Pac-Mania(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.0 by [email protected]

Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.

================================

 1. INTRODUCTION

 2. CONTROLS

 3. POINTS, LEVELS AND STRATEGY

 4. WALKTHROUGH(SORT OF)

 5. CHEATS

 6. VERSIONS

 7. CREDITS

================================

 1. INTRODUCTION

Pac-Mania is an extension of Pac-Man, with 19 levels covering 4 different
board types. The game gets faster and more enemies appear as you go on. The
other main twist besides the new maps and some weird scoring is an ability to
jump. This makes the first few levels easy, but on later levels, the green
and then the black guys jump at you, too. Plus some enemies are a bit faster
than you, so you have to jump and reverse. Still, the jumping and some extra
power-ups allow for a little additional fun that wasn't there before, and
while it's a minor addition to the Pac-Man canon, there's nothing wrong with
a few more mazes and ghosts to tackle.

 2. CONTROLS

Moving is as you would expect. A or B jumps, and you can move while jumping,
which includes around corners(twice in twisty parts) and backwards. You
cannot jump over an enemy already jumping, and you need a split second
advance to jump over an enemy coming your way. You can anticipate your next
move at an intersection, or at the start of a level. You can even pause the
game with [start]. I am not aware of the select button doing anything.

To continue a game, press either key. You get two continues.

There's no way to scroll around when you're paused to see the whole board.
That'd be a bit unfair.

 3. POINTS, LEVELS AND STRATEGY

60 points for each dot
300 for each power pill
400 for 1st ghost
1600 for next ghost
7650 for each after that--if you eat 1 pill before the second wears off, the
amount is not reset to 400
1000 for green pill(speed up)
7650 for red pill(brief monster flash)

weird special items like a spaceship(7000 or up to 9000) may pop up in the
fruit spot as well as you move along. It seems random at the later levels.
But there is a special item in addition to the two regular fruits.

(on later levels you get 200-400-800-1600 but I am not sure of the logic.)

You start with 5 men. Extra man at 50000, but none after. Extra men don't
really matter except for the high score list, because you can continue enough
to win with the strategy of losing one man per level. It's a toss up if you
want to go for a bonus versus playing through the levels, but I think it's
good to get your footing on the early levels. After a few times on levels 5+,
though, 1-4 will seem unbearably slow.

Basically, the point scheme = Pac-Man's * 5.5 with some weird rounded numbers
that might distract you from playing the game if you pay too much attention.

If you manage to score a million, then a dot appears in the 100000's place.
Here's rough math to see how possible this is with good play.

You get 103 dots in map 1, 132 in 2, 138 in 3, and 155 in 4. That adds up to
152220 points=(60*(5*sum-103)). You get 4*300*19=22800 for the power pills
and 4500*2*19(roughly--some don't have treasure, but there are reds
etc.)=171000 if you collect all the goodies in the middle. That leaves 670000
points you would need to get from the ghosts, or 32000 per level, meaning 4
7650-ish ghosts. That is not out of the realm of possibility, but you will
probably have to load up early on, and in fact, getting 3 per power pill on
the first 6 levels would get you close on its own. So rolling over the score
counter to nonsense seems very possible. But I would advise NOT going for the
initial bonus, except maybe to pass to level 2. On level 1, there are not so
many monsters, so you have a ceiling to how much you can make gobbling ghosts,
even if they are easy to pick off. Of the 50000 per level you need, most of
the extra points will come at the start.

Default high score list:

1 192160 7 MAH
2 100000 5 JBH
3  90190 5 PSM
4  90000 5 ADM
5  70000 4 GPS
6  76990 4 MBL
7  72400 4 BWG

Levels

# |type|color|pill  |fruit
---+----+-----+------+-----
1 | a  |rwb  |long  |cherry 1
2 | b  |  b  |long  |strawberry 2
3 | b  |  g  |med+  |apple 3(green 3)
4 | c  |  b  |med+  |apple 3
5 | c  |  g  |med   |red apple 4
6 | d  |  b  |med   |red apple 4
7 | d  |  g  |med-  |banana 5(ice cream cone 8)
8 | a  |wgb  |med-  |banana 5
9 | a  |rwb  |short |pomegranate 6
10 | a  |rwo  |short |pomegranate 6
11 | b  |  b  |med-  |mushroom 7
12 | b  |  g  |short |mushroom 7
13 | b  |  r  |short-|key 8
14 | c  |  b  |med   |key 8
15 | c  |  g  |short-|key 8
16 | c  |  y  |short-|none(green)
17 | d  |  b  |short-|key 8
18 | d  |  g  |short-|key 8
19 | d  |  p  |short-|key 8

Strategy:

* note what color ghost does what.
 * blue/yellow=not very tenacious, average speed
 * purple/red/pink=fast
 * green/black=slow but they jump at you and ALWAYS get you
* if you are playing just for security, use the power pills to gobble the
green or black guys, then run amok where you need to.
* jumping does not mean invulnerability. If too many monsters in a row are
coming at you, you will have trouble jumping, but you may be able to disperse
them with a power pill for big points.
* in emergency situations you can land between monsters if you judge your
shadow right. There's a bit of momentum to judge, too, though.
* in this game, gobbling the third enemy is more lucrative than the fruit,
until the very latest levels. However, the fruit stays out there forever, so
why not. Also, note if/when enemies lump together. You can often run at them
for big points.
* enemies tend to follow a pretty simple algorithm of going towards you if
they can, but getting faked out occasionally. Going through a warp tunnel
changes their direction, but they are pretty good. They cannot reverse
direction but they will make 2 90 degree turns. If they are far enough away,
they are totally confused.
* gobble the green pill before a power-up. That way you can chase enemies
quickly.
* gobbling 2 power ups in a row can mean big points. The enemies still going
back to the pen won't turn blue, but others will, and especially if you are
going fast, you can get a few 7650's in a row.
* don't just jump and assume enemies will go away. They can change direction,
especially early in the level.
* in the 2nd world, the same gutters above the pen are still protected from
monsters going up.
* it's useful to fake one way and go another if you need to take out a
certain long row with lots of dots and no branches. Of course, you can be
safe and jump over, but that probably leaves a dot behind.
* for the most part, you can see your shadow, except at the apex of your jump.
This helps you determine where you will wind up.
* jump over a power pill if one enemy is chasing you.
* jump over a power pill and go back to it if several are. You will run right
into them.
* on later levels, don't eat the area around power pills first thing. Get the
side gutters. Then get the power pills in an emergency or at the end.
* because you can't see the whole board, try to clear each quadrant or big
area as you go. It's annoying to remember where that last dot is.
* the jumping guys are slower than the fast guys. The red and purple quickly
get a little faster than you, and you need to reverse-jump over them. You
have plenty of time to jump along with them and retreat.
* if you die, fake one way and go the other at the very start to clear out
special patches.
* the green ghosts stick together for the most part, and the black ghost
lumps with them, mainly because they are about the same speed and follow the
same algorithm to get to you.
* if you must jump, jump over an intersection where you are more likely to
come back later
* on the other hand, if you want to fake enemies out just after, go the
opposite way you want, then jump again if need be. You only need to be a bit
to the wrong side for them to go another way. They don't backtrack much after
their initial patterns.
* try to clear out long gutters with no side passages either at the start or
after eating a pill
* having the greens coming at you is actually kind of handy. You know you
won't be running into them unexpectedly. If you are very patient, you can use
them following you to your advantage. You don't have to have them directly
tailing you, but if an enemy catches up to them, a power pill may take out
several bad guys at once.
* there's not much point difference between bagging one enemy and two with a
power pill, so try for three if possible if playing for points. Otherwise,
one enemy is pretty good to nail. It's more that you can turn around enemies
than that you can get them off the board at later stages.
* have escape routes to power pills planned, just in case.
* to drag enemies over, run into a corner and jump in place for a bit. If you
land on a power pill and a ghost, you get the pill first. Of course, this is
risky, so jiggle back and forth a bit when necessary.
* I think I found a bug where you can hit two green ghosts together at an
intersection when they split, but I haven't been able to verify it
consistently.
* if you can, jump over a power pill then retreat over it when you lead
enemies into a tight corridor nearby. They'll reverse and you can gobble them
and the dots in the small corridor without loss of time.
* the purple guy is most likely to disrupt your planned power pill chomping
sprees. Jump over him once or twice if you know others will be along soon.
* hitting a wall in a turn makes for the least wobbly jumps.
* after jumping over a super speedy purple on very late levels, follow it a
bit
* if you are playing for survival, don't decide to snatch points here and
there, unless it is to pick up 50k for a new guy. It sounds trivial, but when
you deviate from the plan, you wind up forgetting the green guys can jump, or
something.
* keep an eye on the lower right for when fruits/special items appear.

 4. WALKTHROUGH(SORT OF)

I'll go through the first seven mazes and then mention that you just need to
concentrate on dot gobbling in the next twelve.

Level 1(Block Town)

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This is a pretty easy level. You can clear out the very bottom while waiting
for enemies to come by. Work up the middle, below the fruit, and feel free to
jump over anything and everything. You can get a bunch of enemies to follow
you then reverse to jump over them and grab a power pill to nab them all at
once. Other than that, you don't need many tricks. It's best to start by
going up, down to the side, then up the other side. Those are the tough areas.
The other long loops have power pills in them, so you can bail out for safety.

On this first level you can experiment with drawing ghosts to you and getting
the 7650. There is little or no risk, but if two ghosts are coming at you,
gauge where you will land by the shadow, so the back one doesn't kill you.

Later on when you have to face more ghosts, you'll need to be a bit more
precise. Try to draw them to one side of the board as you go up the other.
You can still always jump, but numbers may catch up to you at times and make
you make a dumb error.

For the upper side bits, wrapping around quickly is a good bet.

On the next levels, the green and black do not jump, which is nice. This
should be a breeze all the way through.

Level 2-3(Pacmans Park)

WELCOME TO PACMAN'S PARK.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
IT'S THE PACMAN THEATER!

(Pac-man chases 2 blued ghosts to the left and 9 come back after him.)

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x...............x
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This should look familiar. It's the old Pac-Man map. The old Pac-Man pattern
works great to start, too. Left to the edge, along the bottom, and actually
you can/should go all the way. As you go back left you'll probably be able to
jump over any enemies coming at you. You can then trace back right and go
down that zigzag and you may be able to come up the left center zigzag too.
Once that's out of the way, there are just the big loops at the top. Staying
just north of the monster pen also leaves you invulnerable to the enemies
below, and the best bit is you need exercise no discretion at first over
getting the fruit in the center. In regular Pac-Man? Trap. Here? Jump!

The gutters to the side are also handy, though there's little risk you'll get
trapped. Even if monsters close in on you, you can jump over them and leave
the rest of them confused. Just beware of tipping your hand too soon at
intersections.

On later levels, you should be ok using the tunnels if you keep track of the
greens. You shouldn't get pinned down on the sides, and even if you do, you
should be able to jump to a power pill to get out of the mess.

Level 4-5(Sandbox Land)

FUNKYS AT PLAY.
BE CAREFUL!
BEWARE OF JUMPING MONSTERS!

(Pac-Man bounces away from a green, a blue and a green monster.)

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A challenging level, even without the new jumping monsters, and with an
interesting side warp. This warp is safer than the previous levels, which had
fewer branches to duck in. I recommend taking out the center bit first. You
can lose the greens in the twists and turns and jump over the other colored
monsters. You're always pretty close to the fruit, too, so that should not be
a problem. You can lead the monsters in circles all day. But to begin, go up
to start, then reverse horizontally. Circle to the other side and go down to
pick off the other dots near where you started.

Take care of the bottom rows after the first power pill wears off, then clear
the top bit. The top bit should not be a problem, either, with the turnabout
above the pen. You can just wait in the corners to take the power pill, even
jumping in place til enough enemies are around.

Later levels should only pose problems in technique as, although the board is
big, it doesn't have a lot of loops where you can get trapped, so you have
plenty of opportunities to avoid the greens and double back with a jump over
the purples, etc.

Levels 6-7(Jungly Steps)

LETS GO TO JUNGLY STEPS.
YOU BETTER WATCH OUT!
ANYWAY, THE SHOW MUST GO ON.

(Pac-man bounces right with 9 ghosts following him, then he runs down with a
giant blued ghost running after him.)

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x....xxxxx....x
x.xx.x...x.xx.x
xox....x....xox
x...xx...xx...x
x.x.xx.x.xx.x.x
x.x.........x.x
x.x.x.x-x.x.x.x
x.....x x.....x
xxx.x.xxx.x.xxx
xxx....$....xxx
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
x.....x.x.....x
x.xxx.x.x.xxx.x
x......u......x
xx.x.xxxxx.x.xx
xo...........ox
x.xx.xx.xx.xx.x
x....xx.xx....x
x.x.xxx.xxx.x.x
x.............x
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While this level looks isometric and Q*Bert-y there is really nothing too
special about it, and the loops in fact make it easy not to get trapped. The
big problem here is how fast it may go. You will notice the loops in the
UR/UL below the pills, and the center lower loops, are the big problems. But
you can go to the center lower loops immediately, or one of them, and then
you can go back up through the very center and pick the other off. Use either
corner to attract enemies and then reverse on them to gobble the lot of them.

You may be able to lose enemies around a single block, but you might not be
able to get the dot there, so you need a little misdirection: pull the
enemies to one side, run them in circles and double back a jump over them,
then go to the other side, clearing what you will. If you can clear out the
big loops without a power pill, great, but otherwise you can do so after
eating a couple monsters. You will have the time. Other loops that might be
good after a power pill are the ones above the bottom pills.

Given the numerous lanes, future levels are not tough because you can always
watch to see which ones the green/black ghosts go in. You can't see the full
screen, but you can move over enough to see the other side the next time
through.

     CONGRATULATIONS!

IT WAS FUN PLAYING WITH YOU.
WE HOPE WE CAN PLAY AGAIN.
BE SEEING YOU...  THANK YOU!

 5. CHEATS

byte 0xe1 in memory determines the level. Set it to [x] to go to [x-1]. 0xe3
is set to 0xe1 most of the time, except between levels. Setting the level to
over 19 gives an error. You can set a level # to (what you want)-2 after
solving a level as well.

byte 0xde sets the number of lives. # lives = 1+smiley faces on screen. Set
to 0 as you die, or 1, if you want to die right away for whatever reason. I
cannot vouch for what happens if you add too many lives.
bytes 0xef through 0xf3 are the 100000 through 10 digits of your score.

 6. VERSIONS

1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 11/28/2007, complete

 7. CREDITS

Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done.
Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and
others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message
board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of
mine.
Thanks to the NES Completion Project folks for keeping it going.

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