Ms Pac-Man

Ms Pac-Man is the spin off of the original Pac-Man. It was released in 1982 and featured a female looking Pac-Man. This was done by adding red lipstick and a red bow on the head. The Ms Pac-Man arcade cabinet outsold all other video game cabinets, including the original Pac-Man by selling 115,000.

The goal of the game was the same as the original Pac-Man. Ms Pac-Man would have to eat up all of the pellets on a maze to pass the level and proceed on to the next level. Players use a joystick to maneuver Ms Pac-Man left, right, up and down. If one of the ghosts monsters touches Ms Pac-Man, the player will lose a life. Although, the game is based off of Pac-Man and has many similarities, there was some changes made to the game that made it a bit different. There are different sounds and music in the game, and the game features four different colored mazes for a player to complete.

The Ghosts Mosters of Ms Pac-Man

Blinky, Pinky and Inky return in Ms Pac-Man. Clyde, takes a vacation from this one and is replaced by a new orange ghost named Sue. With the addition of Sue, along with Ms- Pac-Man, there are two female characters in this game. Like Clyde, Sue is usually lagging behind the other ghosts. Blinky is still the bright red chasing ghost that he has always been, but there is an overall difference in the ghosts behavior than what it was in Pac-Man. The ghosts have make more random movements that make it difficult for a player to come up with a pattern to pass the levels.

Blinky is still the most aggressive ghost and is always try to cut off a player's path. Pinky is very unpredictable, but some players have noted what may be an urban legend about him. Some say that Pinky remembers the movements and habits of a player. Whether this is true or not it up to a player to decide. Most of the time, Pinky will stay in front of Ms Pac-Man. Inky has a preferred pattern of always wanting to go right and then left at the next turn. He always tries to stay behind Ms Pac-Man, but his actions change when Blinky is around him. His will become very similar to Blinky when they are close together. Sue is very predictable and her actions will always depend on the position of Ms Pac-Man.

Here is a breakdown of the speed of how the ghosts speed compares to Ms Pac-Man throughout the game.

Stage 1: Ms. Pac -Man is faster than the ghosts
Stage 2 to Stage 4: The speed of Ms Pac-Man and the ghosts are the same
Stage 5 to Stage 20: The ghosts are a bit faster than Ms Pac-Man
Stage 21 and beyond: The ghosts are much faster than Ms Pac-Man

Blinky, who is the leader of the ghosts, has a pattern that he takes on during the game. He goes by what is called the red dot. This means that when a certain pellet is eaten during the course of a stage, he will speed up. As more dots are eaten during the level, he will speed up even more.

Here is a breakdown of the red dot:

Stage 1: No red dot
Stage 2 to Stage 5: Blinky starts speeding up when there are 7 pellets left
Stage 6 to Stage 8: Blinky starts speeding up when there are 39 pellets left
Stage 9 to Stage 11: Blinky starts speeding up when there are 49 pellets left
Stage 12 to Stage 14: Blinky starts speeding up when there are 59 pellets left
Stage 15 to Stage 17: Blinky starts speeding up when there are 69 pellets left
Stage 18 to Stage 21: Blinky starts speeding up when there 79 seven pellets left
Stage 22 and beyond: Blinky starts speeding up when there 89 seven pellets left

Power Pellets

The power pellets will give Ms. Pac-Man the ability to eat the ghosts. Once a player eats a power pellet, the ghosts will turn blue. This means that Ms Pac-Man can eat them. If a player eats one of the ghosts, they will earn 200 points, eat two, and they earn 400 points, three ghosts will give 800 points and a perfect four will give 1,600 points. If a player were to eat all four ghosts when they eat each of the four power pellets on a maze, they will earn 6,400 points on the first level from the ghosts alone. A perfect level one will give a player 14,600 points. When the ghosts are getting close to turning back to their normal color, they will start blinking and then the affect of the power pellet will ware off as they turn normal again. As a player gets to farther stages, the length of time that the ghosts stay blue reduces. If a player gets far enough, the power pellets will not even have an affect on the ghosts anymore.

Fruits

The first things that someone will notice about Ms Pac-Man that is different from Pac-Man is the action of the fruits. Instead of sitting in the center of the screen, the fruits on the Ms Pac-Man game float around the maze. This makes it more challenging for a player to eat it.  It must be mentioned that not all of these prizes are fruits, on level four a player is awarded with a pretzel instead.

Stage 1 - Cherry - 100 points
Stage 2 - Strawberry - 200 points
Stage 3 - Peach - 500 points
Stage 4 - Pretzel - 700 points
Stage 5 - Apple - 1,000 points
Stage 6 - Pear -2,000 points
Stage 7 - Banana - 5,000 points

From stage eight and beyond, a random fruit will be produced. Although, most people always want the banana to come out so they can earn more points, there is no way of ever knowing or controlling what fruit will appear. A good thing for a player to note is that in each maze, two fruits will appear. This will be the same fruit for levels one through seven. The fruit will appear for the first time when Ms Pac-Man has eaten 64 pellets. If a player never eats it, it will exit through one of the tunnels. It will also appear again when a player has 66 pellets left on the maze.


The Intermission Cartoons

Like the original Pac-Man, there are various intermissions cartoons shown upon completion of certain levels. The intermissions are based on Ms Pac-Man and Pac-Man meeting, falling in love and and having their baby Junior.

Act 1: This is the first intermission cartoon titled "They Meet." In this cartoon, Inky is chasing Pac-Man across the screen, and Pinky is chasing Ms Pac-Man. While being chased, with the ghosts right on their tail, they almost collide with one another but avoid it by moving upwards. They end up face to face, and it is love at first sight as a heart appears above them. Inky and Pinky on the other hand crash into each other and take a hard knock. This intermission appears when a player passes level two.                

Act 2: This intermission cartoon is titled "The Chase." The act begins with Pac-Man first chasing Ms Pac-Man from the left side of the screen to the right side of the screen until they go off screen momentary. They then come back from the right side of the screen to the left, but this time it is Ms Pac-Man chasing Pac-Man. They end up off screen again only to repeat their chasing of each other three more times. During their last chases of each other, they go really fast across the screen. This intermission is seen when a player passes level five.

Act 3: The name of this intermission is simply "Junior." The scene begins with a stork flying on top of the screen carrying a blanket. Pac-Man and Ms Pac-Man are down on the bottom of the screen waiting. The stork drops the blanket down and when it hits the bottom of the screen there appears Junior Pac-Man. The first time this intermission is seen is after a player passes level nine. It is shown again after level 13 and 17. This scene would also later serve as the opening act of the later released Junior Pac-Man game.             

Ms Pac-Man Strategies

Try to eat up the pellets in the middle of the screen when you can. It is better to be left with pellets near the power pellets. Don't eat up the power pellets too fast. Novice players will usually eat the power pellets when they do not need to. These things are meant to save you when you are in trouble.

There will be times when a ghosts in right behind Ms Pac-Man. In the beginning levels, it is not too hard to lose them. In later levels, the ghosts are actually faster than Ms Pac-Man and will catch up to her. To gain distance between yourself and the ghosts, be sure to make lots of turn and cut corners a lot. By doing so, space will be created between Ms Pac-Man and the ghost that is behind her.

Use the tunnels wisely. This is especially true in later levels when you have lots of ghosts right behind you. When you go through a tunnel, the ghosts go through it at half of their normal speed. Also, never go after a fruit when there are ghosts that can get you. Getting a fruit is not worth losing a life.

As with anything else, the more someone practices, the better they will get. A good thing that a player will want to remember is to never let Ms Pac-Man get surrounded. If you see that the ghosts are surrounding you, get out of the situation right away.

My personal experience playing Ms. Pac-Man

Those who are normal readers here know that there were two liquor stores across the street from each other along my path on my way home from my elementary school. When Ms Pac-Man was out, all I needed was a quarter or two to entertain myself for hours. Since over 30 years have past, it is always difficult for me to remember how far I got as some games. I do know that I got very far. How far? I am not sure. I do know that I made it past stage 100, because that was a milestone that me and the other players at the liquor store hang out always shot for. I do remember being real happy when I did make stage 100 on Ms. Pac-Man. I did not ever get to the split screen stage 256, but who has? Ms Pac-Man does have a level 256 split screen level, like the original Pac-Man game, but it is impossible to pass because there are not enough pellets on the screen to pass it. Even though many people have gotten to that split screen on Pac-Man, nobody has ever reached it on Ms Pac-Man due to other glitches and bugs that they will encounter beforehand. I have no idea what my high score was. One things I will always remember is when someone did a little hacking to a Ms Pac-Man game. This hack would speed up Ms Pac-Man into almost a turbo mode from the very beginning of the game while the ghosts still roamed around at their regular speed. If someone could control Ms Pac-Man at this high speed, it would be very beneficial to the player.

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This Ms Pac-Man flash game is great for Ms Pac-Man fans to play. One thing I did notice right away is that the ghosts all come out right away, even on level one. During level 9, I did also notice that one of the ghost that I ate could not find his way back home. He just went in the same circle for a couple of minutes until I passed the level. If you like to watch the cute intermission cartoons, there are none. First time I have played Ms Pac-Man in many years. The results? I made it to level 9. I must say, I am not a fan of using the arrows. Pac-Man was certainly a game made for a joystick. Granted, still fun to play.

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