Pacific Arcades
  • Projects
Picture
  • The following project is a fan creation. The cabinet is not for sale or distribution.
  • To press and publishers: All images on this page after the "History" article depict my project and do not represent the original game, a property held by Bandai Namco. Images downloaded from this page may be used for non-profit personal purposes only. Any usage must include an attribution to Brendon Parker and a link to this webpage. For commercial use contact bparker@pacificarcades.com.

History

Pac & Pal was a Pac-Man sequel designed by Namco Japan in 1983. In the game, Pac-Man must flip cards in order to unlock the corridors of the maze. Eating all fruits and powerups completes the levels. Pac-Man may stun monsters for points with Galaxian's tractor beam, Rally-X's smokescreen, trumpet music, or ice. A green "pal" character, named Miru, steals uneaten fruit and brings it to the monster pen for destruction. This costs the player points but helps in completing the level.

Pac & Pal was released in Japan as an enhancement kit for Super Pac-Man cocktail machines, containing instruction cards and a replacement chipset (program and sprite ROMs, color and sound PROMS, and two Namco-custom I/O chips).

Namco rebranded Pac & Pal as "Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp" in preparation for worldwide release. The Pal character was replaced with Pac-Man's pet dog Chomp Chomp, but the gameplay remained unchanged. A small number of Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp conversion kits were produced for Europe, containing a similar chip set to the Japanese Pac & Pal kit. The game was set for a 1984 release in the United States under the Bally Midway license, and one known cabinet was open-field tested in a Chicago Aladdin's Castle. Information on this test cabinet is very scarce.

However, the American release was cancelled, likely due to the Pac-Man licensing termination between Namco and Bally/Midway in 1984.  Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp never saw the light of day.
Picture
Pac & Pal
Picture
Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp
Picture
Japanese Pac & Pal conversion manual (Photo credit: Shertz from KLOV)

My Project

Because Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp is essentially lost to time, I took it upon myself to build a complete cabinet to replicate what Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp could have been like, had it been released by Bally Midway in 1983/1984.

This involved designing complete cabinet artwork, modifying the Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp programming to work on common hardware, and restoring an original Ms. Pac-Man cabinet.

I debuted this project at California Extreme Arcade Expo 2016. It has been present every year since!

Links:
Arcade Heroes Games of CAX 2016 article
Tracy High School 2016 Presentation
The Retro Gaming Times - Tenth Issue
NEW: Destructoid article
Picture
My completed Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp project, 2016

Cabinet/Circuitry

A Mappy/Jr. Pac-Man style cabinet would have been most time-accurate, but I could not locate one within the time frame I set for the project. I used instead what I had available: a Ms. Pac-Man converted to Gaplus in atrocious condition. I initially planned to restore it to a Gaplus but Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp took priority.

The cabinet had seen water damage and the edges were frayed, which I repaired with wood hardner and filler. I painted the cabinet bright white with orange T-molding, to match what Midway used on the Mappy and dedicated Jr. Pac-Man cabinets.

The wiring is a mix of old and new. The previous cabinet owner poorly spliced the original Ms. Pac-Man wiring. I threw out most of the existing wiring and replaced it with a JAMMA harness and a Super Pac-Man to JAMMA adapter.

Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp ran originally on modified Super Pac-Man hardware; requiring multiple chip swaps and an extra socket. However the original conversion also required a custom-produced IC that was made in very small numbers, and is now unobtainable. Vernon Brooks modified the code to run directly on Super Pac-Man hardware, without the custom IC. The cabinet runs this modified code on a Super Pac-Man board.

Download the modified ROM here.
Sad Gaplus!
Preparing to strip paint
Filling and repair of wood
Filling and repair of wood
Paint
Reassembly
Finished Cabinet

Early Pac & Pal Artwork

I took on designing a Pac & Pal marquee in 2012 as a form of fun art practice. Collectors took interest and I continued to design control panel art. There was no goal yet to build a cabinet, as Crazy Otto was still my focus.

I printed a few Pac & Pal marquees and have a few left over, including one hanging in our kitchen!
Pac & Pal marquee first attempt, 2012
Pac & Pal marquee progress, 2013
Pac & Pal marquee progress, 2013
Pac & Pal marquee printed, 2013
Pac & Pal control panel first attempt, 2013
Pac & Pal control panel final, 2013

Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp Artwork

I began the artwork in 2015 as soon as I settled on the project. This was challenging as there is no original Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp material to simulate, but I highly enjoyed the creative freedom.

I used Namco's drawings of Pac-Man as inspiration to develop a new art style for the characters. I created a unified Pac-Man font to keep lettering consistent between this project and my products.

As I originally intended to build this project in a Mappy style cabinet, I designed the larger marquee in summer/fall 2015. I could not find a Mappy cabinet so I adapted the set for a Ms. Pac-Man style cabinet.

I drew a basic design for the Chomp Chomp character, but my limited character design skills led me to reach out to a friend, Melissa Burke, for character sketches. I vectored these into final artwork.
Designing the initial Chomp Chomp, 2015
Westernization/redesign of Pac-Man, 2015-2016
Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp large marquee, 2015
Chomp Chomp character sketch and final vector, 2016
Chomp Chomp character sketch and final vector, 2016
Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp final marquee, 2016
Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp final control panel, 2016
Marquee process print
Bezel process print

Finished Cabinet

Cabinet finished in June 2016. The cabinet has been present at California Extreme Arcade & Pinball Expo 2016 through 2019.
Pacific Arcades © 2016-2021 Brendon Parker
bparker@pacificarcades.com

The designs and characters on this site are copyrighted by their respective holders. Pacific Arcades does not claim license to any rights it does not hold, and produces these graphics as a service to fellow collectors and hobbyists of original arcade cabinets. Any copyright holder wanting their images or reproductions removed from this site should contact us and we will immediately remove them.
  • Projects