Baby Pac-Man is a hybrid arcade

Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

/pinball

Pinball

Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...

 game produced by Bally Midway

Midway Games

Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...

 in 1982.

Description

The development of Baby Pac-Man was not authorized by Namco

Namco

is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...

, rather, designed and released entirely by Bally-Midway, and along with Pac-Man Plus

Pac-Man Plus

Pac-Man Plus is an arcade game released by Bally Midway in 1982, and is the 4th title in the Pac-Man series of games.- Gameplay :The gameplay in Pac-Man Plus is nearly identical to that of the original Pac-Man...

, Jr. Pac-Man

Jr. Pac-Man

Jr. Pac-Man is an arcade game released in 1983 by Bally Midway. It is based on Pac-Man and its derivatives, but is not officially part of the Pac-Man series—along with Baby Pac-Man, this game was created without the authorization of Namco...

, and Professor Pac-Man

Professor Pac-Man

Professor Pac-Man is an arcade game produced by Bally Midway in 1983.-Description:Designed to capitalize on the perceived quiz game niche, the game presents simple visual puzzles and requires the player to solve each within a short time limit...

 would eventually lead to Namco canceling their relationship with Bally-Midway. The hybrid cabinet consists of a 13-inch video screen seated above an elevated horizontal pinball game. 10,000 units were produced, making this one of the most rare Pac-Man sequels.

Gameplay

As a hybrid game, Baby Pac-Man was divided into two distinct modes of play: Video and Pinball.

Video mode

Play begins on the video screen, where the player controls Baby Pac-Man through a maze. Play mechanics are similar to Pac-Man

Pac-Man

is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...

in that the object is to navigate the maze while gobbling dots and avoiding ghosts. In contrast to earlier games in the series, Baby Pac-Mans maze contains no energizers. Instead, there are two vertical chutes which, when navigated down, ends play on the video screen and transfers the player to pinball mode.

Pinball mode

The pinball section operates as a traditional pinball game in which the player hits targets with a metal ball using two button-operated flippers. The player may earn energizers, gain new fruit bonuses, and increase tunnel speed, all used in the video mode. If the player fails to keep the ball in play, the game resumes on the video screen, but with the chutes closed. The player must then gobble all remaining dots, or get eaten by a ghost and gain entry to the pinball section again. The game ends when the player runs out of lives.