Ms. Pac-Man
System: Genesis
Release Date: July 1991
Developer: Tengen
Publisher: Tengen
Genre: Maze
Hey, who is that munching away at all the dots? It’s Ms. Pac-Man! Eat all the dots in each level that you happen to come across. There’s absolutely nothing new here from Ms. Pac-Man on the NES or even in the arcade. So, how far can you go before getting destroyed by the ghosts?
You have four different maze styles to choose from. The Arcade levels are the original style levels. Mini levels are condensed on a vertical scale. Big levels are stretched out on a vertical scale. And Strange levels are rife with walls that look like openings, but aren’t.
The power pellets are there and let you eat ghosts, but as you get further along the levels, they last for only a second, leading to your death. The Pac Booster is an option here and can either be toggled on or off, set to be on all the time, or set to be off all the time. You need any advantage you can get.
So the ghosts all have their own programming and if I cared more, I’d learn them. But I don’t care. I wanted to see all of the little intermissions, but I can’t stick to any rules I make to not die. I keep wanting to rack up the points by grabbing the food item on screen, but I don’t know why, it doesn’t get me anything other than an occasional extra life. Meh, I’m done with this one.
Graphics: 0.5
It looks like an NES game, which is not good for the Genesis.
Sound: 0.5
Annoying sound effects, no music in levels.
Gameplay: 2.0
It’s Pac-Man with speed boost. It plays fine, though not with any depth.
Difficulty: 2.0
Learn the ghost programming and you should do well. Once you get far enough, you can continue when you die.
Fun Factor: 1.0
I’m kind of over Pac-Man games. This is no different than the NES version.
Overall Rating: 1.2
Ms. Pac-Man earns a D+. If you’re going to port a game, give me something new. Play it if you like Pac-Man.