Confectionery company Morinaga is partnering with Pac-Man to celebrate the hungry hero’s 40th anniversary year with a commemorative browser game that will use Morinaga’s candy. [Thanks, Game Watch!]
Morinaga is known for the candy Hi-Chew. It is a soft, chewy candy popular both in and out of Japan. (Editor’s note: It isn’t too dissimilar from Starburst, if you’ve never had it.) Hi-Chew is also relatively inexpensive, as it is usually available for about ¥108 (about $1) per package or ¥270 (about $2.60) for a bigger 90 gram pack. Flavors range from soda to fruit to savory sweet chews, all in a mini pellet-shaped form. Pac-Man’s in-game power pellets will resemble these candies in the browser-based game.
Additionally, the Morinaga Pac-Man game will also feature two play modes: normal play and special play. Normal can be accessed easily from the landing page and will randomly choose from one of the of candy-themed stages. Currently, there are two stage options, the “Hi-Chew Mini” stage and the “Caramel Mini” Stage. The special stages can be accessed by purchasing specially marked Hi-chew Mini or Caramel Mini products. Players can enter the last 3 digits of the bar code and enjoy unique stages.
Pac-Man’s spectral foes will also get a ton of new and delicious-looking forms in this browser game. This is due to each ghost having a “flavor,” instead of their classic colors. Players can see the changes when they eat power pellet Hi-Chews while racing through the maze. There will be a total of 16 different forms the ghosts can take.
Interestingly, in the Hi-Chew stage, the ghosts will take on the appearance of the Caramel Mini options and vice-versa. For example, a grape-colored ghost in the Hi-Chew Stage will change into a banana-shaped ghost when Pac-Man powers up by eating a melon-colored pellet. You can simply reverse that for the same effect in the Caramel Mini stage.
This way, even though the stages are selected randomly, players can still enjoy seeing the all of the unique ghost forms. Here’s a helpful chart so you can preview all of them:
Row One (Grape):
- Rum Raisin (eat a Milk Caramel pellet)
- Mixed Berry (eat a Strawberry pellet)
- Banana (eat a Melon pellet)
- Red Wine (eat a Chocolate pellet)
Row Two (Orange):
- Orange Bavarian Cream (eat a Milk Caramel pellet)
- Passion Fruit (eat a Strawberry pellet)
- Watermelon (eat a Melon pellet)
- Chocolate-covered Orange Peel (eat a Chocolate pellet)
Row Three (Soda):
- Cream Soda (eat a Milk Caramel pellet)
- Yogurt (eat a Strawberry pellet)
- Melon Soda (eat a Melon pellet)
- Champagne Truffle (eat a Chocolate pellet)
Row Four (Cola):
- Cola Float (eat a Milk Caramel pellet)
- Strawberry Cheesecake (eat a Strawberry pellet)
- Ramune (eat a Melon pellet)
- Bing Cherry (eat a Chocolate pellet)
Furthermore, in keeping with the tone of the original game, Morinaga’s browser game will have Pac-Man’s classic pixel art style. Here’s a look at some of the game’s designs:
Although Pac-Man’s official birthday isn’t until May 22, 2020, this online game was released on March 9, 2020. You can play the Japanese browser game here.
