Why Pac Man is the Best Video Game of All Time

Simplicity, challenge and fun are qualities that would mark a game as the best one of all time. Pac Man contains huge quantities of each. However, what really marks this game as the best of all time is its appeal over time and space. This game was introduced in 1980, yet remains relevant in 2008. Pac Man has become a unique brand that is gender-neutral and indifferent to several other boundaries.

One of the core factors in Pac Man’s supremacy in the video game realm is the combination of simplicity with challenge. You only need the cursor keys or a joystick to play this game. Not a lot of time is spent learning the controls. Even though the controls are simple, the gameplay is not unsophisticated by any means.

The original game was very challenging since Pac Man moved a bit slower than the ghosts and trying to avoid the patterns proved tricky to anyone except advanced players. Even though you eventually learned that the ghosts moved according to patterns and change direction every few seconds, you would have been necessarily distracted by your main objective, either eating bonus items or dots. The ghosts also had various pre-determined patterns, so that there wasn’t excessive predictability.

Pac Man is one of those video games that gives the player ultimate control. The movement and personality of the ghosts are programmed in certain patterns beforehand, so there is little chance that things are suddenly going to get even more difficult for you. You are in control of your destiny when you play this game. That’s a feeling most people don’t have in their lives.

The modifiability of the game gives it the competitive edge over other popular games as well. There were several clones, legal and otherwise that were produced since the initial release in 1980. The original version had a basic maze. The levels would become more difficult and different with the bonus items and the increasing invulnerability of the ghosts to the power pills. Ms. Pac, arguably the best clone in the series, contained different mazes and moving bonus items. It also included the option of playing with a faster Ms. Pac.

The basic idea of avoiding or chasing something while trying to accomplish your objective is what makes Pac Man the best game of all time. The reality is that simple sells. It would never again be the 80′s craze that it was, since there are many more gaming options now. The video game could be compared to Michael Jackson in that regard. Even though he will never again mount the dazzling heights of the 80′s, a lot of people – very young or much older – still enjoy his tunes. Whether it’s Pac Man or a legendary entertainer, class is permanent. That’s essentially why Pac Man is the best game of all time.

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