Blue Ms. PacMan Plug-n-play.

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SigSauerLover
Posts: 167
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 5:51 pm

Blue Ms. PacMan Plug-n-play.

Postby SigSauerLover » May 13th, 2015, 3:40 pm

Well, I got this plug n' play the second I saw it back in the mid-2000's. I had already loved the hell out of the first Namco plug n' play, so this was a no brainer purchase. So, I bought it, brought it home, and saw pole position on the menu screen. I thought "OH HELL YES. TIME TO PLAY POLE POSITION. So I turned it on, tried turning, and it didn't work. I was thinking "hmm, must be defective" so I took it back to Wal-Mart. they gave me another one, and it STILL didn't work. It wasn't until I played around a bit that I figured out you TURNED THE JOYSTICK. Just thought I'd tell that story as it shows my occasional ignorance.

Anyhoo, the unit itself is very attractive. The Ms. Pacman sticker looks excellent, and all of the other stickers are nice and vibrant as well. The joystick also feels nicer than the previous unit, as it doesn't have quite as much travel, and is 8-way, and the unit now has two buttons. The included games are Ms. Pacman (obviously!), Galaga, Xevious, Mappy, and Pole Position. Unlike the last units, these appear to be emulated versions of the arcade games they represent. And they look and sound excellent. The new joystick makes Ms. Pacman a much better experience than the last Pac-Man. But the unit STILL doesn't save high scores! What a shame. I did like the inclusion of Mappy and Xevious, as they're not that well known. The unit still takes 4 batteries, and they seem to last as long as the first PacMan plug n' play (if not longer).

But there was later a revision of this model that accepted the new "Gamekey" format. This allowed for more games to be unlocked (yes, literally unlocked, as the games are built into the unit already). Not only that, but HIGH SCORES ARE SAVED! And this is a HUGE advantage. Now you can boast your scores to a friend later! Or even just challenge yourself. Also, they FINALLY printed "Turn joystick" around the base so you knew how to control pole position. Anyhoo, the gamekeys unlock 5 games. Pac-Man, Rally-X, Boscian, Dig Dug, and New Rally X. So all but one of the games on the first unit. All of the games feel better than before, especially Bosconian, which retains it's horrible speech synthesis which sounds nothing like what it's trying to say (LIGHTS OFF. ALIVE! ALIVE!). But where the HELL is Galaxian? I'd have gladly given up the slow ass paced New Rally X for Galaxian! High scores are also saved for these games as well, and that's always a plus.

Overall, both editions of these plug n' plays ROCK. They feel better than the first, and emulate the games more nicely. And if you don't care for Galaxian, and just want the games, the gamekey edition may be the only plug n' play you'll ever need. If I were to grade the first edition, I'd give it a solid A. And the gamekey version, an A+.


These units are cheap, so please, go buy them now!

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scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

Re: Blue Ms. PacMan Plug-n-play.

Postby scotland » May 14th, 2015, 9:44 pm

The rotating knob puzzled me too. I got mine second hand, no box or instructions, so it was just luck to figure out Pole Position. Still a fun game for kids, and both my kids and I like Ms Pac Man. I did not realize the Gamekey basically unlocked games, since some systems support more than one...but do not seem to recognize other Jakks Gamekeys. I agree on Rally X being a poor trade for Galaxian, but it does show a game people thought was going to hot in 1980 and not some Puck Man maze game.

Got any plug and plays you really dislike?

SigSauerLover
Posts: 167
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 5:51 pm

Re: Blue Ms. PacMan Plug-n-play.

Postby SigSauerLover » May 15th, 2015, 12:13 am

Plug N' Plays I dislike? Oh boy, there are a few. The Fantastic Four one is very bad. Mindless gameplay, terrible sound, a bad joystick, it's bad. This nasty guitar fever one, which is a bad guitar hero clone. This Deal or No Deal one where a bug causes it to be very easy to win. This first atari joystick one where everything is mushy and the sound is bad. This awful Nicktoons plug n' play. A terrible shrek plug n' play which I haven't played in a while. And a really bad scooby doo one. But there are also some I like, for example, the Atari paddle plug n' play is fun. And the Disney one that accepts game keys is PHENOMENAL (and I WILL review it, as it has some of the very best games on any of these).

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LuckyMan
Posts: 108
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:32 pm

Re: Blue Ms. PacMan Plug-n-play.

Postby LuckyMan » May 15th, 2015, 5:47 pm

SigSauerLover wrote:Plug N' Plays I dislike? Oh boy, there are a few. The Fantastic Four one is very bad. Mindless gameplay, terrible sound, a bad joystick, it's bad. This nasty guitar fever one, which is a bad guitar hero clone. This Deal or No Deal one where a bug causes it to be very easy to win. This first atari joystick one where everything is mushy and the sound is bad. This awful Nicktoons plug n' play. A terrible shrek plug n' play which I haven't played in a while. And a really bad scooby doo one. But there are also some I like, for example, the Atari paddle plug n' play is fun. And the Disney one that accepts game keys is PHENOMENAL (and I WILL review it, as it has some of the very best games on any of these).

I bought the Shrek and Scooby-Doo controllers for my daughter. We both really liked them. In fact, since the Scooby-Doo controller has a GameKey slot, I looked for a while to find a GameKey for it, but it appears that they never made one. We were both bummed out. We wanted more Scooby-Doo games!

I agree with you about the Ms. Pac-Man plug & play. It's probably my favorite of the bunch.

SigSauerLover
Posts: 167
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 5:51 pm

Re: Blue Ms. PacMan Plug-n-play.

Postby SigSauerLover » May 15th, 2015, 8:47 pm

I've taken note of just how few gamekeys were made available. As far as I know, the Fantastic 4, Dragon Ball Z, and scooby doo ones never saw the light of day. But the nicktoons ones WERE sold separately. I purchased them when new, though as I said, all they do is switch to a different menu already built into the unit.

SigSauerLover
Posts: 167
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 5:51 pm

Re: Blue Ms. PacMan Plug-n-play.

Postby SigSauerLover » January 5th, 2016, 12:38 am

Interestingly enough, there's a Pac-Man plug n' play I found at Toys R Us! I'm trying it right now, expect a review.


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