Questionable Power-Up #13: Power Pellet (Pac-Man)
19We sure have seen a lot of crummy entries in the two weeks of the 29 Questionable Power-Ups of Christmas. From the Cloak of Darkness to a skateboard on a tropical island, it's beginning to feel like a race to the bottom. Who knew that game developers had so many bad ideas? Well, today's episode didn't have to worry about being the best power-up ... because it has the distinction of being the first power-up.
Commonly referred to as the Power Pellet, this Pac-Man mainstay set the standard for what a power-up could do. Instead of running from ghosts, this large dot turned the tables and put Pac-Man in charge. Suddenly our hero was able to gobble up the scared ghosts, sending them back to their prison in the center of the maze.
But there's something about eating up ghosts that never felt right with me. What is it about the power pellet that gives Pac the ability to eat ghosts? And can you even eat a ghost? I mean, aren't ghosts incorporeal objects that you wouldn't be able to hold on to? At best wouldn't Pac-Man simply get a mouthful of slime? And here's the real important question: Why is it that the power pellet became a power cookie in the 2010 flop, Pac-Man Party? Are pellets too street? Are they trying to suggest that the power pellet has been a metaphor for drugs? Actually, that does explain the ghosts.
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At this time, Defunct Games has 70,253 views for Pac-Man spread across 2 videos. Less than an hour worth of Pac-Man videos were uploaded to his channel, less than 0.02% of the total video content that Defunct Games has uploaded to YouTube.