Ms. Pac Man - Arcade

Ms. Pac Man. Timeless arcade classic.
By eep
On
October 11, 2005
Ms. Pac Man - arcade


I don’t exactly remember the first time I had ever played Ms. Pac-Man and I’m sure as hell not going to sit around and begin to try. So children, let’s make up a story as I go along, that would be fun. It was a warm and sunny afternoon in Japan, when all of a sudden this woman in a yellow circler suit ran out of the local arcade. I was curious to know what she was and what she was chasing after, so I did what any unsupervised child did at the age of three, I followed. Turning the corner, I had seen four ghosts chase the woman dressed like the yellow pizza monster as she ran inside a tunnel, only to appear on the opposite side of the street. “How was that possible?” I asked myself while I walked back to the local arcade. To my surprise that question and more had been answered as I read the flyers posted all over the arcade: “Ms. Pac-Man…only a quarter!”


Ok, so that was complete crap but I really don’t remember when or where I had played it first. If any place, it would have been in Montauk. My parents and I would vacation in Montauk every summer, leaving me to the beach, ocean and quarter arcades. The boardwalk had so many arcades, I felt guilty not playing each and every last game. Playing Popeye, Donkey Kong and Dig-Dug, I’m pretty sure I threw some change at Ms. Pac-man a few times. Anyway, so that is probably where I had played it first, but I will never remember my first experience. Crap, don’t you hate it when you try and remember one thing and remember something completely different? One of the arcades had a game with a light gun crossbow. I wonder what was the name of it…Shit! That game was awesome. Blah! Oh well, back to Ms. Pac-Man.

Once upon a time in a far away land (downtown Manhattan), my friends Roy, Pam and I came across the idea that we should challenge each other to a game of Ms. Pac-man. Knowing that this would be a perfect way for all of us to get in touch with our competitive sides, we agreed to battle within the week. The battle would take place in New York’s very own China Town Fair, the best arcade in the city. With our quarters ready and our minds set to avoid ghosts, we were about to embark in the most intense Ms. Pac-Man Challenge EVER (not really)!!

As we entered the arcade one week later, Roy suggested that he go first as Pam and I killed time playing other machines. Pam insisted that we play Dance Dance Revolution, choosing the “Specials” Song. Not knowing that she would play the same song three times in a row, I shoved her into the nearest machine as soon as I heard the familiar beat, a third time. I went to see how Roy was holding up in the game, thinking that he had been eating by psychopathic hungry ghost. He still had three lives and not a sign of losing one. Bastard! I knew I should have practiced! Oh well.

After about a solid ten minutes, Roy was done, with Pam up next. Leaving her to the game, Roy and I played Gauntlet Legends (I own an original Gauntlet machine, which I will talk about in another review/article), killing zombies and accidentally eating poisoned food. Since I ate most of the poisoned food, I of course died a horrible death leaving mummies to eat my intestines. I hate mummies.

A few moments later, Pam walked up to us in disappointment, explaining that the ghosts had become insane with mad ghost disease and eaten her with wild passion. I became very scared and hid deep within my Ren and Stimpy sweater. It was my turn and I was petrified. “We are going to look for something to eat outside” They said, leaving me alone with four evil ghosts. I was alone, so very alone.

We each played two more times and added up our scores. Roy had the largest score winning the Ms. Pac-Man Challenge! Oh MAN! I just remembered that we bet on the game! The bet was to buy the winner a slice of pizza (excluding me, because I try and avoid animal garbage). Sorry mister Roy, I’ll definitely buy you a slice of pizza for your outstanding Ms. Pac-Man Score. Congratulations to Roy on his 345,250 points. HIP HIP HOORAY!!! My revenge will be sweet! MUHAHAHHA!!! Tetris!

Ms. Pac Man is truly a classic game and nothing could ever take it's place. I give the ol' video game a 4 out of 4.

-eep!
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