Scarfman

Scarfman is a clone of Pac-Man written by Philip A. Oliver for the TRS-80 computer and published by The Cornsoft Group in 1981.[2][1] A version for the TRS-80 Color Computer followed in 1982 as Color Scarfman, which uses 64x64 low resolution graphics.[3]

Scarfman
Publisher(s)The Cornsoft Group
Designer(s)Philip A. Oliver[1]
Platform(s)TRS-80, TRS-80 Color Computer
Release1981: TRS-80
1982: CoCo
Genre(s)Maze

Oliver also wrote the Enhanced BASIC Compiler for the TRS-80 Model III and 4.[4]

Gameplay

The game presents a maze filled with dots and five symmetrically-placed power capsules, and the player-controlled Scarfman tries to eat the dots without being eaten by one of the monsters that randomly roams the maze.[5] Unlike Pac-Man, there are five monsters instead of four. Eating a power pill causes monsters to lower their eyes, indicating that they're vulnerable. The eyes shift to the normal position when the pill's effect wears off.[6][2] In Color Scarfman, eating a power pill causes the ghosts to remain vulnerable—indicated by turning blue—until eaten or the level ends.[3]

Reception

Dan Ekblaw reviewed Scarfman in The Space Gamer number 54. Ekblaw commented that "Overall, I would say that Scarfman's defects outweigh its good points by far. I've found that this game loses its novelty after a few weeks and will spend the rest of its days sitting on a shelf".[5]

In a 2012 retrospective, Gamasutra wrote that the "chirp-chirp-chirp chomping sound effect is maddening. But it does play like Pac-Man, more or less".[2]

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References
  1. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. Dobson, Dale (2012-11-26). "Games from the Trash: The History of the TRS-80". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  3. Boyle, L. Curis. "Color Scarfman". The Tandy Color Computers Game List.
  4. Reed, Matthew. "EnhComp". TRS-80.org.
  5. Ekblaw, Dan (August 1982). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer. Steve Jackson Games (54): 30, 32.
  6. Reed, Matthew. "Scarfman". TRS-80.org.
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