Customer Reviews

Retro Arcade Pac Man TV Game

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This item is great, for just over twenty bucks at Target. It has a whole bunch of games that I remember from when I was young. Pac man, space invaders etc... really brought back memories. My kids love it since the games are easy to understand and there are only a few buttons. Also it runs off 4 AA batteries so no worries about younder children putting the adaptor end in their mouth. The unit itself seems quite durable, switches and the joystick are really of good quality.
Its a good buy. I would say better than the atari flashback 2.0 console (the only good game on that was Centiped).
would recommend this for sure - I think I am playing it more than my kids.

This is as close as I'll get to the original games. WOW. The old patterns work and the joystick is pretty amazing. I used to spend more than this in a weekend in the arcade so this is an amazing value and a lot of fun. I spent the entire weekend with it challenging my nephew to games he's never played before. I can't recommend this enough to someone who loved these games back in the 80s.

This is a great game collection, twelve in all. It has a great joystick, even though it made my hand a little tired. The games are all awesome, and fun. It's great for parties and for kids.

I did have one complaint, though.

This is very close to the logic of Pacman, but you can tell that it has different logic than the arcade version of Pacman. In the arcade version, the orange ghost follows a random pattern that is close to you but isn't chasing you directly. But in this version, the orange ghost chases you directly.

It does visually resemble Pacman exactly, but the logic of the ghosts is off. If you're just playing for fun or getting this for your grandkids, nobody will notice. But if you're trying to beat some world records on Pacman, then this product will probably throw your game off.

All the games are:
*Pacman
*Dig Dug
*Pole Position
*Galaga
*Galaxian
*Bosconian
*Super Pac-Man
*Xevious
*New Rally X
*Mappy
*Pac-Man Plus
*Pac & Pal

Pros:
+Appears to be a faithful clone of all games but Pacman
+Has a lot of old 80s games
+Lots of Pac-games
+Good, solid hardware

Cons:
-Isn't a true clone of the regular Pacman artificial intelligence
-Only has one audio out, so you either need a splitter, or sound will only play from half of your TV

First the software. The unit is great is this respect. The games are true to the originals, and the front end to choose the 12 games is made in a nice matching style. Great thing is this games stores highscores, where most original cabinets lost these when the games were powered off. One of the best ways to gain a legal working PCB with the (almost) original arcade games!

Then the hardware. The toy is a great upgrade from the first pacman and ms pacman toy. The stick is more solid and the buttons look real. But there is one big mistake. The joystick must be on the left, and the fire buttons on the right! And those buttons are too stiff. So forget beating any Galaga high score on this. Firing the bullets will kill your left arm. It needs right arm muscles and good training to score reasonable. So the best thing to do with this toy is buy a real arcade joystick, 3 real arcade buttons, built yourself a nice stand up arcade cabinet, grab an old TV and put the things together with this toys PCB in the cab. Then this toy really becomes legendary!

Although the makers took care to make it look and feel authentic, the joy stick's poor response time hampers the Pac Man games. It's frustrating-- even absurd-- especially with regards to quick escapes and turning corners. Since Dig Dug moves around slowly, game play is more realistic and enjoyable.

First off, I can't believe the price hike since I bought this item. I only paid $19.99 , which is the suggested retail price at the manufacturer website. The games are great but the controller takes some getting used to. It seems a little off in the response time but works ok after you get accustomed to it. I was able to conquer several levels of pac man and galaga. The only problem I had was Pole Position wasn't allowing me to control the car AT ALL. I called the company (took a week for a call back) and they said you have to actually twist the remote like a door knob left and right to control the car, who would have known? It would have been nice if they actually included this info in the manual. Otherwise, this game system is pretty hot and I would recommend it. I took off a star for the controller response.

Update: 2/13/11 The controller is response is fine. It just took a few games to get used to playing that old style joystick. The only thing I don't like is the buttons are situated on the controller for left handed players. I totally recommend this product.

I bought this product two weeks ago. The package came brand new in original packaging. The device itself is strongly built. Joystick and buttons are firm and responsive. It seems as though it's going to be able to take a lot of punishment.

The video looks great on LCD TV. Images are clean and movement on screen is fluid. I read that there were lag issues in earlier reviews, however, I can say that I experienced no noticeable lag issues when playing. The sound is what you expect. All familiar tones.

There are no surprises with the gameplay. You won't be getting anything new here. The game is still fun. Love competing for the high score. The game saves high scores.

Overall I'm pleased with the purchase and am having lots of fun with it.

I thought it was a great product. Easily plugs in to any tv (tube or flat screen), is very portable, has the original arcade version of a bunch of games and the joystick control is easy to use and durable. Excellent!

great classic game, the joy stick is of the quality of the archade games we used to play. two other classic games included plus other game not so hot.

If you like retro games, this thing is a bargain. Unlike most that you can find, this actually feels somewhat like the classics. The video quality is there (or not there), and the controls are right. Playing these games with a keyboard is just wrong.

Battery life seems to be pretty good.

Totally worthwhile for the office, dorm room, or family room.