the playing field is high enough. Averted in the Namco Anthology 2 remake, where its equivalent level “Beginner” fills up the Fairy Meter normally and gives the conditional free use mentioned above.
- Endless Game: With an exception for Puzzle Mode in the original release. Averted in Namco Anthology 2's remake.
- Falling Blocks: And falling Pac-Men, ghosts, and fairies for that matter.
- Graffiti Town: The original game has a prominent “alley” aesthetic, with every screen in the game being composed of brick walls containing motifs such as graffiti on the playing field, bolted-on metal signs displaying various information, and a worn sheet of paper stuck to a wall serving as the password entry screen. The Genesis version even displays each mode on the main menu as blue neon signs that light up and flicker as you move through them.
- Harder Than Hard: Holding right* while selecting Hyper in Normal Mode sets the level to 300 and cranks up the speed to the max, as well as severely limiting the frequency Pac-Man appears. Another difficulty, accessed by holding diagonal down right instead* is essentially the same thing, only now you’re on level 900, with Pac-Man only showing up once per 10 clusters. In Namco Anthology 2's remake, the Godhand level is the sole example.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: The Namco Anthology 2 remake renames Easy, Normal, High*, and Hyper to Beginner, Novice, Standard, and Veteran, along a secret, harder level named Godhand. Names of the Versus Mode speeds also changed, from Low, Middle, and High to Novice, Standard, and Veteran, then adding a new one, Hyper.
- Level Editor: In Namco Anthology 2, playing the remake 10 times grants access to one based around it. Notably, it brings back the metal and floating blocks absent from its Puzzle Mode equivalent, Road to Godhand.
- Mythology Gag: Quite a few.
- Whenever ghosts fall from a considerable height or when you lose, they’ll flip on their backs revealing a pair of feet, referencing the cutscenes from the original Pac-Man game where Blinky is shown to have feet underneath his skin.
- For the remake's Versus Mode, the indicator for how many silver lines you are about to send to your opponent are none other than the Bonus Fruit from the original game, complete with the fruits doubling up after the orange, echoing the original's level pattern.
- The fairy previously appeared in Pac-Land.
- Sue, seen prior in Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Land, and Pac-Mania, makes an appearance.
- In the remake, the transitioning backgrounds seen as you reach higher levels, the sleeping animations for ghosts and the ability to see a highlighted path of ghosts before placing Pac-Man on the field are all features that originated in Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle.
- Whenever ghosts fall from a considerable height or when you lose, they’ll flip on their backs revealing a pair of feet, referencing the cutscenes from the original Pac-Man game where Blinky is shown to have feet underneath his skin.
- Password Save: Each stage in Puzzle Mode in the original version has a three-letter password that can be entered to hop back to it whenever you wish. The remake omits the password feature and instead lets you start from Levels 1, 21, 56, 71, and 81 based on which difficulty you select.
- Press X to Die: Holding up and Start in either version found in Namco Anthology 2 instantly ends the game. Justified in Puzzle Mode/Road to Godhand if mistakes were made.
- Score Screen: Successfully beating the game at the Godhand level gives one that tallies and awards bonus points for the total number of fairies canceled, as well as the top three highest number of ghosts eaten with one Pac-Man and simultaneous block lines cleared.
- Scrolling Text: The credits for the SNES version and the Namco Anthology 2 remake. The remake also has it for the "Guidance" passage found in Road to Godhand, each ending in the game, and the scoreboard, to display its 300 player entry count.
- Space Zone: The remake places Pac-Man (now sporting a space helmet and walkie-talkie) and the ghosts in a high-tech space-station consisting of purple metal, wires, and black screens displaying various game information. The only holdover from the original is the graffiti on the play area.
- Speech Bubble: Astronaut Pac-Man uses these to tell you how many ghosts you’ll need to eat until the fairy gauge is full.
