Pac-Man in a Tin

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: There seems to be a modified version for the Pac-Man Color Handheld Game Console. Investigate if there's any modifications (there's at least the title screen).

Well, it does exactly what it says on the tin. (canned laughter)

...Well, in theory, anyway - it runs a very shoddy VT369 conversion of the Famicom port of Pac-Man, with multiple mechanics being flat-out broken. Who needs to see when the Power Pellets wear off, anyway?

Unused Graphics#

At address 2010 is a single sheet of graphics from Eat Bean, a bootleg Pac-Man VT03 hack by Cube Technology. Given that Eat Bean features similar graphical issues to Pac-Man in a Tin, this may suggest that it is a revision of this bootleg. The modified colors may also appear to use the 2010s-2020s style palettes of Pac-Man rather than the actual arcade port.

Additionally, address 10010 features the full, unmodified CHR data of Pac-Man, rather than the 16-bit converted graphics.

Connected to the "Press Keys Test" program (detailed below) are several unused graphic elements, including four graphics of Chuck from Angry Birds. The Chuck sprites are the same ones as in the bootleg Sega Genesis port, though judging from the battery power symbol and SOUND text, the graphics chunk as a whole was likely meant for some unknown famiclone handheld.

While the console they were meant for hasn't been identified yet, there are some multicarts that use the very same graphics of Chuck: YH-451, YH-452, YH-453, and YH-468/KY-1401. YH-463 to YH-466 also prominently feature the Banana Prince hack Pleasant Goat; it's likely that its developer is connected to the multicarts and both handhelds.

Press Keys Test#

A controller and color test is present at address 70010. It can accessed on the console itself by holding DOWN and RIGHT at the same time while turning the game on.

Oddities#

• The ghosts do not flash white when a Power Pellet is about to wear off, a distinction shared with Cube Technology's Pac-Man bootlegs. The next parts are hugely unnoticeable: the flashing effect is instead applied to Pinky, who flashes a dark orange when she is not currently blue. And for some very weird unknown reason, her colors change into a pinkish-orange until the round is complete.
• In a particularly careless fashion, a number of graphic tiles, which are blank in the original Pac-Man ROM, have scribbled patterns over them. These tiles are overlaid on top of the in-game playfield, resulting in glitchy graphics throughout the entire game; this is most apparent in the cutscenes.
• The graphics for the Galaxian, as well as Blinky's sprites in the second and third cutscenes, are miscolored in the CHR data, despite having matching color values in the ROM.
• Blinky's palette in the cutscenes is a hot pink, despite being properly red in-game.
• The two-player mode is present and intact, but is inaccessible due to the console's lack of a Select button. Some text for Player 1 appears glitchy when running a two-player game.
• At the end of the round, the maze doesn’t flicker white, which normally happens in the NES version.
• The bug that shows part of Pac-Man in the top left corner has been fixed.

References#