Pac Attack, also known as Pac-Panic,^[b] is a 1993 falling-tile puzzle video game developed and published by Namco for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. Versions for the Game Boy, Game Gear and Philips CD-i were also released. The player is tasked with clearing out blocks and ghosts without them stacking to the top of the playfield — blocks can be cleared by matching them in horizontal rows, while ghosts can be cleared by placing down a Pac-Man piece that can eat them. It is the first game in the Pac-Man series to be released exclusively for home platforms.

Pac-Attack is an adaptation of the 1992 game Cosmo Gang the Puzzle, which was released for arcades worldwide and the Super Famicom in Japan. Music was composed by Hiromi Shibano with cover art designed by Greg Martin.

To promote the game’s release, a contest was held in GameFan magazine that awarded cash prizes to players who submitted their highest scores. Critical reception for the game was mixed: while some disliked its lack of replay value and inferiority to other games such as Tetris and Columns, others praised it for its addictiveness and clever usage of the traditional Pac-Man gameplay. It has been ported to several systems and included in a number of Pac-Man and Namco compilations for multiple platforms.

Gameplay – Pac Attack

Pac-Attack is a falling tile puzzle game, often being compared to games such as Tetris and Columns. The player drops down formations of blocks and ghosts onto a vertical-oriented playfield, the objective being to score as many points possible before the pieces reach the top of the screen.^[1] Blocks can be cleared by matching them in horizontal rows that touch both ends of the playfield; however, ghosts can only be cleared by placing down a Pac-Man piece, which will eat any ghosts in his path.^[1] 

The direction that Pac-Man is facing will show which direction he will move — if he gets stuck in a spot with no ghosts left, Pac-Man disappears.^[1] Eating ghosts will cause a “fairy meter”, located at the left of the screen, to fill up — once the meter is full, a fairy piece will appear that clears any and all ghosts below it, which can be used to cause chain reactions.^[1]

Alongside a standard single-player mode, a multiplayer mode is also included that pits two players against each other, the objective being to clear as many pieces possible while also causing additional pieces to stack up on the opponent’s side.^[1] Clearing out blocks or ghosts will cause additional pieces to fall on the other player’s side, and once the blocks in a player’s side stack to the top, the other is deemed the winner.^[1]

 The game also features a Puzzle Mode, where the player is to clear out each ghost in a pre-set level in as few moves as possible.^[1] This mode spans 100 levels, and completing one will give the player a password that can be used to start at that stage again.

1.Title Theme

2. Menu Selection

3. Puzzle Fever

4. Puzzling Situation

5. The Can-Can