The Classic Arcade and Console Era (1972-1989) - Enjoying the Maze and Chase Genre Today
As we wrap up our look at the 1980s maze and chase games from consoles and arcades, here are some other titles to check out!
One of the reasons maze and chase games became so popular in the early 1980s was because they were very accessible, and even today, a simple game like Pac-Man, Dig Dug or BurgerTime can be quite compelling to play.
The games we’re not going to cover (because they have been so extensively covered by gaming media) are the following notable or essential titles:
Head-On (1979) – A hugely influential arcade game designed by Lane Hauck where you drive a car around a lane-based maze and eat dots while another car travels in the opposite direction. Namco gets all the credit for refining those ideas into Pac-Man and Rally-X, but Head On did it first.
Heiankyo Alien (a.k.a. Digger) (1979) – A hugely influential arcade game where your job is to wander around an overhead maze and bury all of the aliens wandering around a Heian period Kyoto. It was originally a PC-8000 game by Theoretical Science Group, but the arcade incarnations by publishers Denki Onkyo (released the same year) and Sega/Gremlin are the ones people played. Oddly, it was only ever officially ported beyond the arcades to the Game Boy in 1990. In the meantime, Space Panic and Lode Runner adapted the mechanics to side-scrollers, and the rest is history.
Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man (1980 and 1982) – What began as a nonviolent eating game with some obvious inspiration Head-On became one of the biggest and most recognizable games ever made in Toru Iwatani’s Puck Man, renamed Pac-Man for its global release. The 1982 sort-of sequel was not published by Namco, but rather North American distributor Midway, who obtained the rights to modify the original cabinet using a conversion kit made by General Computer Corporation. Namco’s official sequel was 1982’s Super Pac-Man, which is far less remembered. 1984’s Pac-Land, also designed by Iwatani, changed the series dramatically.
Rally-X (1980) – While Namco’s Pac-Man bore some resemblance to Head On, Rally-X took the formula and dramatically improved upon it, replacing dots with flags, making mazes larger and giving the player the ability to turn the car around and travel in any of the four cardinal directions. It even included background music and a bonus round, both of which were novel in 1980. The 1981 sequel, New Rally-X, added in additional features like a “lucky flag” that provides bonus points.
BurgerTime (a.k.a. Hamburger) (1982) – Data East’s simple maze platformer has chef Peter Pepper trying to smoosh down giant burger ingredients while he dodges rogue ingredients like hot dogs and fried eggs. Is it a dream? Maybe a nightmare? The never-ending repetitive music track suggests the latter, but the gameplay is so much fun it doesn’t matter. This game is highly influential and has had many sequels and remakes, both official (such as Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory) and unofficial (Diner).
Dig Dug (1982) – A wonderfully cute Namco trap maze game where instead of navigating a maze, you create one by digging underground tunnels and exterminating enemies. The real fun is in getting the monsters to chase you so you can drop a rock on them, but you’re also equipped with a hose that allows you to blow them up like a balloon until they burst.
Mr. Do! (1982) – Universal’s clown mascot may not be too well-known today, but he was quite popular in the 1980s. His debut game, created by Kazutoshi Ueda, is similar to Dig Dug and involves digging tunnels to collect cherries positioned around the screen as he’s chased by red dinosaurs. Mr. Do can drop apples on his enemies, but he’s also equipped with a superball he can bounce towards them. This game was also notable because it was released as the first conversion kit for arcade games.
Q*Bert (1982) – An iconic pseudo-3D maze chase game by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee where you play as an orange character who has to bounce up and down a trimetric pyramid of cubes and change their color as you dodge Coily the snake and several other foes that move up and down the pyramid. The fantastic art design, character sprites and sound effects make this game memorable, even if the gameplay itself is pretty mediocre.
Super Pac-Man (1982) – Toru Iwatani’s true sequel to Pac-Man is a very different game from the original because it forgoes eating dots in favor of eating foods or items (including Galaxian ships!) as well as keys that unlock the gates guarding power pellets. Perhaps the biggest departure is that Pac-Man can grow in size and becomes invulnerable to ghosts as he is “flying” over them. It’s not a great sequel nor was it a commercial or critical success (and its 1983 follow-up Pac & Pal is atrocious), but it is an interesting take on a classic.
Crystal Castles (1983) – A pseudo-3D game designed by Scott Fuller where you navigate Bentley Bear through impressive-looking trimetric mazes as you try to collect all the gems. It’s a surprisingly fast-moving game where the trackball controls take some getting used to. There are 37 stages, and many have features like elevators, stairs and tunnels.
Marble Madness (1984) – An amazing pseudo-3D isometric game designed by an 18-year-old Mark Cerny where you navigate a marble through surreal grid-like mazes full of slopes, ramps and geometric features. The learning curve is steep, but once you master the controls, this game’s a joy to play. The arcade original uses a trackball, but home ports managed to translate the action to a joystick or d-pad fairly well.
Bomberman (a.k.a. Dyna Blaster, Atomic Punk or Bakudan Otoko) (1985) – While Hudson Soft did release an earlier PC game called Bomber Man in 1983, it looks so unlike the game we know and love today that it was even called Eric and the Floaters in its UK adaptation. No, this NES revision is where the series truly begins, though even at this stage, things hadn’t quite evolved to the familiar look and feel we know today.
Pac-Mania (1987) – A remake of Pac-Man played from an oblique isometric angle and which adds in two new ghosts and the ability to jump. It’s not only a great-looking game, but also a nice take on the classic formula directed by series creator Toru Iwatani himself. Then only problem is that the game’s skewed angle makes it a little difficult to play at first, but once you get used to it, it’s a lovely and challenging sequel that builds on the foundations of Pac-Man without wrecking things like Super Pac-Man did.
If you haven’t played these games, you ought to.
Games that Will Be Featured in the Book
Some other titles that will appear in my upcoming book include:
Armored Car (1981) - Take Rally-X, combine it with a grid-like city and add in some rambunctious robbers, annoying ambulances and stubborn steamrollers and you have this unusual driving game where you try to steer an armored car to the bank.
Alien (1982) - It’s basically just Pac-Man with an Alien movie tie-in reskin, and yet somehow, it’s better than the Atari 2600’s actual Pac-Man port.
Dolphin (1983) - Early console games rarely experimented with using sound to guide gameplay, but Activision’s Dolphin is best-played with the sound turned up so you can evade a pursuing squid by hitting the gaps in upcoming obstacles or leap up in time to grab a seagull that lets you turn the tables. It’s a fascinating Atari 2600 game.
Marvin’s Maze (1983) - What if you took Pac-Man and Crystal Castles, blended them together and added in bits of Q*bert, Berzerk and Lode Runner? You might get something like this complex and interesting puzzler from SNK where you battle Robonoids in isometric mazes.
Hustle! Chumy (1984) - One of Compile’s earliest games is this charismatic SG-1000 action platformer where you play as a rat that emerges from the sewers, collects food and lobs cans at cats, bats, ninjas and mecha dinosaurs. It was only available in Japan, but it’s easily playable today.
I’m Sorry (1985) - One of the earliest arcade bakages (“stupid game”) is this parodic maze game starring a greedy Japanese prime minister and caricatures of celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Olympic track star Carl Lewis, Japanese wrestler Giant Baba and Japanese comedian Tamori. It’s sort of like Pac-Man by way of Wario.
Games You Might Want To Try
A few other titles that I opted not to feature in detail, but which are worth checking out, include:
Crazy Climber and Crazy Climber 2 (1980 and 1988) – A vertically scrolling arcade game from Jordan Information Services, Nichibutsu and Taito where you ascend the outside of a building one ledge at a time as windows open and close and people drop things on you. The arcade original had two joysticks that you pumped in succession to climb, making it hard to play with emulation today. The sequel is an impressive-looking update with some notably naughty graphics.
Maze Craze: A Game of Cops 'n Robbers (a.k.a. Maze Mania) (1980) – A two-player game for the Atari 2600 where two characters compete to see who can escape a maze first.
Crush Roller (a.k.a. Make Trax) (1981) Arcade – An interesting color-change arcade maze from Alpha Denshi where you play as a rogue paintbrush who’s coloring the streets as two blobs that look like fish chase you. As the game gets harder, you also have to repaint over footprints that appear in your captured areas.
Frisky Tom (1981) – A plumbing-themed maze arcade game from Nichibutsu and Jordan Information Services that has you climb pipes and repair them while mice and rats try to blow them up with bombs. If you can keep the water running, you get to watch a pretty lady take a bath. It’s a naughty but inoffensive game that’s reminiscent of Donkey Kong Jr.
Lady Bug (1981) – A Pac-Man style arcade collection maze from Universal where you can rotate many walls to change the layout. You play as a ladybug trying to consume insects while avoiding the praying mantids who will chase after you.
Lock ‘N Chase (1981) – Another arcade collection maze in the style of Pac-Man by Data East where you play as a red blob in a top hat running from blue blobs in police hats as you pick up dots. Some of the maze corridors get blocked by doors that open and close.
Mouse Trap (1981) – A Pac-Man style arcade collection maze by Exidy that puts you in the role of a mouse collecting cheese while you avoid cats. Somehow, collecting enough bones allows you to turn into a dog and chase the cats. There are also maze walls that can be moved. While the graphics aren’t terribly impressive, the sound is amazing, including a digitized laugh that mocks you.
Anteater (1982) – A vertical maze arcade game from Tago Electronics that has you navigate an anteater’s long tongue into an anthill, eating larvae dots and avoiding full-grown ants. You can also eat worms or ant queens for additional bonuses. It’s a really well-made game that was shamelessly copied by Sierra On-Line’s Oil’s Well on the PC.
Blue-Print (1982) – A likeable arcade game by Zilec Electronics that’s fun, but so short it didn’t warrant inclusion beyond a summary. As the inventor J.J., you need to rescue your girlfriend Daisy from the ravages of Ollie Ogre, who’s chasing her through the village. (Fortunately, she has the endurance of a marathon runner!). So, you wander through the village and find the parts to build a makeshift invention detailed on a blueprint at the bottom of the screen. Once it’s ready, you can blast Ollie Ogre for good. It’s a great but quickly repetitive concept.
Dommy (1983) – A fascinating – and very original! – arcade game from Technōs Japan where you navigate a maze and push numbered dominos onto a conveyor belt that surrounds the screen to create a line of dominos you can knock down.
Guzzler (1983) – A surreal maze arcade game from Tehkan (Tecmo) where you play as a pitcher of water that has to put out fires before the embers around the stage destroy you, replenishing your liquid by walking over puddles. I promise I didn’t make any of that up. Not be confused with the 1984 PC game of the same name where you play as a rat named Greedy Guzzler.
Joinem (1983) – A really peculiar (and obscure) maze game from Global Corporation where you play as a herd of little red guys who move together through a maze and fuse together into a larger creature once they touch so they can outwit two furry devils. It’s quite challenging, but interesting.
Sindbad Mystery (1983) – An overhead maze SG-1000 and arcade game from Sega where you play as the titular Sindbad picking up question marks as you search for treasure. The levels have a neat faux-3D look to them with multiple height levels connected by tunnels and stairs.
BanBam (a.k.a. Pettan Pyuu) (1984) – A tile-flipping arcade maze game from SunSoft where you try to draw out your lady love while smashing enemies with rotating tiles. The mechanics are quite complex since tiles can be manipulated in several non-intuitive ways, and the faux-3D isometric perspective makes the game quite surreal.
Devil World (1984) – Would you believe a Famicom Pac-Man style game where you’re a dinosaur infiltrating a labyrinth in hell and fighting the devil himself with crosses and Bibles was made by Nintendo itself? For some reason, Nintendo R&D1’s odd maze game only came out in Japan and Sweden, and Nintendo even censored its inclusion as a trophy in the North American version of Super Smash Bros. Melee. It’s not a great game, but it is an interesting one.
Jack Rabbit (1984) – The Italian amusement company Zaccaria was best known for their distinctive pinball tables, but the company also had an arcade import distribution business that even included a few in-house titles. Jack Rabbit is a really good-looking isometric collection game where you gather up carrots while two cartoon weasels chase you. The three stages are very different, and one even scrolls as you move. The only downsides is that it’s difficult to control and the enemies are relentless.
Thunder Castle (1984) – A great-looking fantasy-themed maze game on the Intellivision famous for its great sound and unique level design. The first level has you battling a dragon in a forest, then you proceed into the castle to fight wizards and finally have to escape an evil demon-infested dungeon.
Fire Trap (1986) Have you ever come across a game that you love to watch, but hate to play? That’s how I feel about this Crazy Climber-style isometric arcade game from Wood Place, where you scale two sides of a building, put out fires and rescue people hanging out windows. It’s so cool-looking it seems like it should be a good time, but the controls are awful.
Toypop (1986) – A toy-themed maze arcade game from Namco where you play as the long-nosed puppet Pino or the Red Riding Hood-esque Acha as you unwrap presents and shoot at toy soldiers, wind-up cards, robots and other foes. It’s quite cute, but the gameplay feels dated enough that it’s not something I’d easily recommend.
Kitten Kaboodle (1988) – An unusual maze puzzler from Konami that’s in the vein of Namco’s Toypop, but with kittens. I love the graphics, music, and colorful animations between stages, but the game mechanics, which essentially boil down to “find the exit tile by clearing things onscreen,” are still somehow amazingly complicated for such a cutesy game.
Crystal Mines (1989) – An unlicensed NES game from Color Dreams, who’d later reskin it as a Bible-themed game called Exodus and a sequel named Joshua and sell both in Christian bookstores under their new name, Wisdom Tree. It’s actually one of their better games and is even fun to play, but it was considered quite mediocre in its time due to poor graphics and sound, which look both like something from the early 1980s PC game scene.
As Our Series Continues…
It’s time to move on to console and arcade gaming in the 1970s and 80s, and we’re going to cover it all with an exploration into hundreds more games you’ve probably never played but definitely ought to check out. Come for amazingly great early 1980s games like Warlords, Super Locomotive, Shark! Shark!, Acrobatic Dog-Fight, Mysterious Stones: Dr. John’s Adventure and Intrepid and stick around for mid-to-late 1980s greats like Peter Pack-Rat, Penguin-kun Wars, Momoko 120%, UFO Robot Dangar, Wonder Momo, Raimais, Last Alert, The Legend of Valkyrie and the arcade version of Twin Eagle: Revenge Joe’s Brother, complete with a rockin’ soundtrack with wonderfully inscrutable lyrics.
If you’ve never heard of any of those games, you’re in for a treat as we explore them one by one. And If those games are all old hat to you, don’t worry; they’re just the tip of the iceberg for what we’ll be discussing!
If you missed my series on the hundreds of 1980s PC games you probably never played, you can find the entire archive at https://greatestgames.substack.com.
Anything I don’t share here will be in my upcoming book, tentatively titled The Greatest Games You (Probably) Never Played Vol. 2. Subscribe to this newsletter so you won’t miss it!