------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atari 2600 Pac-Man FAQ Written By: Casey R. Coenen Version: 1.0 Date Written: April 26, 2003 Last Updated: May 2, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Version History B. Game Introduction and Objectives C. Controls, Game Items, and Scoring D. Strategies and "The CC Pattern" E. Miscellaneous Notes and Oddities F. Final Words ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- Version 1.00 --- April 26, 2003 ------------- - Original version created on April 26, 2003 ------------- Version 1.01 --- May 2, 2003 ------------- - Corrected the accidental omission of move #49 on the "CC pattern." - Extremely minor proofreading corrections. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Game Introduction and Objectives ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Atari 2600 game was an adaptation of Namco's 1980 arcade smash "Pac-Man". The game stars a yellow disc type creature named Pac-Man and 4 ghosts as enemies. The objective is the same as the large majority of all other Atari 2600 games - which is to say score as many points as possible before running out of lives. Points are scored and levels are cleared by simply eating all of the pellets that are strewn about the maze that is the main game screen. If Pac-Man comes in contact with any ghost while clearing these pellets, it results in an instant and gruesome death that looks as if Pac-Man is melting into nothingness. The only weapon at Pac-Man's disposal is 4 conveniently placed "power pellets" in each corner of the game screen. These magical pellets embolden Pac-Man with unheard of powers that allow him to eat any ghosts that come in contact with him during a given period of time. You will continue to score points and progress through levels until you either run out of lives or simply quit playing from sheer exhaustion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. Controls, Game Items, and Scoring ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i). Controls Left - Move Pac-Man left! Right - Move Pac-Man right! Up - Move Pac-Man up towards top of screen. Down - Move Pac-Man down towards bottom of screen. ii). Game Items Regular Pellet -- These are strewn throughout the main screen and look like this: - Power Pellet -- These are the 4 big blinking pellets in each corner of the screen. A power pellet is Pac-Man's only weapon in the entire game -- eat one and music will begin to play indicating you can now eat the ghosts. Note that you can eat the ghosts up to 2 seconds after the music stops. A power pellet looks approximately like this: --- | | --- Vitamin -- These BIG, multi-colored squares show up periodically just under the ghosts' "house." The first one will appear 45 seconds into a game, and subsequent ones will appear at approximately 85-second intervals. Each vitamin will disappear 13 seconds after it first appears, so try to grab it quickly. A vitamin looks approximately like this (a yellow square inside an orange/brown rectangle): -------- | |--| | | |--| | -------- Ghosts -- These are the 4 blue creatures that continuously try to chase you down. If you eat one it will turn into a pair of eyes and return to its house, where it will be reincarnated. iii). Scoring Pellet -- worth 1 point Power Pellet -- worth 5 points Vitamin -- worth 100 points Ghosts -- 1st ghost = 20 points, 2nd ghost = 40 points, 3rd ghost = 80 points, 4th ghost = 160 points. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. Strategies and "The CC Pattern" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i). Strategies General strategies that work for all 8 difficulty settings in this game are pretty hard to come by. More often than not your general goal should be to simply clear the screen as fast as possible since you get an extra life with each screen that you clear. The only risk worth taking is to grab the occasional vitamin and that is only true if you're on the earlier levels. Long, sweeping moves that take you from 1 side of the screen to the other are often the most effective way of avoiding the ghosts. ii). "The CC Pattern" Having said all of that, there is a pattern that you can follow that will allow you to avoid the ghosts 99% of the time and therefore play as long as you wish without running out of lives. However, this pattern only works on the levels where Pac-Man is moving at a speed similar to the ghosts - which means that the pattern outlined below will NOT work on levels 1, 7, and 8 because Pac-Man simply moves too slow in comparison to the ghosts. That leaves levels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 where the pattern DOES work. So, without further ado, following the below pattern of movements will allow you to play FOREVER on levels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. All you need to do is follow the 64 specified moves in order starting at move #1. NOTE THAT I HAVE ALSO CREATED A PICTURE OF THIS PATTERN -- CHECK THE "IN-DEPTH FAQS" SECTION FOR A PICTURE OF THIS. THE PICTURE IS ADMITTEDLY EASIER TO READ THAN THE TEXT-BASED MAP BELOW. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X X X X 10 8 9 X 63 64 X 59 58 X X XXXXXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXXXXX X X X X X X 11 12 X 7 60 6 X 56 57 X XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX X 13 16 17 X X X X X 62 61 X 51 52 55 X X XXXXXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXXXXX X X X X X X X X 14 15 X 19 18 X X 50 49 X 53 54 X XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX X 24 20 21 X X X X X 34 35 X 47 48 46 X X XXXXXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXXXXX X X X X X X 25 26 X 23 22 37 36 38 X 44 45 X XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX X 27 30 31 X X X X X 2 1 X 39 40 43 X X XXXXXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXXXXX X X X 33 X X X 28 29 X 4 32 3 5 X 41 42 X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Upon learning and following this pattern, you'll notice the following things: 1. The pattern typically does NOT work until the ghosts start moving at the same approximate speed as Pac-Man. This means that depending on the level you choose to play on, you cannot start using the pattern until you first clear 4 or 5 screens on your own to get the ghosts moving a little faster. I usually play on level 3, but if you choose level 6 you'll see that you can start using the pattern almost immediately because the ghosts and Pac-Man move at almost the same speed right when the game starts. 2. The pattern is very flexible and does NOT need to be followed exactly. 3. After the first 6 or 7 screens you'll find that you will frequently end up eating all 4 ghosts without even trying because they move so fast that they're often right on top of one another! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E. Miscellaneous Notes and Oddities ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. On occasion all 4 ghosts will enter the escape tunnel at the same time. When this happens it will be impossible for them to get out of the tunnel! Instead, they will continuously move up and down the tunnel without ever fully exiting it. This means you can clear the entire screen at your leisure. 2. I've never done this myself, but various people and websites claim that if you take Pac-Man and stay inside the escape tunnel for about 5 seconds (approx 5 up-and-down movements) and then exit out of the top of the tunnel, Pac-Man will be able to go right through walls. He can still be killed by a ghost when this happens so it's really just an interesting oddity. 3. Pac-Man will only eat ghosts when facing right. If he comes into contact with a ghost when facing left, he will turn and face right until the ghost is fully eaten. Weird! 4. When following the CC pattern and going for a high score, it is generally better to concentrate on simply clearing the screen instead of eating ghosts. The eating of ghosts should just be considered a "bonus" when you have extra time (such as on moves 57-64). It IS wise however to go out of your way to grab the occasional vitamin when it appears. That's an easy 100 points and the pattern is flexible enough to give you enough time to grab it when it appears. 5. Don't get frustrated if you lose a life or 2 while following the CC pattern. Remember that you get 1 extra life for every screen you clear (max of 9 lives), so you can afford to lose 1 life per screen and STILL play FOREVER! 6. If you lose a life while following the pattern, it is usually best to just follow the pattern from the beginning again even if it means eating no pellets. However, if you lose a life AFTER you have eaten the first 2 power pellets on the left side of the screen, you should start off by going along the left side of the ghosts' house and make your way to the power pellet in the upper right hand corner of the screen. 7. If you're ever in a pinch and don't think you can get to a power pellet in time, try going up to the small horizontal area near the top escape tunnel. This area DOES NOT guarantee your safety, but for whatever reason it WILL often buy you a little bit of time because the ghosts seem to have a strange aversion to going up there. Again, it is NOT a guaranteed safe spot but it still CAN be considered the safest area of the board for a short rest. 8. If you score more than 99,999 points, the score rolls over to 0. Every copy of the Atari 2600 Pac-Man that I've tried recently does this, but I seem to remember scoring 363,000 points many many years ago without it rolling over. I wonder if there are multiple versions of this game or something. Anyway, if anyone ever scores over 99,999 points without it rolling over, please contact me! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F. Final Words ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ/Guide is dedicated in memory of Jamee O'Shasky and Joe Hassley. The human contact will always be missed but the memories will forever be burned into my mind. Also, a special thanks to Brian Sulpher (BSulpher) for general guidance on FAQ writing (he's written more FAQs than anyone I know and I used his FAQs as a guide for creating this one), AboveAverage (Eric), Scum, and Pastaman44 for talking me into writing this FAQ and offering their help, and all of the users on the Pac-Man board (Pastaman44, Tempoblade, Titan Gamer, Scum, etc). This FAQ/Guide is the original work and sole property of Casey Coenen (girth) and the GameFAQs website. You are free to reproduce pieces of this FAQ only after contacting me and obtaining my permission. Any feedback on this FAQ is greatly appreciated. Please feel free to contact me at boss_hogg@tznet.com with comments, suggestions, or as yet undocumented strategies.