Popping pills & chasing ghosts!
Pac-Mania was released in 1989 by Grandslam and is based on the arcade classic which was a nice conversion and generally well-received at the time. This new "3D" game saw our pill-popper change from an overhead 2D perspective to a fancy isometric viewpoint and, because the play area was so large - it scrolled. Which is an ace idea I gotta say!
Pacman himself also had an upgrade by having the ability to jump - even though he has no legs! Sadly, the Atari ST version suffered a smaller screen because it lacked hardware scrolling and, as a result, featured a large status panel. Don't get me wrong, something had to give but the game still featured smooth scrolling and definitely wasn't a lame port.
Here is a screenshot of the original ST game (note, I've left in the top/bottom borders for a reason)...
As you can see, it looks great albeit with that overly large status panel taking up a lot of space.
Gee, how would an Atari STe have coped?
Well, I'm glad you asked! Entering into the 16-bit arena is Samuel (aka Zamuel_A) with an upgrade specifically designed to make maximum use of the Atari STe and its lovely enhanced hardware. Firstly, the gameplay now takes place in overscan opening up the gameplay arena in ways you cannot imagine. The entire screen flows along at a silky-smooth 50fps thanks to the hardware scrolling in all four directions (a much under-utilised feature of this computer).
But that's not all, the Blitter handles all the sprites and the DMA audio hardware plays the sampled sound effects with our sweet YM2149 banging out wonderful chiptunes - better than Tracker MODs!! Technically, this is far beyond impressive and I'm sure Samuel has utilised every part of the computer? Well, it certainly provides the wow factor!
Wanna see how it looks compared to the original? Of course, you do so scroll down a little further...
And this is how the same game appears on the Atari STe using overscan and all the other goodies!
The CryptO'pinion?
PacMania was a good game and a decent conversion - I don't want to appear negative about that whatsoever. Having said this, Samuel has completely blown away the original game with his upgrade! It has transformed our yellow friend for the 21st-century retro gamer. It's impossible not to be impressed by Samuel's dedication and hard work.
This is what happens when a talented chap takes a great game and rebuilds it in a way that would never have been possible back in the day. I doubt any software house outside of the mighty Thalion would have been more committed to developing for the Atari STe? Especially when you consider how the boundaries have been pushed in such incredible ways.
This is a fascinating revamp of the old favourite and far more enjoyable than ever. Absolutely superb!!
