The second compilation of the yellow puck’s games, Pac-Man Museum+, is out today on Switch (and other consoles!), and this collection of 14 of Pac-Man’s very best games is out there looking to celebrate one of gaming’s oldest icons. You’ll get to see him with legs, without legs — the lot!
The collection comes at the end of Pac-Man’s 42nd birthday celebrations, and there’s plenty to celebrate –including a brand new theme song and a collaboration with Fortnite — but fans have been spotting something a bit off in this compilation that threatens to spoil the party.
In Pac-Man Museum+, you can play all 14 games inside an in-game arcade. Every arcade machine is loaded up with missions that give you coins to unlock all sorts of decorative items for your arcade. It’s a really neat little way of paying homage to Pack-Man’s legacy, and we love the novelty of it, especially the old (and best) Bandai logo on the machines. One of the things you can unlock are little gachapon figures — the popular capsule toys that you get out of machines — and many of these are replicas of famous Pac-Man characters. Albeit, a few have taken on a brand new identity, as spotted by @DailyPacMan on Twitter:
Sorry, who is Pac-Boy? Pac-Buddy!? Has someone kidnapped Pac-Man’s family? Did Pac-Man remarry?
No, no he didn’t. This is yet another chapter in the chronicles of Pac-Man’s legal woes that date way back to the ’80s, and it all kicked off with Ms. Pac-Man. We covered Ms. Pac-Man’s legal woes at length back when Pac-Land launched on Switch as part of the Arcade Archives collection. But in more recent times, plug-and-play company AtGames reached a deal with GCC — the creators of Crazy Otto and, eventually, Ms. Pac-Man (under Midway’s supervision).
While many thought the dispute was over, the release of Pac-Land and Pac-Man Museum+ seems to indicate otherwise. In Pac-Land, Ms. Pac-Man had a totally different hairstyle, and Baby Pac-Man also got a similar, brand-new look. Pac-Man Museum+ has done something similar, giving this new Ms. Pac-Man — called Pac-Mom — a hat in some appearances.
Given that Baby Pac-Man is also in Pac-Land, she’s now got a brand new name too — Pac-Sis. Don’t worry, her brother — Pac-Jr., uh, we mean Pac-Boy — is also here, otherwise that would be a bit weird. And, we’re sorry, Chomp Chomp is a much better name than Pac-Buddy. He’s not even round or yellow! The only character who seems to have escaped the name change is Professor Pac
Well… except for one instance of a certain character. In this version of Pac-Man Arrangement 2005 (or Arrangement ’05), there’s a familiar eye-lashed, pink bow-wearing friend in the game’s credits. Oops… someone’s obviously snacked on a power pellet behind people’s backs.
Previous releases of Arrangement ’05 have removed the credits from the game entirely. It’s not clear what Bandai Namco will do with the credits, but considering every other appearance of Ms. Pac-Man has been altered, it’s hard to think that this will go ignored. Even if it was missed the first time.
It’s a real shame, as Ms. Pac-Man and the rest of Pac-Man’s family have all had some iconic appearances throughout the series. But it’s likely we’ll never get to see them again.
If you’re playing Pac-Man Museum+, let us know if you’ve spotted any other changes in the game!
