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          Ms PacMan, Pac Man & Galaga Easter Egg Instructions, Tips & Tricks       

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To play original Pac-Man on all Ms Pacman and Galaga 20th Anniversary Class of 1981 Video
Arcade Games From Namco, you just simply move the joystick in the exact order listed below,
right after the "Press Start Button" prompt appears on your Ms Pac Man / Galaga Game Screen : 
 

Here is the Secret Joystick Sequence To Play Original Pac Man : UP, UP, UP  +  DOWN, DOWN, DOWN  +  LEFT, RIGHT  +  LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT. Then Hit The Ms. Pacman Start Button To Play !

If done correctly, you should hear a sound and Ms. PacMan will change color. Then all you do
is just press the Ms. Pac-Man start credit button, and you are now playing Original Pac Man !

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So What Are Video Arcade Game "Easter Eggs" Anyhow ?

A video game "Easter Egg" is an intentional hidden feature, created by the game's designer (s).
The term comes from the enduring tradition of the annual Easter Egg hunt, but actually is derived
from the practice of the Russian Imperial Family giving elaborately jeweled egg-shaped creations
by Faberg?to others as gifts, which usually contained hidden gifts or treasures inside themselves.

Atari's "Adventure" video arcade game, which was first released in 1979, contained what is thought
to be the first video arcade game ever to have included a "Easter Egg" within its software program

Easter Eggs can be found in many non-video game software programs and in computer hardware
devices, but the Easter Eggs found in video arcade games usually contain secret messages, video graphics, special sound effects, previously "hidden" game levels or unusual changes in the game's behavior that usually occurs in direct response to a undocumented sequence of joystick maneuvers,
control or credit buttons that are pushed by accident or in sequence, by obtaining a very high score
or by reaching a "top level" of a particular game, or a combination of some or even all of the above.

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Here are some more Easter Eggs, Tips and Glitches found in many Pacman / Galaga Games:

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For Ms. Pac Man Games

Hidden Message Easter Egg  There is a way to trigger a hidden message ! To trigger it, go into
TEST mode, hold down both START buttons, toggle the TEST switch off and on (you should see
a grid), flip the TEST switch again (faster), and then push the following directions 4 times each:
UP ? LEFT ? RIGHT and DOWN. The message "MADE BY NAMCO"  appears on the screen,
and is spelled out sideways using power pills.

Hiding Spot Tip - A safe hiding spot (on the 3rd board) and a trick pattern to go through a
monster (on the 2nd board level)

Power Pills Tune Trick - If you eat all 4 power pills at once (and time it so that you eat the next
one just as the last one is about to wear off), the tune that plays will keep going higher and higher
in scale until it resets, starting over at the very bottom of the scale!

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For Pac Man Games

Hidden Message Easter Egg  There is a way to trigger a hidden message ! To trigger it, go into
TEST mode, hold down both START buttons, toggle the TEST switch off and on (you should see
a grid), flip the TEST switch again (faster), and then push the following directions 4 times each:
UP ? LEFT ? RIGHT and DOWN. The message "MADE BY NAMCO"  appears on the screen,
and is spelled out sideways using power pills.

Hiding Spot Tip ? At the start, go right and up first channel and stop. Make sure no monsters 'see? you doing this, and you must be facing up for this to work. Also, at the start of a game if you eat the 1st left
dot, then go in the spot it works fine, but if you eat the 2nd-6th, it doesn't! Yet, it works if you eat all 7 !

Kill Screen Glitch - After level 255 (243rd key), the famous 'split screen? appears (picture #2), which
is a result of a byte-rollover error (the game considers this screen board 0). This can be easily seen
by using the ?advance rack? dip switch for about 15 minutes.

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For Galaga Games

Hidden Message Easter Egg - Put game into the test / service mode, press (and hold) FIRE, and
move the joystick RIGHT (5x), LEFT (6x), RIGHT (3x), and LEFT (7x). A message appears that says "1981 NAMCO LTD" - And you can still fire and hit enemies while being pulled up in a tractor beam!

Bonus Stage Easter Egg - There are eight different bonus stages, after which they will repeat.
The "Star Trek Enterprise" ship actually appears in the 8th bonus stage if you look close enough !

High Score Count Tip - The player 1 score counter is 6 digits, but the player 2 counter is 7.
Most experienced players start a 2-player game and play exclusively on the player 2 side so
that their score will not roll over at 999,990, and because challenge stages are easier if the
high score numbers are used to refine your aim.

Captive Ship Tip - If you have a ship captured and then shoot the captor while it's in formation,
the captive ship will remain under enemy control. However, it will only make one attack at you
before disappearing. If you allow it to escape, it will return in the next stage (unless it's in a
Challenge Stage) with another captor, giving you another shot at retrieving it !

Reserve Ships Tip - If you have more than 7 reserve ships, the marker for the screen will only
show 7 1/2 men remaining. Additional ships will still be credited, even though they?re not visible.

No Enemy Fire Trick - On either the 1st or 2nd screen, leave one of the blue/yellow bugs, from either
of the 2 left-most columns in the formation. Avoid its fire until it stops (and passes at least 3 times down the screen without firing). This takes anywhere from 5 (if both are left) to 20 minutes to perform. This
bug occurs because the job of starting a new shot and moving an existing shot are handled by two different CPUs (there are 3 total). The problem is, each uses a different method to determine if a shot
is active or not - one checks to see if X=0, the other uses a specific status byte. There are a total of 8 shot slots that can be active or not at any time. When you leave one of those bugs, it circles off and on the screen. If it shoots while off the screen, the shot is made active, but X=0; it never moves. When this happens 8 times, their shots become inactive. Note: In a 2-player game, the trick will benefit both players!

200% Accuracy Trick - When the game starts, don?t move, firing only one shot. If done right, two enemies will be killed. Kill off all your ships to see rating !

Demo Screen Glitch - A bug exists in Galaga that allows a player to play during the demo screen and even reset the game. The demos are the same for both Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga Class of '81, and the bug works the same way, but the result is a little different between the two versions. During the demo, a top-row enemy will come down and start to tractor-beam up the player's ship. As soon as that tractor-beam starts, the player can take control of the ship! The player has two choices here and this will effect how the game handles this bug. If the player allows himself to be captured, the demo will continue as normal and you?ll have the option of controlling the player ship or not. The player can choose whether to save the captured ship, try to complete the level, etc. The demo mode will complete after 30 seconds and the high-score screen will appear. If the player takes control of the ship and destroys the Galaga with
the tractor beam, he will be able to continue playing until the "normal" demo would have completed.
At this point the game will do one of two things depending on whether the person is playing an
original Galaga or Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga - Class of '81 arcade version game !

256 Rollover Glitch - Depending on what difficulty setting the game is on, the game will act differently if you ever are good enough to reach Stage 256. On the Easy Level, the counter says "Stage 0" and then the game resets. On Medium Level, you play Stage 0 which is the same as Stage 39, after which you?ll start back at Stage 1. On Hard Level, it will ?freeze? while 'stage 0? is displayed, although you are still
able to move and fire. On the Hardest Level, you play on Stage 0, which plays the same as Stage 254.

Buzz Glitch - The game will make a loud ?buzz? sound, the screen will blank out, and then it will show
a Diagnostics screen with the version number of the games, a RAM and ROM test, etc. This screen will stay for approximately 10 seconds before returning to the high score screen. If you need to know the version of software on the board set, this can be a handy way of finding out without opening the cabinet.

Credit Glitch ? When a game ends, put a credit in (for coin operated Galaga games) and keep hitting
the START button. When the ?results? screen goes off, the credits will read zero. 

Points / Ships Glitch - After earning 1 million points, new ships are no longer awarded.

Have Fun & Happy Gaming ! 

The Staff @ BMI Gaming


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