Pac-Land/Gameplay

Controls

• Left/Right Run Buttons: Press and hold either button once to make Pac-Man walk in either direction. Double tap and hold either button to make Pac-Man run in that direction. Press the opposite direction from which Pac-Man is running to make him stop short and turn around. After Pac-Man takes off from a springboard, tap the right button continuously to slow down Pac-Man's descent and keep Pac-Man in the air for as long as possible.
• Jump Button: Press this button to make Pac-Man jump in the air. Pac-Man will jump higher the faster he is running, and the longer you hold down the jump button. When Pac-Man is wearing the magical flying boots that are granted to him by the Fairy Queen at the end of each trip's third round, you can tap this button repeatedly to cause him to rise up into the air.
• 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push either buttons to begin a one or two player game.

Characters

Pac-Man

Here he is, the hero of yet another adventure, this time through Pac-Land itself. You control Pac-Man in his attempts to rescue the fairy by returning her to her home. She rides underneath Pac-Man's hat throughout the duration of each round. Pac-Man can walk and run in either direction, and he can leap into the air. He will lose a life if he is attacked by any of the ghosts, or the miniaturized ghosts that they drop on him, or if he falls in a body of water. If he comes across a power pellet, he can jump into the air to grab it. The ghosts will then turn blue and Pac-Man will then have the chance to eat them for a short period of time (until they begin to flash and return to their normal colors).
To the left is Pac-Man as he is depicted in the Japanese game version. To the right is the American sprite, inspired by the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

Pac-Family

The very understanding Pac-Family dutifully wait at home for Pac-Man to return from his mission to return the fairy. They welcome him home upon his successful return. To the left are Ms. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man as they are depicted in the Japanese game version. To the right are the two American sprites, inspired by the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

Pac-Pets

These are the faithful Pac-Pets, the dog Chomp-Chomp, and the cat Sour Puss. Chomp-Chomp is chasing Sour Puss around the front yard, when Pac-Man returns home. They can only be seen in the American version of the game, and introduce the trips as opposed to the Japanese version which features a fairy.

Fairy and Queen

The Fairy that Pac-Man must rescue lost her way and needed help returning home. She heard about the greatest hero of Pac-Land and sought his assistance. Pac-Man happily accepted the mission. Throughout each trip, Pac-Man must pass through three stages in order to find the magical door that leads to the land of the fairies where the Fairy Queen presides. Once Pac-Man successfully returns the fairy to her home, the Fairy Queen grants Pac-Man a pair of magical flying boots, which allows Pac-Man to rise high into the air, shortening his return trips home.

Blinky

Blinky is not the most confident of the ghostly gang. He's never quite sure that any of their plans are going to work out, and he's the first to take off during any sign that things are going wrong. He is seen here riding one of the four methods of transport that the ghosts employ: a pogo stick. The pogo sticks bounce fairly high and Pac-Man can just as safely run underneath them, as he can jump over them. When the ghosts are riding pogo sticks, they don't always advance as they jump. They only present a big threat when several of them are bouncing Pac-Man's way at once. Since they rarely jump in unison, wait until an opening appears, then run through it.

Pinky

Pinky is a tough-guy. He likes being the muscle of the group, but as a consequence, he's not the brightest (although none of the ghosts really are). Here, Pinky is riding in one of the ghosts' specially-crafted flying saucers. The flying saucers move somewhat similarly to the pogo sticks, but they move up and down a bit more smoothly and their motion is easier to predict. On the other hand, they are much bigger than pogo sticks, and therefore harder to evade. Given that it's always safe to stand on the ghost's head without dying, you can use the ghosts to ride up to the top of the screen before jumping off and continuing on.

Inky

Out of all the ghosts, Inky is the biggest goof-ball. His never-ending pocket of tricks usually causes more harm than good for the other ghosts, but he is never discouraged. Inky is riding one of the most dangerous of all the ghost vehicles, the airplane. The airplanes fly steadily across the air, at just the right height to cause Pac-Man a lot of problems if he jumps. To make matters worse, the airplanes are equipped with miniaturized ghosts that the ghosts drop on Pac-Man as they fly by. Be extra careful when you see these flying overhead. Although it's rather difficult to do, it is possible to land on the head of a miniaturized ghost as it falls, and not die from it.

Clyde

Clyde is the self-proclaimed leader of the gang. He is only uncontested since none of the other ghosts want the job. Clyde is pretty sure of himself... and pretty sure that they other ghosts are to blame whenever anything goes wrong. Clyde is riding a motor vehicle that the ghosts like to ride throughout the towns. They are easy to avoid and jump over, but they can just as easily be ridden on top of. Jump on the roof and let them take you for a ride if they're going your way. Later on, the ghosts also drive by in what appear to be double-decker buses. You need to be running if you expect to have a chance of jumping all the way over them.

Sue

Sue is the only independent thinker of the whole bunch. She opts never to ride a vehicle and chooses instead to follow closely behind Pac-Man everywhere he goes. She hovers behind at her own pace. Pac-Man can just as easily jump on her head and ride on top whereever she goes, but she's best left alone entirely. The reason being if time runs out completely, Sue stops following patiently at a safe distance, and begins to charge at Pac-Man mercilessly. Once the time runs out, you have little hope of finishing the round safely, but it can be done if you manage to outmaneuver Sue. Try your best to avoid this altogether by clearing the round in a timely fashion.

Break Time

Break Time

At the end of the first two rounds of every trip, and at your arrival home, you will have an opportunity to jump in the air just before the game play freezes and your remaining time is added to your score. You will earn a bonus if you freeze up in mid-air, and your progress through the jump determines that bonus. If you only just began to jump, your bonus will be rather small, 10 or 100 points. If you are at the height of your jump, you might earn 300, or 1000 points. If you manage to jump so that you freeze only a moment before landing, you can earn a whopping 7650 points.

Items

Power Pellet

Pac-Man's one and only weapon against the ghost gang is the energizing Power Pellet. One chomp on this glowing orb, and Pac-Man gains the strength to turn the tables on the ghosts and chase after them instead. If he manages to eat any of them, only their eyes will be left behind, which will fly away off the left side of the screen. For each ghost that he eats, their point values increase in the following order: 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 7650 for every ghost thereafter. (It is possible to eat more than the five regular ghosts, due to the fact that the miniaturized ghosts also turn blue and can be eaten; however, you'll have to be quick if you want to eat any of them, given that they disappear, once they hit the ground).

Helmet

Throughout the game, there are some fire hydrants, cacti, and tree stumps that can be pushed to reveal items and secrets. The most common (and useful) item that can be found is the helmet. The helmet allows Pac-Man to survive collisions with the miniaturized ghosts. Not only that, but he gains 300 extra points for every miniaturized ghost he touches. He keeps the helmet until he either completes an entire trip (a full set of four rounds), loses a life, or runs out of time (the magic flying boots are also subject to this).

Lucky Pac

The Lucky Pac item is lucky indeed. When you collect it, you will receive a time bonus, for all of the time you have remaining, and your timer will be replenished, with a complete stock (much like the Lucky Flag did in Namco's own New Rally-X). And best of all, there is a sure-fire way to make it appear. All that you have to do is eat a Power Pellet, and eat Sue as the fifth ghost (worth 3200 points). As long as Sue is the fifth ghost eaten, the Lucky Pac will appear.

Special Pac

The Special Pac only appears on the last round of the first trip (Round 4) and the fourth trip (Round 16). If you collect it, you will receive an extra life (much like the Special Flag from Namco's own Rally-X did in the games of Xevious, Libble Rabble and Gaplus). In order to make it appear, you must have Pac-Man hover over a particular location on your return trip home when you have the magic flying boots.

Galleon

Galleons only appear on the Bridge rounds. When you collect one, certain levels of the bridge are extended to make it easier for you to progress without falling into the water.

Galaxian

It's extremely rare, but every once in a while, a Galaxian flagship will be dropped from a plane instead of a miniaturized ghost. If you manage to pick it up, it's worth 7650 points.

Balloon

On the fourth round of every trip, the return trip home, one fire hydrant, cactus, or tree stump, can be pushed aside to reveal a collection of balloons. Most of the balloons will be worth 100 points, but one special balloon is worth 7650 (Namco's goroawase number) points. Once you find that one, there's little advantage to collecting the rest.

Flower

This unusual item only appears during the first round of the game if you jump in the proper location. Its benefits, if any, are unknown. Flowers play a more prominent role in the Famicom version of the game.

Fruit

Fruits appear in various locations throughout the game, for Pac-Man to pick up for bonus points. The value of each fruit increases, until the fourth fruit is eaten, and then the point value resets to the original value for the next four fruits that you will encounter. Refer to the chart below to determine how much each fruit eaten is worth in each of the various trips.

Trip	1	2	3-4	5-8	9+
Fruit
1st fruit	100	300	500	1000	1500
2nd fruit	300	500	1000	1500	2000
3rd fruit	500	1000	1500	2000	2500
4th fruit	1000	1500	2000	2500	3000