Game:

Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (1994)

Duration: 47:31

3,496 views

7

Please pick the 720p60 or 1080p60 resolutions to play back in 60 frames per second. (Internet Explorer, surprisingly, appears to be the best browser for playback.)

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45BQRxQhLR7p_C0p8JsUpli

Now we have to go and rescue the Pac-Jr's guitar from those mean old ghosts! They've a totally inconspicuous disguise going this episode, so be sure to keep an eye out for anything bulky, blue, and nasty looking! When I do find them, I put off getting the guitar until a bit later so can fool around town a bit more.

Pac-Man is a bit of a county hick, so he's gonna need all the help he can get around town! Unfortunately with the kinda help a slingshot provides, he's probably gonna be getting into a LOT of trouble! There's one point where a balloon vendor sends Pac-Man to the rooftops; a neat secret here is that if you shoot the birds before they pop Pac-Man, he'll float allll the way up to the mountaintop with the flowers! (Remember the balloons that floated up there last episode?)

There's also a secret mine cart run on this level that is WAY harder than the regular one! It's even hard to find it! Turns out Pac-Man needs to be out for blood in the sewers to get at it!
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Hey, there! This is a series I've been wanting to do for a looong time: Sega Genesis at 60 frames per second! Why? Well... have you ever watched an older game on YouTube and noticed the main character turn invisible when hit, or some other such nonsense? That's because some older games use some ridiculously high speed flicker effects to achieve those crazy hitflashes on bosses or that "ouch I'm hurt!" flicker! These are not displayed properly at 30 fps, but now that we're able to upload at 60 fps we can see all the special effects that older games would use! (They'll be smoother, too!)
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This game... this game is just way too charming and silly-fun! You might'a heard some people razz on it before what with the fact that you don't directly control Pac-Man or his actions and how he behaves like a schitzophrenic 2-year old, but I think it all helps with the overall motif of the game: Crazy cartoon shenanigans! (It also gives you someone to blame when things go wrong~)

You do have some influence over the Man though, with your slingshot and totally compressed voice! You can shoot at things to knock things down, anger someone, or generally get Pac-Man's attention specifically directed. You can also "move" Pac-Man by shouting "Look!" in one of the four cardinal directions. Up/Down is mostly relegated for helping him avoid a dangerous sistuation, however.

With these tools at your disposal you must help Pac-Man survive the day and complete whatever errand he's supposed to be doing! I try to save completion for last though, and try to get mixed up in ridiculous situations along the way. Pac-Man will let you know what he thinks of your efforts by a wide variety of expressions and vocalizations. Yeah... he "talks". Sorta. He sounds different between the SNES and Genesis versions, though. More like Snoopy on the Nintendo side. Do your best to win his approval! (Though he'll likely find a way to sabatoge you, regardless.)

This is truly a game like no other, love't or hate it!
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Some additional notes for those technically inclined:

This was captured from an original Sega Genesis system via composite output along with stereo sound to get as authentic a recording as possible. The Genesis used is one of the "good" models with proper sound and video output. Genesis can also output an RGB signal which is clearer, but I vetoed the idea because it breaks the dithering effect (color blending and transparencies) as seen here:
http://retro-sanctuary.com/comparisons%20-%20differing.html
Also, the vast majority of people could not use the RGB signal even if they wanted to, so the experience they remember would be the composite signal as shown in this video.

There are a couple things to note about the quality of the video, however. Sega Genesis has a very dirty video signal that often "breaks" attempts to capture it with a capture device. The capture device I use is considered one of the most capable when it comes to older systems, but the Genesis' video signal still introduces some inconsistencies. These usually manifest where there are extremely thin lines in game, mostly the text, and in some other places as well. As a whole, it is more than manageable, but it is worth noting.

Also, the original sega genesis resolution is, in essence, 240p at 60 frames per second. To take advantage of YouTube's higher bitrate offerings and to enable 60 fps I need to upscale that resolution to 1080p. There is also a step of video deinterlacing before that to create crisp video. That is a significant amount of video processing to the image, so I want to note that here as well.

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