This is not the "pacman4k" that was released a few years ago. Instead, it's a different program, by a different programmer, which also fits in the same 4K that Atari's official (and horrible) Pac-Man cartridge had.

In addition to the grapics and sounds being magnitudes better than Artai's "official" version, the A.I. for the ghosts is accurate to the arcade version, which was not the case with Atari's "official" version.

This thing is just amazing. If Atari had released this version instead of the version that it did release, who knows how different the "video game crash" may have been.

The programmer lets you download it for free at:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229...600/?p=3063030

The programmer states:

"I have been asked by the size of the rom, as you can see is 4KB, still has no intermission, I'm making music for intermissions too. In this version I will put everything that can be done, but later I will make a version of 8K to include all title screen with the names of the ghosts, all intermissions, an inteligent flicker, messages of "game over" and "readyˇ" etc."

The actual Pac-Man for Atari 2600 was awful. Even as a kid something about it didn't look right.

Adding insult to injury, I remember how sound effects from that horrible Atari 2600 Pac-Man were actually used in Superman III.

We've been grundled...

Fitting, because Superman III was the Pac Man 2600 of super-hero movies.

You can hear Pac-Man 2600 sounds almost anytime someone plays a handheld video game in a TV or movie.

I've noticed that too. I guess it has become a "stock" sound effect.

What's so great about it?

Were you around when the original 2600 release occurred? This is what I had envisioned, not the "honk, honk, honk" horribleness we actually got!
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I remember being so disappointed when I saw the demo at K-Mart!

This thread did not deliver. I was looking for a 4k UHD remaster of the game.

^ That's what I thought this was all about, too. I mean, that would be bad-ass, no?

This? This is just... I don't get why it's exciting at all.

Well, to be honest this isn't Pacman Atari 2600 since that console couldn't run the game as it now is. And I was born in 1974 and we got a 2600 when they came out so I am familiar with what the game was like during that time period.

But it DOES run on 2600. It's a ROM. It can be loaded on a flashcart and played on the real hardware.