Super Pac-Man might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really like it because the formula is a bit different. Instead of eating dots, Pac-Man has to eat fruits and other items, there are bonus screens, and you have to eat keys to unlock parts of the maze. Atari nearly released Super Pac-Man for the 5200 and 8-bit computers back in 1984, but unfortunately decided not to. The prototypes, however, are playable and that's how I first experienced the game. I've never actually (or at least to my knowledge) played the arcade version, but it was featured quite a bit on the Starcade game show and in the hilariously bad 1982 comedy "Joysticks". Bob (Pac-Man Plus) did a wonderful job porting the game to the 7800. It is more colorful than the 8-bit Protos and although the sounds are not quite as great as the Pokey versions, he did a fantastic job with the TIA.
I got the boxed version, and I love the artwork and quality done on the manual, labels, and box.
If you like pac man games and are looking for something a little different, give this one a try.

Super Pac-Man is one of my all-time favorite arcade games, and I was always disappointed about the lack of a home port. After getting back into the 7800 after a very long break and finding out that a 7800 port of Super Pac-Man had finally been created, I had to buy it. If this had been released for the 7800 back when I first got one, I'd have begged my parents for a copy, and then been absolutely thrilled at just how good it was. This was money well spent, and one 7800 game I look forward to replaying as time goes on.

It's cool to have this port in the library, but lets be honest- this game is whack. Play the Pac Man Collection like a good boy and leave this one for the glue huffers.

Although never seeming to reach the accolades of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man is a very enjoyable game once it is understood how to play, as it does breakaway considerably from the original formula. In all honesty, I remember stinking up the joint pretty badly the few times I played this in the Arcades. I never made it further than 3 or 4 stages.

After being emulated under MAME, as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect, I found myself enjoying this game more and more. It may not ever receive the warm-fuzzes that Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man provide for many, still though, it is a very good game that's worth the time and attention.

How does it stack up on the 7800? Near perfect; a fantastic port has been created which captures the Arcade original excellently. What has become nothing less than a hallmark of his arcade ports to the ProSystem from Bob, the attention to detail for this game is quite extraordinary.

While it can be challenging to take note of some of the similarities between the Arcade original and the 7800 port, things such as: 'Eyes' will turn blue on their way back to home pen if another energizer is eaten, and eyes do not leave the home pen if a monster is chomped inside of it, are present, among a plethora of other items.

The above are some of the little details of what helps to make this port arguably the best of all the ones released on classic 8-bit systems. Even where the 7800 can easily fall short - infamously, its default TIA sound – it may not be believe how incredibly good this game sounds, really nailing the Arcade effects quite well.

Is there a downside? Well, yes and no. This port is less difficult than the Arcade original. Not ‘Atari 2600 Ms. Pac-Man Teddy Bear’ easy, but indeed less difficult than the Arcade.

While it may be nice to play at the full arcade difficulty, the upside of it not being as difficult is newcomers to the game, or those that may have never been able to improve their gaming on the Arcade original, will likely have a considerably easier time playing the 7800 port.

To help offset if it is a little too easy for experts at the game, instead of starting with Stage 1, the freedom to begin at one of the higher stages is present; a very nice added feature.

Super Pac-Man should be a part of every 7800 gamer's library as it is a blast to play, becoming "Super", flying over monsters and ripping through doors, trying to nail that bonus with the slots of items, and the 'cat-mouse' chase still very much in place, keeps it entertaining and paced well. The changes/upgrades from the forerunners in the series include bonus rounds too; again emphasizing how this game is something old, yet something brand new under the 7800.

A very sold version of Super Pac-Man. This is the only console version of the highly underrated arcade game, and it represents its namesake very well. It loses a point due to the audio, which is pretty awful even by 7800 standards. Still, pair this game with a solid joystick and it is one of the most fun Atari 7800 experiences there is.

I wasn't sure if I would like this game or not. I like Pac-Man, but Super Pac-Man just sounded so odd to me. Having never played it before, I gave it a shot. I'm glad I bought it actually! It's not the greatest, but it's a pretty fun variation on the Pac-Man formula, and they certainly tried something different. I like the Super Pellets that make you big and allow you to use a speed boost and break through locked doors.

As far as the sound and graphics go, they're pretty good. The sound seems really off at certain points though, the Pac-Man theme particularly stands out to me as the worse of these sounds. I can overlook it though. If you enjoy Pac-Man and have already played a ton of Pac-Man Collection and Jr. Pac-Man, pick it up! It's a lot of fun!

I don’t care if everybody else hates this version of Pac-Man, it’s still a lot of fun and it offers a nice break from the traditional old school ‘waka-waka’ (missionary position) Pac-Man games. The graphics are very well done and I think this looks identical to the arcade (which I admit to not having the chance to play in several years). The sound effects are extremely close to the original and the cut scenes are hilarious. Best of all, the controls are spot-on responsive and you can outmaneuver that pesky SOB ‘Blinky’ any old time. It may not be a crowd pleaser, but if you like to spice things up and drum to a different beat, you will find Super Pac-Man to be a lovely duckling!

Super Pac-Man is yet-another Pac-Man sequel. In this game though, much of what made Pac-Man a successful formula has been stripped away. Instead of having to clear off a whole screen full of dots, you first must eat several keys which unlock doors to a greatly simplified maze, then eat the fruit (or similar items) inside. The four familiar power pellets are still present, but now you also have two additional super pellets, which turn Pac-Man into a massive, invincible version of his former self, capable of smashing through locked doors and running over monsters at super-speed as if they weren't there.

Super Pac-Man for the 7800 is a hard game to review. While it's an excellent port of the arcade game, the game that it's a port of is only mediocre to begin with. All of the changes completely ruin the dynamic of the Pac-formula, and the addition of the super pellets (plus super-speed if you hold down the fire button) make the game ridiculously easy. You don't even have to eat all the keys to beat a level, and with the absence of a maze full of dots to clear, there's very little strategy needed. It's more of a free-for-all than a maze game. Just grab a power pellet, eat some fruit, grab another pellet, kill some monsters, repeat several times, and by the time you get to the sixth pellet, you should have what little maze there is cleared out.

The bonus items have also been changed so that now the point value is just random. If two flashing items happen to match when you pick up a bonus star, you'll get a huge bonus. If not, you'll get just a few hundred points. So your final score may depend less on skill than on luck. There are also bonus rounds during which there are no monsters at all, just items to pick up to pad your score. There's nothing but a clock to beat, no real challenge, and the idea seems tacked on as an afterthought. What's Pac-Man without monsters?

While I can't recommend Super Pac-Man because the underlying gameplay is so flawed, strictly taken on its merits as a port of an arcade game it's very well done. If you're already a fan of Super Pac-Man, then you should pick this up. The gameplay and graphics are faithful to the original, including the intermissions and bonus rounds. The sound suffers from the 7800's limitations, but it's serviceable. However, if you've never played Super Pac-Man and are looking for a good Pac-Man themed game, you'll probably want to look elsewhere.

While it's not pixel-perfect, Super Pac-Man for the 7800 manages to replicate every facet of the arcade game VERY well. The controls are tight, the sound is replicated well, the sprites are large and everything animates well as it should. All in all, like the arcade game, this is simply a lot of fun to play and I highly recommended it to those looking for an excellent twist on the standard Pac-Man formula, or to those simply looking for a well-made homebrew to add to their 7800 library.

This is one of my fav. Pac-Man variations from the Arcades as a kid. the problem was none of the consoles back then had a port of it