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pacmania: MAME ROM Information.

History:

Pac-Mania (c) 1987 Namco.

Pac-Mania is a 1- or 2-player game in which the player maneuvers Pac-Man through a world of 3-D mazes. He's back in action... but with a new twist, BOUNCE power! Ready for a new generation of Pac-Man players, he can't wait for the chance to show off his new aerial maneuvers to the crowd! The "boss" ghost Blinky has recruited the talents of 2 new ghosts, Sue and Funky. Pac-Man must use his speed and cunning to outwit these annoying pests.

Pac-Man now faces new challenges as he enters the worlds of Block Town, Pac-Man's Park, Sandbox Land, and Jungly Steps. Fortunately for Pac-Man, he has the help of 2 'special items' - a green and red power pill. The green pill adds temporary speed, and the red awards double points. It's a whole new ball game for Pac-Maniacs!

Game play begins with the opportunity for players to level select among one of three playfield worlds : Block Town, Pac-Man's Park or Sandbox Land. With Block Town being the easiest and Sandbox Land being the harder, players are accordingly rewarded for selecting and completing the challenges in this mode.

The player's main objective is to eat all dots and power pills in the mazes while avoiding persistent ghosts. Using the new BOUNCE button, players can bounce their way over the ghosts to avoid being caught. But two new ghosts have been added to insure that Pac-Man doesn't have it too easy. In fact, one of them can also bounce in the air like Pac-Man. Fortunately, these rivals of Pac-Man are only found in the more demanding worlds and mazes.

During play, the appearance of fruit and green/red power pills will trigger the bell. This alerts players immersed in the game who might otherwise miss these valuable items. A green power pill awards extra speed; it is good until a yellow or red power pill is eaten and expires or a game life is lost. Red power pills award double points, and continue to do so until a game life is lost.

An optional continue feature is offered to allow players to continue their progress without having to start back at the beginning. It's a great way for Pac-Maniacs to learn and practice strategies without having to re-start games from the beginning. Bonus thresholds are offered at various score values, and are adjustable.

- TECHNICAL -

Namco System 1 hardware

Game ID : PN

Main CPU : 6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz)

Sub CPU : 6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz)

Sound CPU : 6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz)

MCU: HD63701 (@ 1.536 Mhz)

Sound Chips : YM2151 (@ 3.57958 Mhz), Namco advanced 8-channel stereo WSG, stereo DAC

Screen orientation : Vertical

Video resolution : 224 x 288 pixels

Screen refresh : 60.61 Hz

Palette colors : 24-bit RGB palette

Players : 2

Control : 4-way joystick

Buttons : 1 (BOUNCE)

- TRIVIA -

Released in November 1987.

Licensed to Atari for US distribution.

After the superb platform action of the series' previous game, "Pac-Land", Namco chose to return the series to its roots with the re-introduction of the 'eat all of the pills in the maze gameplay of the earlier classics. Pac-Mania feels somewhat different to its illustrious predecessors, however, due to Pac-Man's newly-acquired 'jump' ability. The mazes are now rendered with an isometric, pseudo 3-D viewpoint, allowing the player to jump over the chasing ghosts and make an escape.

The 'Pac-Man's Park' maze is basically the original "Pac-Man" maze in an isometric 3-D perspective.

Another new feature in this game is the appearance of several 'special items' (in addition to the traditional fruit bonuses - cherries, strawberries, oranges, apples, bananas, apricots, bells, and keys). These items include candy, hamburgers, ice cream cones, coffee, and 2 special kinds of power pills. The pills, which appear in addition to the traditional power pills, give Pac-Man more points for eating ghosts and also give him extra speed, both of which come in very handy during game-play. Pac-Mania was to be Pac-Man's last arcade outing.

Donn Nauert holds the official record for this game with 385,570 points.

Victor Entertainment released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Namco Video Game Graffiti Vol.4 - VDR-5282) on 08/03/1989.

- UPDATES -

Difference Between US and Japanese Version :

US version :

- The first Block Town only has 1 Level.

- The first Pac-Man's Park, Sandbox, and Jungly Steps Worlds only have 2 levels each.

- Spunky shows up on the second Sandbox World level.

- Top 10 Score List. Will let you write initials, before continuing.

- The "Pac-Mania" Logo has Pac-Man, Pinky, and Blinky circling around the logo.

- There's Stage Select

- Items are placed differently

- Courage Bonus this would activate once you got past Block Town.

- Total Levels : 19

Japanese version :

- First Block World has 2 levels. And every other world after that has three levels.

- Spunky shows up on the third Jungly Steps level

- No Stage Select. However, if one Japanese Machine has Stage Select, you cannot continue.

- No Top 10 Score List.

- The 'Pac-Mania' Logo doesn't have Pac-Man, Pinky, and Blinky circling around the logo.

- Total Levels : 23

- SCORING -

Dot : 60 points

Power pill (energizer) : 300 points

Red pill (special energizer) : 7650 points (doubles ghost values up to 7650)

Green pill (speed up) : 1000 points

Ghosts : 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 7650 points

Cherry : 1000 points

Strawberry : 2000 points

Peach : 3000 points

Apple : 4000 points

Banana : 5000 points

Flower : 6000 points

Bell : 7000 points

Key : 8000 points

Candy : 4000 points

Green apple : 6000 points

Coffee cup : 5000 points

Small ice cream cone : 6000 points

Large ice cream cone : 8000 points

Silver bell : 9000 points

Galaxian : 7650 points

Silver key : 10000 points

Hamburger : 7000 points

Silver Galaxian : 7650 points

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* On the first couple of stages where power pellets last long, try to get 3 or 4 ghost near a power pellet. Once they are there, it is possible to eat all of the ghost on the board. You'll also rack up lots of points this way after eating the Pink Pill.

* On later stages, try clearing the pellets on top of the maze first. Not all of the ghost will come out at once, once the level starts.

* On later stages, power pellets won't last long. Use those to distract the ghost as you clear the board.

* Jumping is very important. You can jump at least 3 ghost lengths.

* When a ghost is on your tail, a good way to lose him is to turn around and jump over the ghost.

- SERIES -

1. Pac-Man (1980)

2. Ms. Pac-Man (1981)

3. Super Pac-Man (1982)

4. Pac-Man Plus (1982)

5. Jr. Pac-Man (1983)

6. Pac & Pal (1983)

7. Pac-Land (1984)

8. Pac-Mania (1987)

9. Pac-In-Time (1994, Nintendo SNES)

10. Pac-Man 2 - The New Adventures (1994, Nintendo SNES, Sega Mega Drive)

11. Pac-Man VR (1996)

12. Pac-Man World (1999, Sony PlayStation)

13. Pac-Man - Adventures in Time (2000, PC CD-ROM)

14. Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (2000, Sony PlayStation)

15. Ms. Pac-Man - Quest for the Golden Maze (2001, PC CD-ROM)

16. Pac-Man All-Stars (2002, PC CD-ROM)

17. Pac-Man Fever (2002, Sony PS2)

18. Pac-Man World 2 (2002, Sony PS2, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft XBOX; 2004, PC CD-ROM)

19. Pac-Man vs. (2003, Nintendo GameCube)

20. Ms. Pac-Man - Maze Madness (2004, Nintendo GameBoy Advance)

21. Pac-Man World 3 (2005, Sony PSP, Sony PS2, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft XBOX, PC CD-ROM, Nintendo DS)

22. Pac'n Roll (2005, Nintendo DS)

23. Pac-Pix (2005, Nintendo DS)

24. Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007, Xbox Live)

25. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (2010, Xbox Live & PSN)

26. Pac-Man Battle Royale (2010)

- STAFF -

Game Design : St. Daimyojin

Character Design : T. Yamashita

Graphic Design : A. Usukusa

Visual Design : Satoshi S., Babe. Teshima, Yukari M., Kazuya G., Tomoyuki S.

Music and Sound : Junko Ozawa, Yuri., Y. Tomuro

Game Program : Taro. Shimizu

System Program : Taro. Shimizu, Kosei M., Dr. Tam., H. Yamazaki

System Design : T. Ogawa, T. Okada, Makoto Inoue, Dr. Tam.

Director : St. Daimyojin, T. Iwatani

Presenter : Fun First Pro., Namco Limited

- PORTS -

* Consoles :

Nintendo Famicom (1990)

Sega Master System (1991)

Sega Mega Drive (1991)

Sony PlayStation (1997, "Namco Museum Vol.5")

Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2001, "Pac-Man Collection")

Sony PlayStation 2 (2002, "Namco Museum") : initially locked.

Microsoft XBOX (2002, "Namco Museum") : initially locked.

Nintendo GameCube (2002, "Namco Museum") : initially locked.

Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary") : initially locked.

Microsoft XBOX (2005, "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary") : initially locked.

Nintendo GameCube (2005, "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary") : initially locked.

Nintendo Wii (2007, "Namco Museum Remix)

Microsoft XBOX 360 (2008, "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade")

Nintendo Wii (2010, "Namco Museum Megamix")

* Computers :

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1988)

Atari ST (1988)

Amstrad CPC (1988)

Commodore C64 (1988)

Commodore Amiga (1988)

MSX2 (1989)

Acorn Archimedes (1991)

Tandy Color Computer 3 (1992, "PacDude Monster Maze")

Sharp X68000

PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2005, "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary") : initially locked.

* Others :

Mobile Phones (2005)

- SOURCES -

Game's rom.

Machine's picture.

MAME Info:

0.36b4 [Ernesto Corvi, Tatsuyuki Satoh]

0.35b5 [Ernesto Corvi]

Artwork available

WIP:

- 0.140u3: Corrado Tomaselli relabeled Pac-Mania roms with the correct names.

- 0.133u1: Renamed (pacmanij) to (pacmaniaj).

- 14th January 2007: Mr. Do - Thanks to the loan by Vintage Arcade Superstore and cleanup by Ad_Enuff, we have a shiny new Pac-Mania bezel.

- 0.89: Added 'Kick Watchdog in IRQ' and 4x 'Unknown' dipswitches.

- 0.36b16: Changed palettesize to 5121 colors.

- 0.36b12: Changed palettesize to 10753 colors.

- 0.36b9: Changed description to 'Pac-Mania' and clone to 'Pac-Mania (Japan)'.

- 0.36b7: Added 2x DAC sound.

- 0.36b6: Changed palettesize from 3584 to 3585 colors.

- 0.36b4: Ernesto Corvi and Tatsuyuki Satoh added Pac-Mania (Namco 1987) and clone (Japan).

- 0.35b7: An unofficial MAME version supported at first Pacmania and Galaga 88.

- 0.35b5: Ernesto Corvi added Pacmania (Testdriver).

- 4th March 1999: Ernesto Corvi submitted the Namco System 1 driver with support for Pacmania and Galaga 88. The Namco System 1 driver is still very slow and sprites are screwed. Pacmania and Galaga 88 are the games that work best, Dragon Spirits is almost there, Splatter House and Blazer have missing graphics and World Stadium 90 has protection problems.

- 9th June 1998: dump.it dumped Pac-Mania (NAMCO - original).

LEVELS: 19 (developed by Fun First Pro.)

Other Emulators:

* JAS-SYS1

Recommended Games (Maze Pac-Man):

Pac-Man / PuckMan

Namco Classic Collection Vol.2 (Pac-Man)

Pac-Man - 25th Anniversary Edition

Pac-Man Plus

Super Pac-Man

Pac & Pal

Pac-Mania

4 Fun in 1 (Ghost Muncher)

unknown Pac-Man gambling game

Ghostmuncher Galaxian (bootleg)

Ms. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga - 20th Anniversary Class of 1981 Reunion

Pac-Man - 25th Anniversary Edition (Ms. Pac-Man)

Jr. Pac-Man

Hyper Pacman

XESS - The New Revolution (Hyper Pacman)

Twinkle

Funny Strip

Puckman Pockimon

-

Professor PacMan

Pac-Land

Pac-Land (United Amusements PC Engine)

Puzzle Club

Pac-Slot

Romset: 1220 kb / 13 files / 232.2 zip

MAME XML Output:

<description>Pac-Mania</description>

<manufacturer>Namco</manufacturer>

</input>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</game>

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