Pac-Land
1984 · Platform · Arcade
Overview
Pac-Land (1984) takes Pac-Man out of the maze into a side-scrolling platform world, with parallax backgrounds and a fairy to escort home.
Deep Dive
Pac-Land shows Pac-Man side-on for the first time, running and jumping through towns, forests and deserts to return a lost fairy to Fairyland and then find his way home to his family. The familiar ghosts return in cars, planes and buses, and power pellets still turn the tables. Players run by alternately tapping buttons. With its colourful, multi-layered scrolling backgrounds, it was an influential early side-scrolling platformer.
Developer Story
Pac-Land was developed by Namco in 1984. It reinvented Pac-Man as a side-scrolling platformer — the first time the character had left his original maze format. The game's animation was fluid and colourful, featuring Pac-Man returning a fairy to Fairyland and then making his way home. It was notable for being one of the first games with multiple looping background layers creating parallax depth.
Did You Know?
- Pac-Land was the first game to show Pac-Man from the side, revealing he had legs — a revelation for players who only knew him as a circular sprite.
- The game featured multiple parallax scrolling layers, creating a sense of depth that influenced platformers throughout the late 1980s.
- Pac-Man's wife and daughter appeared in the game, giving the character a domestic life players had never considered.
- Pac-Land directly inspired the creators of Super Mario Bros., who cited its smooth side-scrolling as a technical benchmark.
Sources & further reading
- Pac-Land — Wikipedia
