Pac-Mania

From Sega Retro

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PacMania Title.png

Pac-Mania
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System
Publisher:
Sega Mega Drive
Tengen,
Sega Master System
TecMagik
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Release Date RRP Code
Sega Master System
EU
25010-50
Sega Master System
AU

Pac-Mania is a sequel to Pac-Man, first released in 1987 in the arcades by Namco for its Namco System 1 hardware and brought to the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Master System by Tengen in 1991. It has also been ported to numerous other consoles and computers, including the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, NES, Zeebo and ZX Spectrum. It is a pseudo-3D take on the Pac-Man gameplay formula, though offers many other additions.

The game is presented in an oblique perspective with more detailed backgrounds than in previous Pac-Man arcade games. The disadvantage of this is that only a section of the play area is visible and therefore there is more of a reliance on scrolling. To counter this, Pac-Man now has the ability to jump, which can be used to avoid ghosts (apart from ghosts that can also jump). There are more ghosts on-screen than in previous titles too, who are found in a variety of different colors and are left unnamed. Unlike the original game there are now four maps, one of which is unlockable and each having their own music track.

Though Pac-Mania was seen as a return to form for the Pac-Man franchise (previous entries such as Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal and Pac Land had radically changed the original formula and were therefore not as successful), the game failed to receive the popularity obtained by the original Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man, mostly because despite appearing in 1987, it failed to offer much improvement over the original 1980 game.

Promotional Material

Physical Scans

Mega Drive Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
85 №52, p91[3]
65 №14, p124
80 №4, p60/61[4]
50 №38
90 №13, p134/135[5]
82 №23, p120[6]
64 №5, p93
70 №1, p38/39[7]
86 №15, p62/63[8]
83 №18, p67[9]
76 №27, p48
82 №2, p46[10]
82 №18, p66
93 №4, p52-54[11]
71 №1, p88[12]
84 №1, p11[13]
Sega Mega Drive
78
Based on
16 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[14]
ACE (UK)
85
[15]
Consoles + (FR)
65
[16]
Console XS (UK) PAL
82
[17]
Game Power (IT)
80
[4]
Games-X (UK)
50
[18]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
90
[19]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-U
82
[6]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
64
[20]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
50
[21]
MegaTech (UK)
70
[7]
Mean Machines (UK)
86
[22]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
86
[23]
Player One (FR)
83
[9]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
76
[24]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
82
[10]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
82
[25]
Supersonic (FR)
84
[13]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
70
[26]
VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US)
70
[27]
Sega Mega Drive
74
Based on
20 reviews

Pac-Mania

Mega Drive, US
PacMania MD US Box.jpg
Cover
PacMania md us cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
PacMania MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
PacMania MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, AU

Master System Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
80 №44, p71[2]
90 №0, p54-56
86 №113, p40/41[28]
86 №5, p60/61[29]
88 №2, p40/41[30]
80 №16
88 №1, p72[31]
93 №17, p138[32]
90 №6, p86-88[33]
75 №2/42
92 №11, p38/39[34]
86 №10, p27[35]
94 №16, p10/11
80 №23, p58
90 №5, p20[36]
92 №4, p52-54[11]
90 №20, p70
Sega Master System
87
Based on
17 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
ACE (UK)
80
[2]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
65
[37]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL
84
[38]
Console XS (UK) PAL
88
[39]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
86
[40]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
80
[41]
Game Mania (UK)
90
[42]
Game Power (IT)
88
[30]
Games-X (UK)
80
[43]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
88
[44]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-U
79
[45]
Joystick (FR)
93
[32]
Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)
75
[46]
Mean Machines (UK)
90
[47]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
90
[48]
Player One (FR)
92
[34]
Power Play (DE)
66
[49]
Raze (UK) PAL
86
[35]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
94
[50]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
75
[51]
Sega Pro (UK)
90
[36]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
88
[52]
Sega Force (UK)
92
[11]
Video Games (DE)
67
[53]
Video Games (DE)
69
[54]
Zero (UK)
90
[55]
Zzap! (IT)
92
[56]
Sega Master System
84
Based on
27 reviews

Pac-Mania

Master System, EU
PacMania SMS EU Box.jpg
Cover
PacMania SMS EU Cart.jpg
Cart
PacmaniaSMSEUManual7L.pdf
Manual
Master System, AU



Pac-Man games for Sega systems
Sega Game Gear
Pac-Man (1991) | Ms. Pac-Man (1993) | Pac-Attack (1994) | Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
Sega Master System
Ms. Pac-Man (1991) | Pac-Mania (1991)
Sega Mega Drive
Ms. Pac-Man (1991) | Pac-Mania (1991) | Pac-Attack (1993) | Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (1994) | Pac-In-Time (unreleased)
Sega Dreamcast
Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (2000)
  1. File:CVG UK 112.pdf, page 104
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 File:ACE UK 44.pdf, page 71 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 44.pdf_p71" defined multiple times with different content
  3. File:ACE UK 52.pdf, page 91
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:GamePower IT 04.pdf, page 62 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePower IT 04.pdf_p62" defined multiple times with different content
  5. File:HobbyConsolas ES 013.pdf, page 126
  6. 6.0 6.1 File:Joystick FR 023.pdf, page 120 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 023.pdf_p120" defined multiple times with different content
  7. 7.0 7.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 38 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p38" defined multiple times with different content
  8. File:MeanMachines UK 15.pdf, page 64
  9. 9.0 9.1 File:PlayerOne FR 018.pdf, page 67 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayerOne FR 018.pdf_p67" defined multiple times with different content
  10. 10.0 10.1 File:SegaPro UK 02.pdf, page 48 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 02.pdf_p48" defined multiple times with different content
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 File:SegaForce UK 04.pdf, page 52 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaForce UK 04.pdf_p52" defined multiple times with different content
  12. File:SegaForceMega UK 01.pdf, page 88
  13. 13.0 13.1 File:Supersonic FR 01.pdf, page 11 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Supersonic FR 01.pdf_p11" defined multiple times with different content
  14. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 172
  15. ACE, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-08), page 91
  16. Consoles +, "Novembre 1992" (FR; 1992-1x-xx), page 124
  17. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 132
  18. Games-X, "16th-22nd January 1992" (UK; 1992-01-16), page 23
  19. Hobby Consolas, "Octubre 1992" (ES; 1992-xx-xx), page 134
  20. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 93
  21. Mega Play, "July/August 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 64
  22. Mean Machines, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-28), page 62
  23. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 140
  24. Sega Power, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-02), page 48
  25. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
  26. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 133
  27. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "November 1991" (US; 1991-1x-xx), page 42
  28. File:CVG UK 113.pdf, page 40
  29. File:CVG IT 05.pdf, page 60
  30. 30.0 30.1 File:GamePower IT 02.pdf, page 42 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePower IT 02.pdf_p42" defined multiple times with different content
  31. File:HobbyConsolas ES 001.pdf, page 64
  32. 32.0 32.1 File:Joystick FR 017.pdf, page 138 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 017.pdf_p138" defined multiple times with different content
  33. File:MeanMachines UK 06.pdf, page 86
  34. 34.0 34.1 File:PlayerOne FR 011.pdf, page 38 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayerOne FR 011.pdf_p38" defined multiple times with different content
  35. 35.0 35.1 File:Raze UK 10.pdf, page 27 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Raze UK 10.pdf_p27" defined multiple times with different content
  36. 36.0 36.1 File:SegaPro UK 05.pdf, page 20 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 05.pdf_p20" defined multiple times with different content
  37. Aktueller Software Markt, "August/September 1991" (DE; 1991-07-26), page 159
  38. The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 116
  39. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 143
  40. Computer & Video Games, "April 1991" (UK; 1991-03-16), page 60
  41. Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 148
  42. Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 81
  43. Games-X, "8th-14th August 1991" (UK; 1991-08-08), page 40
  44. Hobby Consolas, "Octubre 1991" (ES; 1991-xx-xx), page 72
  45. Joypad, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 1991-12-1x), page 88
  46. Micromanía (segunda época), "Noviembre 1991" (ES; 1991-1x-xx), page 44
  47. Mean Machines, "March 1991" (UK; 1991-03-01), page 54
  48. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 135
  49. Power Play, "5/91" (DE; 1991-04-12), page 130
  50. Sega Power, "March 1991" (UK; 1991-02-07), page 10
  51. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 58
  52. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 71
  53. Video Games, "1/91" (DE; 1991-03-27), page 77
  54. Video Games, "2/92" (DE; 1992-04-06), page 33
  55. Zero, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-0x-xx), page 70
  56. Zzap!, "Giugno 1991" (IT; 1991-xx-xx), page 55