Pac-Land – 10 Forgotten ’80s Video Games

The original Pac-Man is arguably the most successful and influential video game ever. It spawned a hit song, a cartoon series, a merchandising empire that continues to this day and sequels aplenty. Some of these, like Ms. Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man, were huge hits. But do you remember the video game/pinball hybrid Baby Pac-Man, or the trivia-based Professor Pac-Man? Probably not. After these titles failed to trap lightning in a bottle yet again, game manufacturer Bally/Midway decided to completely revamp their superstar character and Pac-Land was the result. A weird side-scroller that took some visual cues from the Pac-Man animated series, it concerned our yellow hero's attempts to return a fairy (who, for reasons best left unexplored, lived under Pac-Man's hat), to her home. Gone was the rampant dot munching, replaced by ghosts driving cars and a protagonist whose sudden possession/use of limbs was both confusing and Kafka-esque. Pac-Land failed to recapture the cultural zeitgeist, proving that even Pac-Man isn't immune to hubris.