Lego Icons “Pac-Man” Arcade Game Set

Toro Iwatani was a young man in 1979, only 24 years old, but already a veteran of the early Japanese arcade game industry.  In just two years, Toro had lead development, or been an important contributor to three arcade games.  His first game, Gee Bee, launched a trilogy of Breakout-like games.  While Toro’s early games were only moderately successful, his employer, Namco, entrusted him with the development of a new game.  What Toro had in mind was a serious departure from standard fare for arcade games; something colorful, simple, and with broader appeal for players.

Development of Toro’s game labored for nearly a year and a half; the longest development period for any arcade game up to that point.  Puck-Man was the game Toro and his team delivered, a maze-game that was simple to approach, fun to play, but difficult to master.  Early tests were generally positive and the game was released in Japan in July 1980 and, while not the most popular game, it was successful enough that Namco decided to demonstrate both Puck-Man and Rally-X to potential distribution partners in the United States in November 1980.  Internally, Namco believed that Rally-X, another maze-game but with a car, was likely to be more popular with U.S. audiences.

With little interest from distributors, Bally/Midway ended up agreeing to liscence both games.  They’d hit gold in 1978 by liscencing Taito‘s Space Invaders, and – who knows – maybe it could happen again.  Renamed Pac-Man for the U.S. market, largely because vandalism could turn “Puck-Man” into something vulgar, both games were released in December 1980.  Pac-Man, of course, became a worldwide sensation, a cultural icon, and – to date – a $15+ billion business.  Rally-X is a great game, but can’t touch the legacy of Pac-Man.

Toru Iwatani went on to be Producer for many of Namco’s later hits, including Galaga, Pole Position, Ridge Racer and Time Crisis.  After releasing Pac-Man Championship Edition in 2007, Toru retired as an industry legend with an incredible three decade career.

My shipment of the Lego Pac-Mac¹ kit arrived very well packed, indeed.  With the Lego box inside of a box, that was inside of another box, the whole thing weighed about ten pounds – it’s a hefty set, but that’s a good thing.  As with Lego Icon sets, the Pac-Mac kit is very high quality.  At the same time, in my opinion Lego continues to lean too heavily on stickers with these Icon sets, which are quite expensive.  For retail of $270 in the US, the “PAC-MAC” marquee is printed, and so are the little Pac-Man and ghost dots.  Stickers make up the rest of the art, and some of them are rather large, such as the cabinet side panels, and you need to be careful to avoid bubbling.

At 2651 pieces over 14 bags, the Lego Pac-Man set is not a quick-build, and that’s fine with me.  It was a lot of fun spending a couple of hours per night over nearly a week to get the kit completely finished.  There is a good amount of layering that goes into building out the screen, as you can see above, and this is the part that will take the most time.  I am somewhat convinced that Lego pads their brick count with these sets, and uses more than are totally necessary.  For example, you may need to reach inward and find additional strength, or reach for a drink, when you build out the dots for the screen.  Each dot has 5 parts and there are two steps for each of the 64 dots that make up the screen.  When you include placing the dots on the screen, we’re talking about a few hundred steps that are very repetitive.

Once you get through the marathon of building and placing the dots, you can really start to see how the screen will look and function.  Simply put, it’s fantastic!  When you turn the crank to animate the screen, there are times when the ghosts will be sideways or upside-down, but that is a small quibble with a terrific Lego set.  There are already a number of lighting options for the Lego Pac-Man set, maybe someone will offer ghosts that are weighted and float, so they are always in the right position.  Just the same, the amount of creativity and engineering that Lego puts into their sets is incredible.

If you turn the crank on the right, the screen is animated with Pac-Man and the ghosts running around.  Except for poor Clyde, who just bounces left-and-right in the ghost’s home-box.  The joystick moves, the player and high-scores can rotate, and when you press the Player One button, the Insert Coin brick lights up.  For the case, I went with the Naocard’s Lego Pac-Man acrylic display case².  It’s quite functional, packed very well, was simple to build, and the background works without being distracting.  It could be sturdier when lifting, so I’d give the Naocard case a solid “B” grade.

Lego Icon’s Pac-Man set is an outstanding kit and a real treat for anyone who experienced and remembers the arcade scene from the early 1980s!  With the display case or without, Lego Pac-Man is a fantastic addition to the collection of any discerning geek.

Lego Icon Pac-Man Set³ –

Pros:

1. Highly detailed kit
2. Fun animations and actions
3. Opportunities for add-ons such as lighting

Cons:

1. Lots of pieces and hours to complete
2. Repetitive steps to the build

Vertict = Recommended!