The common wisdom out there is that Pac-Man for Atari 2600 (VCS) is one of the worst home arcade conversions of all time, and possibly the most awful home console game of all time. While I’m willing to concede it’s far from a faithful port of the Namco arcade classic, if you’re willing to hear me out, I’m going to suggest that a rose by another name WOULD have smelled sweeter. The biggest drawback to this title was that it had a licensed name slapped on it. If it was sold as a Pac-Man knockoff or clone (which there were plenty of in 1982, trust me) and not as ACTUALLY being Pac-Man, people wouldn’t have been so pissed off then or disappointed now.

Taken on its own merits it’s a fun game. It doesn’t have a great look, great sound effects, or great design… but it’s a maze munching game that you can still derive an above average amount of fun from playing if you give it a chance! Subscribe to Mistah MegaManFan and if you like the format leave me a thumbs up and/or a comment below. I’ll try to do “Is It Really That Bad” on a semi-regular basis as time permits and make the case for or against a much derided video games. Thanks for watching!