We are still waiting on a suitable Amiga AGA emulator with robust recording features before tackling such games.
Pac-Mania
Original Pac-Mania arcade game by Namco. C64 Conversion by Teque and published by Grandslam in 1988.
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Player's Review
"PAC-MAN IS BACK AND BOUNCING IN 3-D! Armed with unique BOUNCE power, Pac-Man faces new challenges as he enters the 3-D worlds of Block Town, Pac-Man's Park, Sandbox Land and Jungly Steps. With the help of 4 power pills, Pac-Man is ready to outwit and avoid those persistent pesky ghosts Inky, Pinky, Blinky, Clyde, Sue and Funky. Special features include a snappy upbeat tune, cartoons to add an amusing break, 22 game levels of increasing difficulty together with a replay action, two new ghosts ... and plenty more. IT'S A WHOLE NEW GAME FOR PAC-MANIACS!"
First off, I don't think there are any bad versions of this game with each dealing with the respective platforms limitations in a sensible way. However I do think the C64 conversion comes off the worst over all. There is no title screen music of even a loading picture. The one in the video is taken from the Spectrum game. Presentation is already a little lacking then. At the title screen, we can select between Day and Night mode. I play through the Day and show a little of Night at the end of the video. Night is an interesting mode as its pretty much the Spectrum game with Commodore sprites!
The game plays as you would expect, moving through the maze, collecting pills and avoiding ghosts. There is a little slowdown at times which can be jarring when you need to be moving quickly. On later levels the power pills don't last very long, maybe no more than a second which can cost lives even if a ghost is only a pill away from you. Overall the difficulty is well balanced though with the ghosts appearing pretty stupid at times even in the later game as they go the wrong way just as they are about to get you in a chase.
The music is probably the main let down for me. It sounds rough and a little lacking which is very surprising when you read Ben Daglish did the music. Overall though its still enjoyable game that I feel could have been better still. The game is a single load however, so maybe the coder only gave him like 4k to work in.
00:00:00 Day Playthrough
00:27:30 Continuing in Night Mode briefly.
First off, I don't think there are any bad versions of this game with each dealing with the respective platforms limitations in a sensible way. However I do think the C64 conversion comes off the worst over all. There is no title screen music of even a loading picture. The one in the video is taken from the Spectrum game. Presentation is already a little lacking then. At the title screen, we can select between Day and Night mode. I play through the Day and show a little of Night at the end of the video. Night is an interesting mode as its pretty much the Spectrum game with Commodore sprites!
The game plays as you would expect, moving through the maze, collecting pills and avoiding ghosts. There is a little slowdown at times which can be jarring when you need to be moving quickly. On later levels the power pills don't last very long, maybe no more than a second which can cost lives even if a ghost is only a pill away from you. Overall the difficulty is well balanced though with the ghosts appearing pretty stupid at times even in the later game as they go the wrong way just as they are about to get you in a chase.
The music is probably the main let down for me. It sounds rough and a little lacking which is very surprising when you read Ben Daglish did the music. Overall though its still enjoyable game that I feel could have been better still. The game is a single load however, so maybe the coder only gave him like 4k to work in.
00:00:00 Day Playthrough
00:27:30 Continuing in Night Mode briefly.
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