Diary Of An Arcade Employee Podcast Ep. 036 – Pac Land

For this latest episode of the Diary of an Arcade Employee podcast I tackle Pac-Land – the side-scrolling platformer release by Namco in 1984. This is yet another title that I sadly didn’t get to enjoy at the Showbiz Pizza of my youth or at one of the local arcades in my neck of the woods. As I mention in the show itself I didn’t get to play it until 1997’s Namco Museum Volume 4 for the Playstation – although thankfully the arcade received a cabaret cabinet a couple of years back. Pac-Land has most certainly become one of my favorite arcade games at the arcade – it’s also worth pointing out that there are some elements of the gameplay that would be echoed by Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. a mere year later. Pac-Land features multiple power-up’s and some impressive platforming – all in the attempt to help Pac-Man get a lost fairy home!

In the show I make sure to cover the basics of the gameplay for Pac-Land as well as the team that helped usher the game into existence. In addition I cover the legacy in video games of those creators where applicable – like Hiroshi Ono who just so happened to have had a hand in the designing of another Namco classic arcade title – 1982’s Xevious.

Pac-Land in my honest opinion is truly an exceptional game and one that doesn’t get the amount of love that it rightfully deserves. One of the reasons I chose it as the game to cover in this episode is the many secrets it has – for example – pushing on a fire hydrant at a certain spot in the game will reward a Player with a power-up, etc. It’s almost like peeling an onion, when you think you’ve discovered everything there remains another layer to surprise you. I hope that after listening to this particular show you’ll check out Pac-Land yourself and you might see why I find it so special.

Oh, I should mention that on this episode I am joined by a very special guest – none other than Henry Holder, one of the Arkadian Kids I am constantly referring to as well as the holder of many of the high scores at the arcade. He has something to share in regards to Pac-Land – a first for this show – a challenge to a fellow Player at the Arkadia Retrocade!

As always I hope you will enjoy this latest episode of the Diary of An Arcade Employee Podcast – now join us as we shine a spotlight on 1984’s Pac-Land!

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If you possibly have suggestions for future episodes or want to chat about the current show – you can reach me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com. You can find me on Facebook or Twitter and make sure to check out the Arkadia Retrocade Facebook page. Or for daily updates you can hop on over to the Diary of an Arcade Employee Facebook page – heck -you can see videos and more fun a couple of times a week by checking out my Instagram page!

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