Although I wasn't around during the time of release, I vaguely remember some trendy pubs having retro Pac-Man arcade cabinets. Additionally, I did play the game quite a bit on the Game Boy, so there is some nostalgia attached to the game. It's one of those simple games that's good to pick up and play, and it's fun to return to challenge yourself to beat your previous high score. Although it's still fun today, it's not a game you can play for long periods of time.
You guide Pac-Man around a maze, with the aim of eating all the pellets. It would be easy if you were unapposed, but you are challenged by a team of four ghosts. These ghosts start in a room in the center of the map, and each enter the maze, travelling around according to their own movement patterns. If you eat the larger Power Pellets, the ghosts slow down, begin to move away from you, and gives you the ability to munch the ghosts for a limited time. The are then temporarily sent back to the maze.
Eating ghosts gives you some decent points, especially if you eat a few in succession. After certain amount of pellets are eaten, a fruit spawns at a set position for a limited time - which also gives you a points bonus. These two facts are vital to know if you are chasing highscores.
Just thinking about a highscore is no good if you are dead. You have limited lives, so your focus should always be on survival; it is a pretty hard game. There are only 4 of the Power Pellets on a level so you need to use them wisely in order to increase your chances of survival and to gain as much points from them.
Once you eat all the pellets on the level, you will move onto the next. There's only one maze in the whole game, but the ghosts move faster and the effects of the power pellets wear off sooner with each successive round.