Pac-Man Arrangement is a video game in the Pac-Man series released in 1996 for arcades. The game was developed and published by Namco as part of the Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 arcade machine. It is the first of two different games to use the Pac-Man Arrangement title, the other having debuted on the Namco Museum Battle Collection compilation for the PlayStation Portable in 2005.
The game acts as an updated version of the original Pac-Man Maze Game. The goal remains much the same, with Pac-Man navigating a maze in order to eat all of the Pac-Dots littered around, all the while avoiding four ghosts who will cost him a life on contact unless he has eaten a Power Pellet to make them vulnerable. Some aspects have been enhanced, such as each stage now having a unique maze layout, and the mazes taking place across a series of themed worlds. The game contains 23 stages divided across six worlds.
Arrangement adds a variety of new features to the classic Pac-Man gameplay, such as a two-player simultaneous play mode, a collection of new power-ups, and a new fifth ghost named Kinky. While Kinky cannot harm Pac-Man directly the way the other ghosts can, he has the power to fuse with any of his ghostly comrades to grant them new powers to make them more dangerous.
This version of Pac-Man Arrangement provides examples of:
- Adapted Out: The 2-player mode was removed from the GBA version. That version and the 2001 re-release also remove the end credits.
- A Winner Is You: Once the final stage has been completed, the game cuts to a screen that gives the player a congratulatory message and a thanks from the developers. It's even worse in the GBA version and the 2001 re-release, which remove the end credits.
- Circling Birdies: When Pac-Man charges through the ghosts by passing through the Dash Panels without a Power Pellet, the ghosts will be briefly stunned with stars spinning around their head.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience:
- The Jump panels come in colored pairs, indicating which two panels are connected.
- The various Capsule power-ups have different colors that indicate what they do.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer: Player 1 plays as the usual yellow Pac-Man, while player 2 controls a green Pac-Man.
- Doppelgänger Attack:
- The cyan capsule power-up creates a copy of Pac-Man that mirrors every move he makes horizontally from the center of the screen. This second Pac-Man can eat any dots it passes, and it can eat ghosts if they're vulnerable.
- When Kinky fuses with Inky, the blue ghost gains a copy that mirrors every move he makes. Either one of the Inkys can hurt Pac-Man, but the fake Inky disappears if he eats a Power Pellet.
- Eternal Engine: World 5, the final world, is the Ghost's Secret Base, a metallic maze built from various machines. It is here that the ghosts have stored their giant robot, which they use to fight Pac-Man in the final stage.
- Fusion Dance: This game introduces a ghost named Kinky, who has the power to fuse with any of the four classic ghosts to grant them a special power befitting their personality.
- Humongous Mecha: The final stage features the four classic ghosts piloting a giant robotic ghost powered by dozens of Kinkys.
- The Lost Woods: World 3 is called Green World, and has Pac-Man navigate mazes made of dense green foliage.
- No Plot? No Problem!: This game features no more plot than the original arcade game it's adapting.
- Nostalgia Level: Stage 1-1 is a remake of the maze from the original Pac-Man, and has the aesthetics to match, consisting of solid blue barriers against a black background.
- Power Up Letdown: While the other Capsule power-ups all give the player 1000 points and provide different perks, the gold Capsule is only worth 100 points and has no other effects.
- Screen Crunch: The version of the game featured in Pac-Man Collection for the Game Boy Advance only shows half of the maze at any given time, due to the handheld's reduced screen resolution. The player can view the other half at any time by pressing one of the shoulder buttons.
- Series Continuity Error: This game, along with the port of the original Pac-Man included on Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2, was the first game in the series to mix up Blinky and Clyde's names within the game itself, as the attract screens for both games list Clyde as the red ghost and Blinky as the orange one, when the reverse was true in the original game.
- Sequential Boss: The final boss fight is divided into two halves. In the first half, the ghosts' giant robot dispenses ghosts of each's color that Pac-Man can eliminate by eating the Power Pellets that appear, which will cause all ghosts of a given color to instantly disappear. Once the maze is cleared, a second phase will begin in which Pac-Man must clear the maze again, as the robot moves around the maze without needing to adhere to the grid. The dots he eats at this point fly directly into the robot to damage it.
- Shows Damage: As Pac-Man damages the final boss, it gradually becomes more red as it gets closer to being defeated,
- Support Party Member: Kinky acts as this to the ghosts. He is the only ghost who cannot directly harm Pac-Man at all, as he is always vulnerable, but he can merge together with any of the other four ghosts to grant them dangerous special abilities.
- Temple of Doom: The fourth world is the Ancient Ruins, located inside the stone walls of an old temple decorated with hieroglyphics.
- Thanking the Viewer: Upon clearing the final boss stage, the player receives a message that reads "The Namco Staff thanks you for playing! Come and play again!"
- Theme Music Power-Up: Once the final boss is almost defeated, the ghosts' robot will malfunction and start flying around the maze wildly, with the final boss theme being replaced by a remix of the Coffee Break music from the original Pac-Man
- Toy Time: World 0 is called Toy Box World, and takes place in mazes built from large, colorful building blocks.
- Turns Red: The final boss literally turns red once it gets close to being defeated. When only a few of the dots are left, the robot begins wildly bouncing around the maze, completely independently of Pac-Man's current position, while also allowing it to cover ground very quickly.
- Use Your Head: When Clyde and Kinky are fused together, Clyde gains the ability to perform a dashing headbutt in Pac-Man's direction. This attack is very fast, but he cannot stop until he hits a wall.
