Ms. Pac-Man, 1981 GCC/Midway/Namco (20 From 1981 #3)
16Man, this game was so successful it's hard to believe it was originally going to be just an enhancement kit for Pac-Man. Yep-- it was originally called "Crazy Otto" and it would have a different hero and monsters instead of ghosts. General Computing Corp. showed it to Midway (who was licensed Pac-Man in the US), who loved it enough to turn it into an official Pac-Man game. GCC would get a little creative input from Namco (who also liked the game, and now owns the property under Bandai Namco Entertainment) and the first sequel to Pac-Man was born! This came about because Midway didn't want to wait for Namco to make a sequel (which would become Super Pac-Man). The basic gameplay is the same as in the original Pac-Man, but with fruits that amble about the maze on their own, extra exits, totally different mazes, and a cool backstory on Pac and Ms. Pac's relationship! The ghost AI seems to have been tweaked a bit too, to prevent players from making easy patterns as in Pac-Man. Most cabinets since Ms. Pac-Man's inception have been fitted with a speed-up kit, that makes MPM fly across the screen with crazy turbo speed! This really does make the game hella easier, but there's still some challenge as you can easily fly into a ghost. Speaking of ghosts, the orange one is now called "Sue" instead of Clyde, though both would appear in Pac-Land (and in the cartoon). Legendary smash hit, with its popularity rivaling and possibly surpassing Pac-Man. Followed by the kit Pac-Man Plus and Super Pac-Man.