Ms. Pac-Man
System: NES
Release Date: June 1990
Developer: Tengen
Publisher: Tengen
Genre: Maze
Dot eating action is back at your fingertips with Ms. Pac-Man. Blinky, Inky, and Pinky are back, but are now joined by Sue in an effort to kill Ms. Pac-Man. Your goal is to eat all the dots in each maze while avoiding the aforementioned ghosts. Rack up the highest score to prove your greatness.
There are different maze styles available for you to play. Arcade pits you against four mazes from the arcade. Mini gives you smaller mazes to reduce the amount of scrolling. Big has much larger mazes to increase the amount of scrolling. Strange has mazes that are not typical to your Pac-Man experience.
Ms. Pac-Man can go extra fast with the Pac Booster. Hold the A Button to increase your speed or toggle it on and off with a press of the B Button. This becomes your best friend and worst enemy as you play. Power pellets wear off pretty quickly after a couple levels, leading to cheap deaths that will leave you with an angry face. There are cutscenes every few levels that I would have liked to see all of, but I’m not great at Pac-Man. There is a 2-Player mode, but I had no one to play with.
Graphics: 1.0
There’s nothing to write home about when it comes to the graphics.
Sound: 1.0
Arcade sound effects and the occasional use of the Pac-Man theme.
Gameplay: 3.0
Navigating the maze and avoiding the ghosts. Knowing when to eat the power pellets and when to run.
Difficulty: 2.5
I understand the ghosts are programmed to move in certain ways. I’m not that into Pac-Man. The uselessness of the power pellets in some levels is frustrating.
Fun Factor: 2.0
It’s alright, but not one of my favorite games.
Overall Grade: 1.9
Ms. Pac-Man earns a C. It’s a fine arcade port, but this isn’t what I really want from my NES.