October 1982
Bally
Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball
Ad for Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball from the October 1982 issue of Videogaming Illustrated.
Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball is a 1982 pinball game by Bally/Midway. It was the first of two pinball games to capitalize on the Pac-Man craze of their video game counterparts. The popularity of Pac-Man in general made this the most popular pinball game of 1982.
Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball was unique in that it was one of the first pinball games to incorporate video game play even though it was quite simplistic. The video game portion consisted of just a 5 by 5 grid of lights that play would transition to by hitting certain targets with the ball. In this “Vid-Grid Pac-Maze” the player would move Pac-Man (represented by a yellow light) using the flipper buttons to light up all of the lights while avoiding the ghost (represented by a red light).
Unfortunately, while the pinball portion was a pretty good game, the video game served more as a novelty and disrupted play more than enhanced it. I don’t remember ever seeing one of these though I do remember seeing Baby Pac-Man at least once which was a somewhat similar spinoff also by Bally/Midway.
The ad above is from the October 1982 issue of Videogaming Illustrated.