History of Pac-Man clones and bootlegs/Original games featuring Pac-Man

This page details notable, unauthorized original games featuring the Pac-Man name and/or character.
These titles are distinct from standard Pac-Man clones for several reasons. The games in this section use a character strongly resembling Pac-Man (e.g. fully spherical, yellow coloring), including in promotional material; generally, the Ghosts are used as well. Furthermore, these games are either quite literally titled "Pac-Man", or titled something very similar to Pac-Man (e.g. retaining "Pac" or "Man").
Some of these titles are direct clones of the Pac-Man arcade game(s), while others are more inventive. Despite this, all of these games are originally programmed; none are hacked or use code from the original source material.
== Arcade games ==
=== Mr. & Mrs. Pec-Men ===
Mr. & Mrs. Pec-Men is a pinball machine released by LTD do Brasil in 1983. It is a close clone of Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man, an official Pac-Man pinball machine from 1982.
The general gameplay of the machine is the same as the original, though some of the artwork has been redrawn (while still mimicking the official machine). The actual game logic board, however, is entirely different, including an altered scoring system. The game also features different music; including songs from Ms. Pac-Man, a rendition of "It's a Small World", and several public domain songs.
While practically unheard of in other countries, counterfeit pinball machines were common in Brazilian territories. From 1976 up until the late 80s, importing pinball machines was deemed illegal in Brazil; resulting in imitations of American pinball designs being produced within Brazil. Oddly, Mr. & Mrs. Pec-Men appears to be the only bootleg of this type released by LTD do Brasil, who otherwise mainly produced "original" machine models.
The strange formatting of the logo makes it appear as "Mr. & Mrs. Pcc-Mcn", though it is written more clearly as "Pec-Men" on the pinball playfield.
=== Hyper Pacman series ===
Hyper Pacman (하이퍼팩맨) is a series of South Korean-developed arcade games, released by SemiCom beginning in the mid-1990s.
The first game in the series, Hyper Pacman - also known as just "Hyper Man" in some later revisions - was released in 1995. A rather unique take on the Pac-Man formula, Hyper Pacman features many power-ups hidden throughout the levels; including helmets that allow Pac-Man to shoot lasers, and bombs that can destroy the maze walls. The game also features two-player simultaneous play, with player 2 controlling a pink Ms. Pac-Man.
Hyper Pacman was followed by New Hyper Man; this game, instead of the standard Pac-Man gameplay, is a shooting game based on the "laser" mechanics of the first game. A prototype version of New Hyper Man has also been found, which features autofire (while the final game does not). Two additional games, Twinkle and Twinkle II, were also produced, which feature gameplay more akin to the first Hyper Pacman. Finally, a game titled "PacMan 2" was included in the "Puzzle King" multi-arcade, which seems to be another SemiCom Pac-Man title.
=== Puckman Pockimon ===
Puckman Pockimon (精靈家族) is a Chinese-developed arcade game, released by Genie in 2000. It is a Pac-Man clone featuring elements from the Pokémon series.
The game features two-player simultaneous play, with player 1 controlling Pac-Man and player 2 controlling Pikachu. The game features original maze layouts, alongside various power-ups (and power-downs). When a level is completed, for unclear reasons, a digitized photo of an Asian woman is shown. The game's sound effects are taken from the Sega Genesis version of Ms. Pac-Man.
== Windows and Mac games ==
=== 3D Maze Man series ===
3D Maze Man is a series of PC games, developed by Webfoot Technologies and published by eGames in the late 1990s. The first entry in the series is 3D Maze Man: Amazing Adventures, released in 1998. The game is a standard Pac-Man clone; the player character has close resemblance to Pac-Man himself.
Amazing Adventures would be followed by several sequels. 3D Maze Man: Adventures in Winter Wonderland was given a Christmas theme; 3D Ms. Maze: Tropical Adventures was designed to resemble Ms. Pac-Man; and 3D Frog Man featured a frog protagonist. A compilation titled "Galaxy of Arcade Classics" featured another Pac-Man clone titled "3D Chomper"; this collection also included a Dig Dug clone.
In 2000, Hasbro Interactive (alongside Atari Interactive) filed a lawsuit against several Windows/Mac game publishers; all of which had released knock-offs of various video game properties, including Pac-Man. One defendant in the case was eGames, with 3D Maze Man being cited as an infringing game.https://web.archive.org/web/20081206053439/http://boardgames.about.com/library/news/bl000208a.htm Hasbro and eGames would eventually reach a settlement - with all aforementioned releases being recalled.https://www.toymania.com/news/messages/837.shtmlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20121015104056/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/egames-announces-settlement-of-hasbro-litigation-73161167.html Several 3D Maze Man variants would still surface after the lawsuit, though these releases were not published by eGames.
=== WizardWorks Pac-Man clones ===
WizardWorks was a game developer and publisher, primarly focused on the home computer market. In 1996, the company was acquired by GT Interactive.https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/hiac_xi.html WizardWorks published several "arcade compilations", primarily for Macintosh systems; the majority of these releases included Pac-Man clones.
The first WizardWorks clone appears to be "Mac-Man" (a pun between Pac-Man and the Mac operating system), originating from a "Mac Arcade Pak" compilation. Developed by Varcon Systems in 1994, Mac-Man is a close clone of the original Pac-Man, with near-identical graphics. An alternate version was included in the "Kid's Arcade Pack", titled "Macman Kid". Another Pac-Man clone, titled "3D Chomper!", appears in the "Funpack 3D" collection; this game was developed by WayForward in 1998. 3D Chomper features psuedo-3D graphics, with a Pac-Man design highly reminiscent of Pac-Mania.
Both GT Interactive and Varcon Systems were defendants in the Hasbro Interactive lawsuit; presumably, the two companies were held responsible for the older WizardWorks content. The case was later settled, with the aforementioned games being recalled.
Ironically, in late 1999, GT Interactive was acquired by Infogrames. Hasbro Interactive collapsed by the end of 2000, due to the dot-com bubble; leading to Infogrames buying out Hasbro Interactive, less than a year after the court settlement.
=== "Pac-Guy" series (Pac Pack) ===
"Pac-Guy" refers to a series of PC games, produced by Astral Entertainment in the mid-to-late 1990s. The games were dubbed as a "parody" of Pac-Man, and are of a rather amateurish quality.
In 1998, a company known as ValuSoft published the Pac-Guy series on a CD-ROM, titled the "Pac Pack"; notably, its cover artwork strongly resembled the actual Pac-Man art style. Some time after Pac Pack's release, ValuSoft caught wind of Hasbro Interactive's litigation against 3D Maze Man, and chose to recall the game as a result.https://web.archive.org/web/20040214060851/http://www.astralent.com/PacPack/
After ValuSoft recalled the game, Astral regained the publishing rights and continued producing the Pac Pack. In 2004, however, Astral ceased their own production of the Pac Pack; though claimed that "no legal action was taken" against the game. Bizarrely (and arrogantly), Astral also attempted to site the "Ultimate Pac Pack" by Infogrames as "infringing" on their rights; when said release is just a box set of three official Pac-Man games.
== Electronic handheld games ==
=== PacMan2 ===
PacMan2 is a handheld LCD game, released in the U.S. by Entex in 1981. The game was also released in Japan as HungryPac; several "sequels" with slightly different mechanics, including a HungryPac II and III, were also released in other parts of the world. PacMan2 is effectively the same as the original Pac-Man, though features a unique two-player mode; in which Pac-Man (player 1) fights against a Ghost (player 2).
In a previous lawsuit between Entex and Bally Midway, Entex had been granted court permission to release an "Electronic Space Invader" handheld. As such, Entex assumed that releasing PacMan2 (as well as a "Galaxian2") would be okay legally; however, Midway took Entex to court over these handhelds as well. In part due to Coleco obtaining the Pac-Man handheld rights around this time, this case was ruled in favor of Midway. The games were briefly granted official "license" by Midway; though after January of 1982, Entex's releases would be pulled from shelves.
=== Packri Monster ===
Packri Monster is a handheld LCD game released in 1981. Ironically, the game was developed and published by Bandai, the current owner of the Pac-Man IP (following the formation of Bandai Namco in 2006).
On the front of the console's box, the game's title is styled as "PACKri MONster" - making a clear attempt to invoke Pac-Man. The game is a generic Pac-Man clone, including copying the music and cutscenes.
Upon Packri Monster's overseas release, both Midway and Coleco filed suit against Bandai; Epoch was also involved in this case, though settled with the plaintiffs quickly. In the lawsuit, Bandai attempted to prove that Pac-Man was a stolen concept anyway; citing Sega's Head-On arcade game, Obake no Q-Tarō, and Tomy's Pac-Man board game as products which Pac-Man "ripped off". The court was not convinced by this notion at all, as Packri Monster was clearly copying Namco/Midway's Pac-Man specifically; the case was ruled in favor of Midway and Coleco.https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/546/125/1870427/
Strangely, Bandai would later attempt to sue Midway over the prior litigation. In this lawsuit, Bandai claimed they were unaware that Namco were the creators of the Pac-Man game, and that Midway could not represent Namco in court. This was (rather obviously) not the case, as Midway owned the full U.S. copyright to Pac-Man at the time.https://casetext.com/case/bandai-america-inc-v-bally-midway-mfg-co
=== Other electronic handheld games ===
For unclear reasons, electronic handheld Pac-Man clones were extremely common - possibly moreso than in other video game formats. Especially for earlier units, it is difficult to determine which Pac-Man handhelds were licensed by Namco (or a related party); it is possible that some releases used the "clone licensing" strategy, at least in Japan. There are also instances where a console was officially licensed in one country, but were seemingly released without license in other territories.
While it is too difficult to document every handheld Pac-Man clone, some notable systems include:
*Pak Pak Man - Released by Epoch in 1981; known as Epoch-Man in North America. Some variants appear to be licensed; one U.S. commercial for the game states it is "licensed by Midway and Coleco", suggesting a similar settlement to the aforementioned PacMan2 case was reached.
*PakPak Land and Pac Pac Doraemon - Unique variants of the aforementioned Pak Pak Man.
*Tomy Watchman: Monster Hero - Released by Tomy in 1982; oddly does not use Pac-Man branding, despite Tomy's connection to the Pac-Man IP. Distributed in North America by Nelsonic with official Pac-Man branding.
*Puck Monster - Released by Gakken in 1982. On some revisions, there is a copyright notice of "Namco Ltd." on the front of the box; however, earlier versions do not seem to feature this notice. In Australia, it was released as "Pac Man" by Futuretronics; a company that briefly owned the Australian trademark for Pac-Man, through unknown means.
*Super Puck Monster - Released by Gakken in 1983; a rebranded version of the Pac-Man Coleco Tabletop machine. Similarly to the original, there is a copyright notice of "© 1980 Namco Ltd." on the box.
*Monster Maze - Originally released by Tiger Electronics in 1982, in both a small handheld format and as a tabletop arcade machine. The company CGL - who published several of Gakken's handheld titles in Europe - released Monster Maze as "Pocket Puck Monster", selling it as a "sequel" to Puck Monster.
*"Arcade Classic" - Rebranded version of a licensed "Pac-Man Colour Handheld Game". Both releases were produced by Zeon Tech in the mid-2000s.
== Other platforms ==
=== Muncher ===
Muncher is a game released for the Bally Astrocade game system (also known as the Bally Professional Arcade). The game was developed by Esoterica in 1981, but published by Bally Midway themselves; making Muncher a literal first-party Pac-Man clone. Muncher could only be purchased via mail order from the "Arcadian" newsletter, reportedly due to legal reasons."The DNA team had written an improved version of 'Pac-Man' called 'Muncher,' but legalities prevented its retail appearance. Cartridges were available only to ARCADIAN subscribers." (https://www.ballyalley.com/ballyalley/articles/Robert_Fabris_introduction-edited.html)
Muncher is a direct clone of Pac-Man, with effectively no changes whatsoever. The maze design, music, and graphics all closely reflect the arcade original. The only notable difference is that Pac-Man stops in place when the joystick is let go of; when in the original game, he continues moving.
Notably, several prototype cartridges exist that outright title the game "Pac-Man". It is assumed that - despite Midway owning the North American rights to Pac-Man at the time - Atari's exclusivity contract for Pac-Man on home consoles prevented Midway from releasing the actual game. Midway attempted to release both Galaxian and Space Invaders on the Astrocade as well; but presumably due to Atari, they were renamed "Galactic Invasion" and "Astro Battle" respectively in later reprints.
=== Gobbler ===
Gobbler is a game for the Apple II computer. It was developed by Pam Lubeck in 1981, and later sold to Ken Williams of On-Line Systems for publishing in 1981. Gobbler is a standard Pac-Man clone, retaining the Pac-Man characters and a close maze layout. The maze is roughly the vertical width of the actual game, and as a result, was turned 90 degrees on its side (to fit on a horizontal monitor).
Atari would file a lawsuit against Gobbler; Williams obliged and removed Gobbler from the market. During this same period, however, John Harris - a then-new employee at On-Line Systems - had designed an Atari 8-bit port of Gobbler. Under Williams' request, Harris's port would be reworked into an "original" game, Jawbreaker; which would cause another lawsuit between On-Line and Atari.https://retro365.blog/2021/06/15/bits-from-my-personal-collection-gobbler-ken-and-roberta-williams-takes-on-atari/
=== PakPak Monster ===
PakPak Monster (パクパクモンスター Pakupaku Monsutā) is a game released for the Epoch Cassette Vision in 1982. The game is similar in concept to Pac-Man (and stars Pac-Man himself), but features a strange maze layout and only 8 dots; the dots must be run over multiple times before they can be eaten.
Being developed by Epoch, PakPak Monster (judging by the name) is seemingly connected to the aforementioned Pak Pak Man handheld. Because of this, and due to Namco officially licensing Galaxian for the Cassette Vision platform, the game may have been a technically-licensed Pac-Man title.
=== Jelly Monsters ===
In 1981, HAL Laboratory obtained the rights to produce Pac-Man on the Commodore VIC-20 computer; HAL developed and published the game in Japan. In North America, however, HAL's Pac-Man port was published by Commodore themselves as Jelly Monsters; the namechange would suggest that the overseas release was without license from Namco.
Atari quickly took legal action against this port, and it was removed from stores. Atari released a unique port of Pac-Man for the VIC-20 in 1983, which is commonly considered inferior to HAL's version. Possibly due to the Atari litigation, HAL sold the computer rights they obtained to Pac-Man; the rights were granted to Dempa, who ended up porting Pac-Man to many other home computers in Japan.
=== Taxman ===
Taxman is a game for the Apple II computer. The game was written by Brian Fitzgerald and Greg Autry, and published by their own firm, H.A.L. Labs (note that this company is unrelated to the aforementioned HAL Laboratory). Taxman is a direct Pac-Man clone, with some very minor differences (e.g. different Fruit designs and unique cutscenes).
According to Greg Autry, Atari initially threatened a lawsuit against H.A.L. over Taxman. Reportedly due to negative press coverage over the threat, however, Atari decided to not take direct legal action. Instead, Atari outright purchased the full rights to Taxman; the game was then reprogrammed into an "official" Apple II port of Pac-Man (by Fitzgerald and Autry themselves), which would be published by Atarisoft in 1983.https://forums.atariage.com/topic/216495-taxman/?do=findComment&comment=3162025
H.A.L. Labs actually released a sequel to Taxman in 1982, titled Super Taxman 2; this game features new maze layouts and altered visuals (though the player still resembles Pac-Man). Notably, the game features an Atari trademark notice on the box, presumably from Atari owning the Taxman "copyright". The game uses a rendition of "When I'm Sixty-Four" by The Beatles on the title screen; ironically, The Beatles' "Taxman" is not present.
=== Pack'n Boy ===
Pack'n Boy (パックンボーイ Pakkunbōi) is a game released by PSK in 1982 on three Japanese home computers: the NEC PC-88, the FM-8, and the PC-6001 mkII. The game is a close clone of Pac-Man; the maze is turned 90 degrees on its side, though is otherwise an accurate recreation of the original arcade maze layout. The PC-88 version features intermission screens, which are based on the cutscenes from Super Pac-Man.
In 1984, Dempa would gain the official home computer rights to Pac-Man in Japan, releasing the game on various platforms. However, many of Dempa's Pac-Man ports have a striking resemblance to the PC-88 version of Pack'n Boy. In Dempa's own PC-88 release of Pac-Man, the maze is turned on its side, with a near-identical maze layout to Pack'n Boy. Additionally, both games use strange shapes for the Dots with holes in the middle of them, and feature text reading "Coffee Break" during the intermissions; something not present in any other Pac-Man releases.
Despite this, Dempa's PC-88 port does not appear to be directly modified from Pack'n Boy, and is credited to a different developer on the title screen (T. Tabeta instead of T. Maekawa). The most likely conclusion is that Dempa used Pack'n Boy as a visual reference for their own Pac-Man ports - but did not outright reuse any of its code, nor was it a case of acquiring the rights to the bootleg (as occurred with Taxman and several other overseas Pac-Man clones).
=== Z-Man ===
Z-Man is a game for the ZX Spectrum computer, released by DJL Software in 1983. It is a close clone of Pac-Man. Some releases bundled the game with "Froggy", a clone of Frogger.
Similarly to Taxman, Z-Man was reprogrammed into Atarisoft's official ZX Spectrum port of Pac-Man; however, the exact details as to how this occurred are unknown. The Atari release slightly alters the maze, and adds additional fruit and cutscenes. Surprisingly, Z-Man would be reissued in 1985 - after the Atari version was already produced - under license from DJL Software.
=== Scamperghost and Pac-Avoid ===
Scamperghost is a web-based game produced by Matthew Cox in 2009. While only loosely based on Pac-Man, the game was infamously cloned in the form of the more infringing Pac-Avoid, released by the company King that same year.
Scamperghost, in actuality, is a rather original work compared to Pac-Man; though clearly takes some inspiration from the game. Using a computer mouse, the player guides a blue sphere through a blank field, and must eat “coins” while avoiding the ghosts. A Power Pellet-like item also appears, which, as in Pac-Man, turns the ghosts blue.
Initially, Cox was in talks with King to grant them publishing rights to Scamperghost. However, MaxGames.com (who also published the unlicensed PacMan Platform 2 game) offered a better deal to Cox, so MaxGames was granted the rights instead. After King’s offer was declined, the company retaliated; King released a clone of Scamperghost called Pac-Avoid, rushing to publish the game before Scamperghost even released. Cox would eventually get in contact with Pac-Avoid’s developer, who admitted that he was hired by King to “clone the game very quickly”.https://web.archive.org/web/20140125103510/http://junkyardsam.com/kingcopied
In early 2014, King was widely criticized for attempting to trademark basic, individual words (namely “candy” and “saga”); issuing takedown notices to various video games using said words in their title. Cox, outraged at this practice, published the transcripts of his contact with King regarding Scamperghost.https://www.polygon.com/2014/1/23/5339800/indie-developer-accuses-king-of-double-standard-alleges-game-was It was found especially ironic that King made such an obvious attempt to play off of the Pac-Man trademark; while insisting rights in everyday words that, under normal circumstances, cannot even be trademarked legally. King would later take down the game, issuing a statement implying they were unaware it was cloned from Scamperghost; which, going by Cox’s connections and transcripts, was clearly not the case.https://www.polygon.com/2014/1/24/5342398/king-denies-cloning-games-takes-down-pac-avoid
== References ==
Category:Games
Category:Arcade Games
Category:Console Games
Category:PC Games
Category:Pac-Man clones