One of my favourite personal mottos in life is quite simple, if its free its for me. And so when I received the Ms Pac-Man TV game system as a gift years ago I gladly took the retro toy with open arms, and more importantly, an open mind. Sure, at the time I received this little retro device video games were getting more and more complex, however Ms Pac-Man was a childhood favourite of mine, gobbling up as many of my quarters as I power pellets and ghost monsters. After further examination of the packaging, I happily discovered that two more of my favourite arcade games from yesteryear, Galaga and Xevious were also included, along with Pole position and Mappy inside this little system. I knew I was in for some retro fun. Did this little blast from the past live up to my excitement?

Downloading classics arcade games onto the PC is great and we all have done it. The thing is you don’t always end up with what you think your getting. I can remember downloading Pac-Man only to get the slightly different and inferior playing PC-Man or even the semi famous clone called Puck Man, and  while close to the originals, for an old school gamer those differences are annoying. Other times you may get the exact and original game, but the game runs way to fast, or way to slow when compared to the arcade. And of course, the keyboard as method of control just doesn’t compare to the feel of the old school arcade joysticks. For example, using keypad E to steer up D to steer right, X to steer downward and S to steer left just leaves retro players frustrated with the less responsive method of controls, it didn’t work for me in any of the racing games I downloaded on my PC. Neither did using the space bar, or any other button really, as a fire button for Galaga , Space Invaders or Galaxian. While using the keypad was decent they were just not as responsive as the buttons in the arcade. I was just waiting for my spacebar key to fall off anytime on my old PC due to all the abuse it took. And as nicely designed as computer desks and chairs are these days, it’s still nowhere near as comfortable as sitting on the  leather reclining love seat and playing games on the big screen TV in the living room.  Simply put, while  playing old school arcade games on the PC is decent enough, its not as fun as enjoying them in the living room and not as precise to controls for most of the games.

When I got this gift back in the day my head filled with fun retro memories!

And really those issues that prevented retro gaming on the PC from being perfect for me disappeared with the MS. Pac-Man system. This is where my little toy shines. Not only does it deliver as perfect a version of all five of these games I have ever experienced, it also allows players to use realistic arcade joystick controls, which make all the difference for these classics. Thus, this little retro device does exactly what it set out to do. It looks, plays, controls and for the first time actually” feels” just like most of the old arcade games did in the actual arcades. Playing these games on the TV is very fun, especially if you have a friend or sibling who also loved the classic arcade machines back when arcades ruled friday night after school activities.

This is a stand-alone videogame system, you just plug it into the back of any TV and your ready to play. All the games control very well with the joystick and yes, surprisingly, even Pole Position does. How does a game that used a steering wheel in the arcade work with a joystick you might be asking yourself?  Well I asked my self that question when I first saw it on the box. On the top of the stick is a “ Knob” (Snicker- Snicker, I just said Knob). By rotating the top of the knob left or right it simulates the rotation of a steering wheel. Initially I really thought that this would not work at all, but I was very wrong. I can actually control the car with as much precision this way, heck perhaps even with more to be honest, then I ever could in the arcade. It actually makes the game a little more easy, which is a good thing because I sucked ass at it in the arcade big time and always wanted to do better. Now I could.

My two favourite games here are Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga. Galaga is a spot on perfect arcade translation with perfect arcade joystick controls and a great responsive fire button. It is still a blast to play all these years later. I did, at first, find the Joystick controls for MS. Pac-Man to be of concern. I just couldn’t get the responsiveness needed for making those fast hair pin turns in the mazes. Although I was worried at first, the control problem with the joystick in Ms. Pac-Man literally “fixed itself”, much to my delight. After some playing the “stiffness” of the joystick loosened up and the control issue was basically gone, thankfully. Xevious is still a great shooter even today, making use of the two buttons for land bombing attacks and air attacks was a nice game play change back in the arcades and still fun today. Unfortunately Xevious is still as difficult today as it was in the past. Still, that difficulty never surpasses how fun the game really is and I don’t have to keep putting quarters into the bottom of my TV ever time its “game over”, so its all good. I never was a big fan of Mappy in the arcades, and it’s by far the least fun game here in my opinion. While it’s not a bad game, it’s not in the same league as the other four games here and I really think Namco put it in as an after thought. My apologies for anyone who loved Mappy, it just didn’t do anything for me as a kid and does even less for me now.

While I love MS. Pac Man and all, this may be taking things a little too far?

Although the Ms. Pac-Man game system may “feel” great, play perfectly,most importantly control like the originals and be a blast in the living room with a friend, there is one obvious problem here. As I touched upon a the start of my article, in the time that you spent reading this review you could have downloaded all five of these games off the net for absolutely nothing, and ten more games for that matter. This really puts a damper on the Ms. Pac-Man system, no matter how big a fan you are of authentic arcade fun and controls. I got this for free, and although it’s a very fun gift I may not have paid for it when it was in stores 5 or 6  years ago because of this very fact, even with its very low and attractive price tag at the time. Still, I am very glad that I own this mini system, its fun as hell for short burst of retro gaming fun. It is an entertaining short escape from the overly complex games of today, and a great reminder of a time when it did not take two and three years of game development to win spoiled video gamers hearts.

Namco’s Ms. Pac-Man game system sold for less than a new GBA game did at the time and with 5 games was only about 4  dollars per game, so it was not a bad price at all in its day.  Also, I  really like the fact that it is a stand-alone system that doesn’t require any specific console to play it on. As long as there is a TV or monitor to hook it up to your good to go anywhere you take the little thing. If you were a  kid back when these games were in the arcades you will have no regrets owning this and you will defiantly enjoy it. As usual with my older reviews its a matter of finding the device but it would be worth it if you do. Just remember to line up a couple of quarters across your TV screen in case a friend tries to play next.  The only group of gamers that I don’t recommend this for is if you were a little kid only a short time ago. If your young enough that you think that the first ever videogames originated with “ SUPA-MARIO-64”, then your better off playing some of the new HD current generation games out there, you probably wont enjoy this little retro system very much. As for the rest of us, let the  fond memories return.

Patman gives Ms. Pac-Man TV game system 8.0/10