Pac-Man Vs. FAQ
Version 1.001
9/11/04
By: PSXer

You can do basically what you want with my FAQ. Print it, share it with
friends, whatever. All I ask is a couple of things:

1)Don’t claim that the FAQ is yours. I spent 4 good minutes writing it, I
deserve credit. ;)

2)If you do put it on a website or in a magazine or something, please put THE
WHOLE THING in, and not some little snippet. Also, I’d prefer to be notified
by e-mail if you do decide to publish it. My address is listed in the contact
section below.

Note, however, if you are reading this from anywhere but GameFAQs.com, it
might not be the current version of the FAQ. Please go to GameFAQs to make sure
that you’re reading the current version.
-----
Table of contents:

A)Intro
B)Version info
C)Contact info
D)FAQ
E)How to connect the GBA
F)Options
G)Controls
H)Computer ghosts
I)Starting the game
J)General game tips
K)Playing As Pac-Man
L)Playing As the ghosts
M)End of the game
N)Scoring
O)Mario Quotes
P)Map strategies
Q)Credits

-----
A)Intro

Well, here’s my first attempt at creating a FAQ. I created it mainly because I
think there should probably be one for this game, but there isn’t.

I suppose that this could be helpful for those that don’t have the game, or
even those that do. The instruction manual is quite short, and doesn’t even
go through all of the rules of the game, much less talk about strategy. I’m
rambling a bit, aren’t I?
-----
B)Version info

Sept 11 04 1.001- First, I finally got a gmail account, so I changed my contact
info. Not that I expect many more emails, but I will be monitoring the
old e-mail address for a while as well. Also, I forgot to update the version
number at the top of the FAQ. Stupid me.

Sept 3 04 1.00- Well, I guess it’s finally time for an update. I can't
procrastonate forever, can I?
Anyway, Astrobot7000, Mem010, and  Shadow 9
have given me some things to add (to see exactly what they contributed,
look at the credits section at the end of this FAQ) , and, of course, I have
some stuff to add as well. I changed the language in some of the sections to
make it a little clearer, and I added a section on the maps. I hope you enjoy
it.

Dec 18 03 .91- The Hye Circus from the boards has informed me that the ghosts
actually lose points when Pac-Man eats them. It’s yet another thing that
isn’t mentioned at all in the manual. I’ve updated the scoring section,
as well as the ghost part of the guide that talks about the ghosts being eaten.

Dec 16 03 .90- guide created


-----
C) Contact info: Please send all comments/suggestions/questions/etc.
to [email protected]

-----
D)FAQ

Q)How can I get this game?
A)Officially, it comes with the Pac-Man World 2/Pac-Man Vs. Player’s choice
bundle.

Also, some Gamecube versions of R: Racing evolution have it. Be sure to look
for the sticker on the front of the shrink wrap that says it has it, because
I hear that it’s only for a limited time and not all of them will have it.

You were supposed to get it for preordering I-Ninja, but it’s released
already so you can’t. Unlike the other two options, it doesn’t come inside
the game’s case. Instead, it comes in a separate cardboard case.

Unofficially: Some game stores will give it to you if you buy I-Ninja or
preorder any GC game. I’ve even heard that some Gamestops will give it to
you absolutely free. You could always check eBay, of course.

Q) Can one player play this?
A) Well, I suppose you could if you controlled a ghost and Pac-man, but you
probably wouldn’t have much fun. This game is for 2-4 players.

Q)How many GBAs does it take to play this game?
A)You need exactly one GBA, even if you’re going to play a four player game.
You’ll also need a GBA/GCN link cable.

Q)Why can’t I play it without the GBA?
A)The GBA is Pac-Man’s view. He gets to see the whole maze, while the ghosts
watch the TV and only see what’s a few feet around them. Why? It’d be much
too easy for the ghosts if they could see the whole screen.

Q)Does the Gameboy player work with this game?
A)Absolutely. You’ll need 2 TVs, 2 GCNs, a GB player, and a GBA/GCN cable.
Hook the GCNs to the TVs. Hook up the GCN end of the cable to the 4th
controller port of the Gamecube that will have the Pac-Man Vs. Game disc
inside, and hook the GBA end to the GBA player. Put the boot disc into the
GCN with GB player, make sure no game is in the GB player’s cart slot, and
enjoy.

Of course, if you have the TVs facing such that everyone can see them, you
eliminate the game designer’s point in using the GBA in the first place. Now,
I’m not saying that you’re playing the game incorrectly if you do that
because you are free to experiment, but just keep that in mind.

Q)Can you turn Mario’s voice off?
A)no, there’s no option to do that. Of course, you could turn the TV/sound
system connected to the GCN off. The GBA does emit some sound, such as when
Pac-Man eats dots, fruit, power pellets, or ghosts.

-----
E) How to connect the GBA

Connect one end of the GBA/GCN cable to the GBA’s EXT port, and connect the
other to the GCN’s fourth controller port. Connect up to three controllers,
depending on the number of players. Of course, you can have more plugged in
than you need. Just ignore the extra controllers if you choose to do so.

2 players: 1 controller connected to first controller socket
3 players: 2 controllers connected to first and second controller sockets
4 players: 3 controllers connected to first, second, and third controller
sockets

Make sure there isn’t a game in the GBA, then turn the GBA and GCN on. Wait
about 15 seconds for the program to be transferred to the GBA, and away you go.

-----
F)Options

This game has very few of them, and they’re all accessed in a linear fashion
from the title screen. First, you’ll be asked if you want to play 2, 3 or 4
players. Next, you’ll be asked how many points it takes to win: 7,000, 10,000
or 15,000. Finally, you can choose from one of the 6 levels of the game.

-----
G)Controls

Amazingly simple. Just use the control pad/stick to choose what direction the
ghost that you control/Pac-Man moves in.

-----
H)Computer ghosts

If you’re playing a 2 or 3 player game, there will be computer controlled
ghosts. There are 2 in a 2 player game and 1 in a 3 player game. There are no
computer controlled ghosts in a 4 player game, as all 3 ghosts are being
controlled by players. It’s important to understand how the computer ghosts
work before I continue.

The computer ghosts start out gray. In that state, Pac-Man will pass through
them unharmed. If he eats a power pellet first, he can eat any ghost, even
gray ones.

Once a colored controlled ghost touches a gray computer ghost, the computer
ghost changes to the color of the ghost that touched him. It is possible in a
two player game for one colored computer ghost to change a gray ghost to that
color. If the computer ghost then eats Pac-Man, the human gets credit for it.

If a ghost of one color touches a computer ghost of a different color, nothing
happens. They just go through the ghost like they would any ghost. Ghosts stay
their original color.

There are three possible ways to turn a computer ghost back. If Pac-Man eats a
power pellet and then eats a colored computer ghost, that ghost turns back.
The ghost will also turn back when the maze resets, caused either by Pac-Man
eating all the pellets, or a ghost eating Pac-Man.

-----
I)Starting the game

To start, one player picks up the Game boy and the rest pick up GCN
controllers. This isn’t to decide who gets to be Pac-Man, just what color each
person will be.

Next, the game randomly chooses one player to be Pac-Man. The rest play as
ghosts. If the player who has the GBA is chosen to be Pac-Man, you don’t have
to do anything. If another player is chosen, that player and the one with the
GBA swap controllers.
----
J)General Game Tips

The game is fairly straightforward, but there are a few things you might not
know about. Pac-Man is trying to eat all the dots on the field. Each dot
gives him points. If he manages to eat all the dots, the game is stopped,
dots are placed back on the field, and play continues.

Normally, the ghosts can eat Pac-Man by touching him, and that’s what the
ghost players will be trying to do. Once Pac-Man is eaten, the player who
controlled the ghost that ate Pac-Man now controls Pac-Man.

There is a time when Pac-Man can eat a ghost, however. When he eats a power
pellet (usually in the corners of the maze, and a lot bigger than the other
pellets) the ghosts will turn blue. While they are blue, Pac-Man can eat them
to gain even more points.

The ghosts don’t stay blue forever, though. The Power Pill will run out after
a set amount of time, and after Pac-Man eats a ghost, the ghost will come out
of the center of the map no longer blue.

The ghosts don’t move the same speed as Pac-Man. When pellets are in his way,
he moves slightly slower than the ghosts (guess it takes him a while to eat
them). When no pellets are in his way, he moves slightly faster than the
ghosts. After Pac-Man eats a power pellet the ghosts move noticeably slower
until the affects of the pellet wear off (either by time or because Pac-Man
eats a ghost).


----
K)As Pac-man

Look at the GBA screen. Try to orient it so that none of the ghost players can
easily sneak glances at your screen.

Your main goal is to eat all the pellets on the map without being eaten by the
ghosts. Eating pellets is simple, just run over them and they’re eaten
automatically.

If you eat one of the power pellets, you will have a limited amount of time in
which the ghosts will turn dark blue, slow down noticeably, and you will be
able to eat them. Not only is this a good way to get them off of your tail,
but it gives you lots of points, too. Note, however, that any ghost that you
eat will rush to the box in the middle of the screen and will emerge their
original color. The dark blue ghosts are harmless while they’re dark blue,
but you have to avoid a ghost that’s any other color.


To get the most points, it’s sometimes a good idea to wait by a power pellet
for ghosts to come to you. You then eat the power pellet, and then any ghosts
nearby. Don’t be too greedy, though. When a ghost flashes, it means that
they’re going to turn back soon. If you’re not sure that you can eat the
ghost before it turns back, it’s best to get out of the area. Note, however
that any smart human controlled player will see this tactic from a mile away,
and choose to rack up points by getting the fruit instead of getting too
close to you.

In 2-3 player games, it’s a good idea to eat the colored computer ghosts,
because they’ll turn gray and be harmless to you until a human touches them
again.

If you’re being followed closely by a ghost, a few quick changes of direction
might be able to get him off your tail. If the ghost is really close,
they won’t be able to react to a turn and will instead go straight in the
same direction that you were going. Going through the tunnels would also be a
good strategy as long as there aren’t ghosts on the other side. In the
tunnels, Pac-Man goes faster than the ghosts.

If that fails, try to get to a power pellet, if there are any left.

Fruit can give you a good amount of points, but you have to be careful.
When it appears, the ghosts will probably also go after it, so you could be
surrounded by ghosts with no way out.

If you manage to get eaten, you lose 1600 points and whoever ate you gets to
be Pac-Man.

If you eat all the dots on the map, you get a 1600 point bonus, and continue
playing as Pac-Man. Gameplay is stopped for a brief amount of time to check
scores, then you start over with the map full of dots again.

-----
L)As the ghosts:

Note the radar on the TV screen. While it doesn’t show Pac-Man’s location or
what the maze actually looks like, it does show you where the ghosts are.
That can be useful if another ghost is chasing Pac-Man, or if you want to
turn a computer controlled ghost to your color.


Also, pay attention to the display that tells you how many dots are left in
the maze. Once it reaches 0, Pac-Man gets 1600 points added to his score.

If you’re playing a 2-3 player game, you should try to change at least one of
the computer ghosts to your color first. It’s especially important in a 3
player game, where you’ll have a 2-1 advantage over the other ghost. Be sure
to look at the computer ghost’s screens every once in a while to make sure
that they stay your color.

Your main goal is to try to eat Pac-Man. Once you do that, you get 1600 points,
and you get to control Pac-Man.  Pac-man can get points a lot faster than
ghosts can, so that should be pretty high up on your list.

The first step is to find Pac-Man. Your view is rather limited, so go around
the maze until you see him or the trail that follows him. Look at your
opponents screens occasionally, because they might have found him before you
did.

Once you’ve found him, chase him. Simply following the trail isn’t always the
best idea, especially if opponents are following it and are closer to
Pac-Man. Sometimes it’s better to take a different route, so you and the
other ghosts can box him in.

If Pac-Man eats a power pellet, Run! Not only does he gain points if he eats
you, but you lose points. Obviously, it’s something that you want to try to
avoid. If Pac-Man is on your tail, a few quick changes of direction might
keep him far enough away to keep you from being eaten.

If he’s not directly following you, stay close, but not too close. Once the
effects of the power pill wear off, you can begin chasing him again.

If Pac-Man eats a power pellet, you can hide in the box in the middle of the
map (Pac-Man can’t go in there). However, that will take you away from the
action, and it’s possible that someone else will eat Pac-Man because of it.

It’s a good idea to count the number of power pellets Pac-Man uses, and to
know the number that are in each level. Once the effects of the last pellet
have wore off, he’s yours.

Try to pick up fruit. Besides being the only way for a ghost to get points
besides eating Pac-Man, it also zooms your view out for a brief amount of
time so that you can see more. It probably isn’t good to abandon chasing
Pac-Man completely for the fruit, but if you’re close to the fruit,
choosing an alternate path that goes through the fruit would be good.

If you manage to eat Pac-Man, you get a healthy bonus and you get to control
Pac-Man. Simply swap your controller with the player who was controlling
Pac-Man.

-----
M)End of the game

The game ends as soon as one player gets the required number of points. Yay,
you won! Or lost. Or something.

-----
N)Scoring


Whoever starts the game as Pac-Man starts with 1600 points. The ghosts start
with 0. Of course, once a ghost eats him those points are transferred to the
other player.

Also note that it’s impossible to get a score below zero. If you have 10 points
and lose 1600, your points will just drop to zero.

As Pac-Man:
Pellet: 10
Power Pellet: 110
Fruit: 400
1st ghost: 200
2nd ghost: 400
3rd ghost: 800
4th ghost and up: 1600
all dots in maze eaten: 1600
Getting eaten by a ghost: -1600

Note that the 200, 400, 800, 1600 scoring system only counts while the power
pellet is active. If the power pellet wears off and you grab another one, the
first ghost will be worth 200 again.

You might be asking why I put the score table up for 4 ghosts when there’s
only three in the game. If you eat a ghost, and then eat a power pellet
before the previous power pellet wears off, the chain will still continue. If
you manage to eat all three ghosts four times, you’ll get 15,800. Likelihood
of it happening: just about zero.

As ghost:

Eating Pac-Man 1600
Fruit: 400
Being the 1st ghost that Pac-Man eats after the power pellet: -200
2nd: -400
3rd: -800
4th and up: -1600

-----
O)Mario quotes

Here’s a list of all the funny phrases that Mario says throughout the game. I
might be missing a couple, so if you want one added that I missed, e-mail me
about it.

"Pac-Man vs." - At the title screen

"1000 points left"
"500 points left"

-When a player is 1000 or 500 points away from winning the game. Note that it
only says it the first time, so if one player gets within 1000 and then another
player, he will only say it to the first player.

"10 pellets left" - when there’s only 10 pellets left in the maze.

"Go go go"
"You can do it"

- When there’s 100 and 50 pellets left, Mario says one of these phrases. Which
one he says seems to be random. Sometimes he says the same thing for
100 and 50, sometimes he says one for 100 and the other for 50.

"Look, fruit appear" - when fruit appears on the maze

"Pac-Man eat the fruit" - When Pac-Man eats a fruit.

"[color of ghost] got the fruit" - when a ghost eats the fruit

"Excellent, [color of ghost]" - When a ghost eats Pac-Man

"Congratulations" - When Pac-Man eats all the dots

"Oh-No!" - If Pac-Man eats a ghost. He seems to have several different ways to
say this.

"Pac Man ate a power pellet", "Watch out, Pac man ate a power pellet" - When
Pac-Man eats a power pellet, Mario says one of these phrases. There may be
some reason why he says one and not the other, but I haven’t figured it out.

"That’s the end of the game" - when someone gets enough points to win the game

"[color of ghost] is champion" - at the end of the game screen which shows the
winner

----
P)Map Strategies

Well, I might as well give out the names of the maps, as well as some basic
strategies.

Original Pac-Man:

Like the name says, the original Pac-Man maze. There are four power pellets in
the corners, and quite a lot of straight lines. There is one tunnel, and it
runs straight down the middle on the right/left side of the map.

Panic Pier:

There are two power pellets here, on the middle of the top and bottom. There
are a few straight lines, but lots of curves as well. Again, there is just
one tunnel.

Frantic Forest:

Four power pellets here, again in the corners. There are lots of straight
paths here, and two long walls which Pac-Man can use to his advantage. If
Pac-Man is on one side and the ghost is on the other side of one of those
walls, Pac-Man can run to a completely different part of the map before the
ghost gets to the other side of the wall. Again, there is just one tunnel.

R.I.P. Park:

Again, a level with some logn straightaways. However, the walls aren't
anywhere near as large as the ones in Frantic Forest. Again, four power pellets
and two tunnels.

Manic Manor:

There are lots of small walls here. Again, four power pellets and two tunnels.

Haunted Hall:

Now this one is just crazy. There are no actual walls at all (except at the
boundaries of the field). It's not completely open though, as there are
small dots of wall scattered throughout the field. There are two power pellets
(top and bottom) as well as two tunnels (mid top and mid bottom)

This is my favorite level, because there are no walls to hide behind. Then
again, the ghosts can't trap you easily, either. This is the level where
changing direction can really come in handy. Keep your opponents guessing,
and all that.


----

Q)Credits

Thanks to:

The Hye Circus (message boards)- for telling me that ghosts actually lose
points when Pac-Man eats them.

Astrobot7000 (message boards)- for telling me that the ghosts can hide in the
box in the middle of the map

Mem010 (message boards)- for telling me that Pac-Man’s speed is dependant on
if there are any dots in his path or not

Shadow 9 (e-mail)- for telling me that a colored computer controlled ghost
can change a gray computer controlled ghost’s color in 2 player mode.

CjayC- for making a popular FAQ site. If it weren’t for you, there might have
been even less than 4 people who read this. Also, thanks for not banning me
over that whole GUR incident.

----
Copyright 2003 Mikah Woodward.

EOF
(or is it? Muahaha)

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