Chasing and running away since 1980

Another day, another challenge. It’s not like I do not like chasing that yellow, eyeless creature. That’s what I am supposed to be doing. Some call me the red one and some call me Blinky. I’ve been called Oikake or Akabei, yet it’s been a long time since I heard those names. I don’t care that much about how players call me because I have little to do with them. They don’t control me, and they freak out when I get close – as they should.

Did you know that Oikake means a chaser or a pursuer? Sometimes I feel like my siblings are a bunch of good-for-nothings. I have to give it to Pinky and Inky though, because usually they try to corner Pac-Man. However, Clyde, that orange doofus, seems to do its own thing although we are supposed to catch the yellow pizza missing a slice. What is going on inside Clyde’s head, I wonder… But it doesn’t matter that much because we all have our roles, and my role is to chase and catch, not to supervise other ghosts.

Apart from our roles, let me tell you something about being a ghost. You would think that we float through walls and stuff, clinking chains, going BOOooOO at our targets. No, dear reader, that’s not the life of a real ghost. We do not get to go through walls, that would be kind of unfair for Pac-Man. Our everyday journey starts from a room that has a door, and that door must open to let my siblings free. What is the reason why I’m not in that locked room? Who knows. Probably I should be the first one to move since I’m the chaser. I like to think of myself as the pioneer, the pathfinder, the first-class predator! Where was I? Oh yes, the chains. They would slow us down, and that would be kind of shabby for us. Lastly, can you imagine the noise if we were to haunt at the same time as Pac-Man’s wakka-wakka-wakka echoes all around?

Red is thought to be the color of fire and anger, and I feel very fiery and fierce generally. Still, there are moments when I feel… blue. Strange feeling surrounds me and makes me feel like running away. It is odd, for I am the chaser. One moment I’m as fast as the wind, and suddenly it’s like I am dizzy, slow, and full of fear. I’m vulnerable, which I really don’t like. Pinky once said that feeling blue might have something to do with – if I remember correctly – the energizers, those big flashy pellets. It was not sure though. Pac-Man doesn’t have eyes and still manages to sense us at our weakest. It is not fun, to be eaten that is. I’m glad that we’re ghosts, though, so we won’t die when it eats us. As ghosts, we only need to return to our home square and we’re back in the game! It is only logical that we get to keep our eyes after being eaten, how else you would expect us to get back home?

Sigh… It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Lather, rinse, repeat. Ever since the eighties. Yet, I’m not complaining. Our appearance wiped away that lonely spaceship and those plain platforms that bounce a ball between them. A lot has happened since then. Screens have widened, images sharpened, and games have become more complicated. I wonder if players have too. Occasionally someone wakes us up and the chase is on, even though that happens more and more seldom. That makes me a bit sad, but Clyde always comforts me by saying that I, the red ghost from Pac-Man, am the parent of all chasing enemies in all video games. It does make me feel better.

 

I guess our life is good as it is. We’re old, that goes without saying. Our prime is long gone, yet we still get to have some rounds with that old yellow pellet-eating ball from time to times. When I get to run around in our maze, I feel young as if it was my first chase. Inky reminds us that we are one of the firsts, therefore we will not be forgotten as easily as games released after our time. I hope that is true because I’d like to keep chasing – that’s my purpose after all.

 

 

 

Basic information:

Publisher: Namco, Bally Midway
Developer: Namco
Platforms: Originally on Arcade
Release Date: 1980
Genres: Maze
PEGI: Not specified

Photos: Screenshots from freepacman.org (The Free Video Games Project, 2023), taken by the author

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