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paclandjo: MAME ROM Information.

History:

Pac-Land (c) 1984 Namco.

In the cartoon world of Pac-Land, a fairy is lost and needs Pac-Man to help her get back to her home in Fairyland. Pac-Man's efforts are hampered by his ever-present enemies in the form of five deadly ghosts - Pinky, Inky, Blinky, Clyde and Sue - who constantly pursue Pac-Man as he travels through the colourful world of Pac-Land. When Pac-Man has helped the lost fairy get back to her home in Fairyland on the final stage of each trip, he is given a pair of magic shoes to help get back to his own home in Pac-Land.

In this, the 8th game in the seminal series, Namco opted to steer the series away from the maze-based antics of Pac-Man's previous adventures and instead created a colourful, sideways-scrolling platform game. This change of direction necessitated the addition of arms, legs and a face to the previously basic Pac-Man character, although much of the design work had already been completed for the 'Hanna-Barbera' cartoon series upon which the game is based.

Directional buttons make Pac-Man walk right or left, and it's possible to make him run by pressing down on a directional button repeatedly. Pac-Man must avoid the ghosts and other deadly objects that populate Pac-Land, either by jumping over or dodging them; unless, of course, he has picked up one of the mandatory Pac-Man 'Power Pills' that litter the levels which, as in Pac-Man's previous outings, make him temporarily invincible and turn the ghosts blue and vulnerable to being eaten. Each stage must also be completed within a set time limit, otherwise Pac-Man will be constantly pursued by a ghost. On some stages, Pac-Man must use a springboard to jump over large ponds. Every time Pac-Man makes it to the end of a stage, a bonus will be awarded based on how much time is left. On each stage, there are cherries and other items which Pac-Man can collect to score points.

Upon reaching the end of the final stage, Pac-Man will be given a pair of magic shoes that will help him on his way home. When he has reached home, he will meet with Ms. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man, Chomp-Chomp the Pac-dog, and Sour Puss the Pac-cat. The game then begins again.

- TECHNICAL -

Game ID : PL

Main CPU : M6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz), HD63701 (@ 1.536 Mhz)

Sound Chips : Namco 8-channel WSG

Players : 2

Buttons : 3 (RUN LEFT, RUN RIGHT, JUMP)

- TRIVIA -

Released in August 1984.

This game was influenced by Hanna-Barbera's Pac-Man cartoon, which ran from 1982-84. The character designs and music are taken directly from the show. The background music that plays during the levels is the same as the cartoon's theme song.

Mark Mendes holds the official record for this game with 4150400 points.

- UPDATES -

The Midway versions allow the player to start on any one of the game's first five 'trips', whereas the Japanese version starts only on the first stage. Also, the gameplay in the Japanese set is much slower than that of the Midway ones, making for an easier game.

The Japanese set also has some minor graphical differences to the Midway versions. Pac-Man's nose is longer, and the hat he wears has a feather in it. Also, when Pac-Man completes a stage and returns home to his family, only Ms. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man are waiting to greet him. Chomp-Chomp and Sour Puss, the pet dog and cat who appear in both the Midway sets and the cartoon on which the game is based, are both missing.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

Round 1 : jumping on the first three fire hydrants to generate five cherries is quite safe as you don't have any cars until after the third hydrant. Continuing you can see another fire hydrant just after the Pac-Pill. Straight after getting this you can push the fire hydrant backwards getting a helmet. This enables you to collect the babies that the ghosts throw from their planes (you lose your hat if you run out of time or die).

Round 2 - The Forest : the first 'cheat' is achieved by pushing the second cactus back - giving you 80000 points and transporting you to your house at the end of level two. If this doesn't work then try the second, third and fourth logs in the woods. The machine randomly chooses one of these (pushing the logs only works if you haven't died and you have 15000 points). Get the cherry that appears as it turns into another three.

Round 3 - The mountains : these have no cheats - but watch out for the plane that always flies over the first mountain (a flower sometimes grows here and in many other places, I am sure that this means nothing). After completing the mountains you pass two cacti. Pushing the first one back, on earlier versions, makes you invisible and invincible to everything except the water (which just happens to be the next obstacle!) To jump over the water - run at full speed over the spring board and at the edge press jump and keep on whacking the joystick to the right - you should glide over the pool! You have then reached Fairyland! Here the Queen gives you a gift of magic boots that enable you to fly. You then start Round 4 going back the opposite way.

Round 4 - Journey home : you first encounter cacti that you must jump over. If at any point you see the letter 'S' in a Pac bubble flying about - get it - it's an extra life. There is also another letter in a Pac bubble that flies around the screen - the letter 'L' - this can be achieved after getting a Pac-Pill, getting four ghosts and then Doris fifth (Doris is the one that chases you and the only one that has no hat after eating a Pac-Pill). The last cactus that you jump over is very tall. Try pushing the lower section of it backwards as this generates 7 balloons. Six of which are worth 100 points but one is worth 7650 points. Get this and don't bother with the others. Continue going home once you reach the town, jump on all fire hydrants as this always generates cherries. If pushing the cactus back didn't do anything then try pushing the second to last fire hydrant back - this will generate the balloons. When you arrive home you can still jump to get 7650 points.

Round 5 - The Town : jump on the fire hydrants to generate cherries. Push the third hydrant back to give you the hat. If you pass two fire hydrants on top of each other then jump on top of these. The blue things that push you along (water jets) can also push you on top of the houses. This is advisable as it keeps you away from any double decker buses! If the second fire hydrant didn't give the helmet then the fourth fire hydrant along will.

Round 6 - The water pool area : you have two short(ish) pools to clear, followed by more ghosts on pogo sticks (here appears another floating cherry). The last pool is the longest of these and must be judged carefully to clear.

Round 7 - The water jets : you have three different platforms to jump on (always try to stay on the highest one). If a flying water jet happens to hit you then whack the joystick everywhere and press fire as it is possible to escape. Not much on this round, just collect loads of strawberries. After this you reach fairyland again, you receive the boots again, and have to return home.

Round 8 - The trip home : firstly, you have to cross the long pool - backwards. Jump to the top of the screen straight away to get the cherries and clear the planes. There are stumps sticking out that you can land on and get cherries. After this there is the forest to complete. The first or second to last log will give the balloons.

Round 9 - The Water Pool Area : you leave your house and go straight into the water pool area. There are three cacti on this round. Pushing either the first (before the pool), second (before the skeleton) or third (before the Pac-pill) back will give you the helmet. The pool is slightly different as it has a stump sticking out of the water that has an extra spring board you can land on. After this there is a skeleton (that drags you down into the ground) and must be jumped over.

Round 10- The forest : pushing one of the logs back will make you invincible to the ghosts. This works even if you have died. When you start flashing, the invincibility is about to ware off.

Round 11 - The logs and clouds : much like the one on Trip 1 except after jumping the logs, you have to jump onto clouds (although not essential as Pac can clear all the cloud jumps in one). After this you reach fairyland yet again and you receive the boots.

Round 12 - The trip home : first collect the three cherries. Then you have to jump backwards over a large pool - with no stumps. After this you reach the town. One of the few fire hydrants gives the balloon's.

Round 13 - The Town : this level has many double hydrants. Jump on these and wait for the water jet to push you up onto the houses. Walking along the houses gives you some cherries. On many versions there is no helmet on this round.

Round 14 - The cavern : you have to collect the keys to open the doors. The first key is on the top layer. Jump up there to get it. Keep going right and fall down the hole. Keep going right and fall down the next one too (you should now be on the bottom layer). Keep going right (staying on this level) and open the door. Keep going right. Jump up through the next hole and get the apples. Continue right, fall down the hole and get the key. Use this immediately to open the door. Keep going right, do not jump through the first hole and stay on the lowest level. You can then get two apples, jump through the hole and get a key, and then fall through another hole to get another two apples. Continue right and after opening the door, jump through the holes to get from the bottom level to the top. Open the door you reach and go through. Fall through the next two holes (so that you are back on the lowest level). Open the door you reach and get the two apples. Return through the door you've just come through, jump to the middle layer and continue right. You will now be out of the cavern and have reached 'break time'. So long as you don't waste time and keys it is actually easy.

Round 15 - The water jets : i think that pushing one of these fire hydrants may give the helmet, but I'm not too sure. Watch out for the planes at the very end of the level. Try to jump on them.

Round 16 - The trip home : the first gives the balloon's. Next it's the mountains. The is normally an extra life lurking around the second mountain so go backwards once for it if it doesn't come (an 'S' in a Pac). Then is the forest. The first log encountered gives the balloon's if the cactus didn't.

Round 17 - A forest level : on some versions of the machine the very first cactus will give the helmet. Just before the water is a Pac-Pill and it is quite easy to get the time bonus. After the pool, there is a short forest, following that is a spring board that must be used to clear a second pool that cannot be seen from that point.

Round 18 - The cavern : you only have limited sight. The first key is on the lower level. Go right, then jump up to the middle level, then jump up to the top layer. Keep going right and fall down a hole to the middle layer (you'll be in between two doors). Jump back up to the top level (making sure you don't open either of these. Once back on the top level, keep going right and you'll reach a door. Open it and get the key directly behind. Keep going right, fall down to the middle layer, get the key, fall down to the lower level, collect the fruit. Open the door you come across. Don't jump through the next hole, but through the one after that. Jump to get the key (fall straight back down again). Keep going right. Jump up through the next hole, go right, and fall down the next. Open the next door (you're still on the bottom level) and jump through the next hole. Then jump up to the top level, open the door and get the fruit. Go through on the top and open the end door. Fall through the holes and go to the bottom level. Go right and collect the fruit there. finally, go to the middle level and exit to 'Break Time'.

Round 19 - The mountains : clear these and the clouds as usual, but watch out for the planes at the end (over the part with three sets of moving logs). Enter fairyland.

Round 20 - The return home : this is very easy. Keep on going left, You first hit a forest. Watch out for the ghost near the end. This is followed by a pool, get all the cherries on the way, but DON'T stop for anything. Then you reach another forest, then another pool, then the last forest (watch out for another ghost here) and then the town. By the time you reach the town you will be out of time and must run full speed from Doris. Try to get the Pac-Pill but if you miss it, don't go back for it!

Round 21 - The town : this is hard as there are so many ghosts. It is pointless jumping onto the double hydrants as getting on top of the houses may involve hitting a plane. Try to stay on the top of the double-decker buses, jumping from one to another. This will stop you needing a run up. The Pac-Pill at the end can only be got by first jumping onto a ghost. Don't bother with it unless you are already on a ghost. Go straight for 'Break Time'.

Round 22 - The mountains : as well as the clouds, you meet a new section - four logs in water that must be jumped onto and crossed. Careful judgment is needed here. Get the Pac-Pill afterward as you'll need it. Time is short so don't stop for anything.

Round 23 - The water jets : this gets hard towards the end as there are many ghosts around. Try to stay on the planes. You then reach Fairyland.

Round 24 - The trip home : first are the water jets to cross. This is quite easy as there aren't many ghosts and enables you to collect a lot of fruit. Then you enter the town. The last part of this is very hard. Just jump for the Pac-Pill when you see it and hope you get it before you are killed! Don't wait around.

Round 25 - The woods : there are two woods split up by lots of skeletons. DON'T use the spring board or you will hit one of the planes. All of the skeletons are fake apart from the first and last. So don't worry about touching them. When you enter the first wood, look for the helmet at the fourth log. I think it is hidden in there.

Round 26 - The mountains - again! : this time you don't have many logs to jump on and there are very few clouds. Most of the mountains have to be jumped without any clouds. This level also contains the logs in water and is the furthest that I've ever got.

* The appearance of special items in Pac-Land is NOT random. The position in which they appear depends on the last two digits of the player's score when starting a round. The table below gives the position of the obstacle which needs to be pushed to reveal the secret. In the table, R stands for Round No., F for feature (H=Helmet, W=Warp, T=Transparency, B=Balloons). The relevant obstacle number is given in each column for each score. For example, when first starting a game, the last two digits will obviously be 00, so the helmet appears by pushing the 4th hydrant. If, on the second round, the player starts with e.g. 20020 points, then the warp will be hidden in the 2nd tree stump and so on. Some rounds have no hidden items. Now, when running from left to right, the obstacles are counted as the player meets them, BUT for return journeys (right->left), the numbering is different, only the LAST four obstacles are relevant. For example, on Round 4, Obstacle 1 is the last large cactus the player meets, Obstacles 2, 3, and 4 are the three hydrants in the town (numbered from right to left). All obstacles must be pushed in the opposite direction that Pac-Man must run in to reach his goal.

R F 00 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

1 H 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

2 W 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

3 T 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

4 B 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4

5 H 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

7 T 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1

8 B 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4

9 H 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1

11* T OK OK OK OK OK*

12* B OK OK OK OK OK*

13 H 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1

15 T 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

16 B 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

17 H 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

20 B 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4

23 T 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

24 B 1 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 4

25 H 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

27 T 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1

*There is only one obstacle on Rounds 11 and 12.

The helmet gives protection from falling monsters, and gives points for every one collected. The warp only appears on Round 2, and warps the player to Trip 3 and awards 70000 points. Transparency makes Pac-Man invulnerable to ghosts, and balloons give points. Six balloons are released, and usually five of them are worth 100 points, and another 7650 points, BUT if the last four digits of the player's score are 0000, then ALL 6 balloons will be worth 7650 points.

There are no hidden items on any Round on Trip 8, and Trip 9 is the same as Trip 5, Trip 10 the same as Trip 6 and so on, repeatedly (can anyone confirm?).

- 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)

- PORTS -

* Consoles :

NEC PC-Engine (1989)

Atari Lynx (1991)

Sony PlayStation (1996, "Namco Museum Vol.4")

Nintendo Famicom

* Computers :

Commodore C64 (1988)

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1989)

Amstrad CPC (1989)

Commodore Amiga (1989)

Atari ST (1989)

Sharp X68000 (1994)

MSX

* Others :

LCD handheld game (1984) released by Namco.

- SOURCES -

Game's rom.

Machine's picture.

MAME Info:

0.34b8 [Nicola Salmoria]

0.33b1 [Ernesto Corvi]

Artwork available

Bugs:

- During the check you can hear a white noise sound. Since 0.89. Kold666 (ID 00226)

WIP:

- 0.144u7: Kanikani updated Pac-Land dipswitches.

- 0.139u2: Phil Bennett fixed reload of state cause game issues in Pac-Land and clones.

- 0.139u1: Atari Ace removed global variables from NAMCO sound core.

- 0.138: Team Japump added clone Pac-Land (Japan older). And fixed ROM labels for Pac-Land. Changed description of clones 'Pac-Land (Japan newer)' to 'Pac-Land (Japan new)' and 'Pac-Land (Japan older)' to 'Pac-Land (Japan old)'. Renamed (pacland2) to (paclandj) and (pacland3) to (paclandjo).

- 0.122u7: Changed HD63701 CPU2 clock speed to 6144000 Hz.

- 0.118u6: Aaron Giles fixed wrong gfx display and added save state support to Pac-Land. Changed palettesize to 3072 colors.

- 0.118u5: Changed palettesize to 4096 colors.

- 3rd June 2007: Mr. Do - Scanned instruction card for Pac-Land provided by Tormod.

- 0.114u1: Changed description to 'Pac-Land (World)' and clones 'Pac-Land (set 2)' to 'Pac-Land (Japan newer)' and 'Pac-Land (set 3)' to 'Pac-Land (Japan older)'.

- 0.107u3: Brian Troha properly documented and connected the CUS60 MCU code to Pacland.

- 0.93: Added clock parameter to Namco CUS30 sound (24000 Hz).

- 0.80: Nicola Salmoria fixed sprite RAM, it was too big and included normal program RAM, causing sprites to be drawn twice. Fixed irq enable. Fixed tilemap scroll offsets and sprite positions. Accurate emulation of tile/sprite priority (including fix of bugs introduced when the driver was converted to tilemaps) and sprite visibility area. MAMETesters pacland36b16 bug is not a bug - colors match the real game. Fixed gfx3/proms rom loading. Changed M6809 CPU1 and HD63701 CPU2 clock speeds to 1536000 Hz.

- 0.79u1: Curt Coder fixed problems created when Pac-Land was converted to tilemaps.

- 30th January 2004: Curt Coder submitted a fix for flipscreen and flashlight effect in Pac-Land.

- 0.60: Fixed Pac-Land Crashes with an access violation upon startup.

- 0.37b12: Changed VSync to 60.606060Hz.

- 0.35RC2: Changed HD63701 CPU2 clock speed to 1538461 Hz.

- 0.35b11: Nicola Salmoria fixed foreground transparency in Pac-Land round 19. Changed M6809 CPU1 and HD63701 CPU2 clock speeds to 1.5MHz.

- 14th April 1999: Nicola fixed Pac-Land graphics priorities.

- 0.35b10: Changed HD63701 CPU2 clock speed to 6MHz.

- 0.35b6: Replaced M6803 CPU2 with HD63701.

- 14th April 1999: Nicola fixed Pacland graphics priorities.

- 7th April 1999: Nicola Salmoria has updated Pac-Land driver to work on the new 6800 core, but music speed is still sometimes screwed.

- 0.35b5: Ernesto Corvi added sound to Pac-Land. Changed M6809 CPU1 and M6803 CPU2 clock speeds to 3MHz. Added Namco sound and sound prom ($0).

- 2nd March 1999: Ernesto Corvi fixed Pacland and Rolling Thunder sound by emulating two new opcodes in the 63701 core.

- 1st March 1999: Ernesto Corvi has updated Pacland to support sound.

- 0.34RC1: Dave W. added high score saving to Pac Land.

- 0.34b8: Nicola Salmoria added Pacland (set 1). Changed description of clones 'Pac-Land (Namco set 1)' to '(set 3)' and '(Namco set 2)' to '(set 2)'. Renamed (pacland) to (paclandm), (paclandn) to (pacland3) and (paclanda) to (pacland2).

- 0.33b7: Added proms ($0, 400, 800, c00, 1000). Changed description of clones 'Pac-Land (Namco)' to 'Pac-Land (Namco set 1)' and '(Namco alternate)' to '(Namco set 2)'.

- 0.33b1: Ernesto Corvi added Pac-Land (Midway) (Bally Midway 1984) and clones (Namco) and (Namco alternate).

LEVELS: 99 (endless)

Other Emulators:

* FB Alpha

* HiVE

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Pac-Man - 25th Anniversary Edition

Pac-Man Plus

Super Pac-Man

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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

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Flicky

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Vs. Super Mario Bros

Super Mario Bros. (PlayChoice-10)

Super Mario Bros. 2 (PlayChoice-10)

Super Mario Bros. 3 (PlayChoice-10)

Super Mario World

Wiz

Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars

Athena

The Goonies (PlayChoice-10)

Vs. The Goonies

Legend

Red Robin

Wonder Boy

Wonder Boy in Monster Land

Wonder Boy III - Monster Lair

Chip'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (PlayChoice-10)

Psychic 5

Psycho Soldier

Shadowland

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Wardner

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Dynamite Dux

Hard Head

Hard Head 2

Konek-Gorbunok

The NewZealand Story

Fantasy Land

Keith Courage In Alpha Zones

Legend of Hero Tonma

Marvel Land

Toki

Willow

Blue's Journey

Hammerin' Harry

Liquid Kids

Mega Twins

Nemo

Yo! Noid (PlayChoice-10)

Caveman Ninja / Joe & Mac

Ninja Clowns

PuLiRuLa

Rockin' Kats (PlayChoice-10)

The Simpsons

Three Wonders - Midnight Wanderers

The Addams Family (Nintendo Super System)

Asterix

Kid Chameleon (Mega-Tech)

Aladdin

J. J. Squawkers

Magical Cat Adventure

Spin Master / Miracle Adventure

B.C. Kid

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Recalhorn

Super Trio

Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy

Charlie Ninja

Romset: 193 kb / 19 files / 68.8 zip

MAME XML Output:

<description>Pac-Land (Japan old)</description>

<manufacturer>Namco</manufacturer>