Pinside rating

This game received 58 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.046 _/10

7.046

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #262 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game design: 7.058

Artwork: 7.234

Sounds/Music: 6.331

Other Aspects: 7.385

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 2 of us have rated this game.

6.921

Your Rating?

You need to be logged in before you can rate pinball machines. No account yet? Registering only takes a sec!

Ranking history

An overview of this machine's ranking over the last years. Lower is better.

Rating history

An overview of this machine's rating over the last years. Higher is better.

Found 40 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 40 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 1 of 2.

List options

Ratings sort order Type of ratings to show in list Exclude ratings flagged as "bogus" Keyword or username search

8.378/10

37 days ago

DZA

dza33

Pinside member

2y 27,900 15 8 7

Baby Pacman is Pacman and pinball together. What's not to like?!? Seriously however, while that sounds great, it is not for everyone. The Pacman portion is VERY hard by design. If it were not hard or had patterns, then you would not need the Pinball part and people would be marathoning this thing (remember operators wanted short games). That being said it is possible to get good at this game with practice by skillfully using the pinball with the videogame. Also the settings regarding extra Pacman and the starting number of Pacman also really determine how much play it will get.

The artwork on the playfield is great BTW and with cool white LEDs, the whole thing "pops". It is a super unique game that your visitors will gravitate to and is definitely a conversation piece.

If you want a great pinball game, you should pass. If you want a great Pacman game, you should pass. If you want an addictive hybrid, this game is for you. Frankly, regular Pacman is so easy to get via emulation these days that if you are space limited and like Pacman, you are better off playing Pacman in MAME and getting this for your collection. It is way more collectable, not-emulatable, and gives off the Pacman vibe in spades.

A major complaint of mine however is that the video game portion does NOTHING with the Baby theme. They could have done a ton with this and changed the character, the "fruits", and the mazes, etc. to look like things a baby would interact with. No such luck. Pretty lazy there. Ripe for a ROM mod someday...

dza33 currently owns this game.

7.299/10

38 days ago

???

JollyJoker82

Pinside member

Hedgesville, WV

<1y 18,750 5 8

This is a hard game to rate based on the fact that there were only 2 of these hybrid style pinball/arcade combos. That being said, this was the first of the two and after the second hybrid release didn't do so well, that ended a creative, but short-lived fad. As far as just the pinball aspect of the game, it is very basic with very little flashy toys or gimmicks, but what it lacks in certain areas, it makes up for in Lastability. If you are fan of pac-man games, then you will love this one, even if you aren't a really big "pinball" person. Understanding what this game offers and brings to the table, I think it's a great game.. Just very hard to rate by pinball standards

JollyJoker82 currently owns this game.

7.460/10

7 months ago

EJH

ehex9

Pinside member

Saint Albans Town, VT

<1y 32,250 9 53

This is the predecessor to Pinball 2000. Art is good. The play field is challenging and fun. The maze graphics are not near as good as PAC Man. This game is still really fun and will provide hours of enjoyment.

ehex9 has owned this game in the past.

8.648/10

12 months ago

CMN

sunfire95z

Pinside member

Vienna Center, OH

<1y 19,750 2 7 1

The pin-arcade hybrid idea was so unique - makes it enjoyable! My friend owns this game and I could play it for HOURS ... when it's working! There always seems to be a problem with one of the boards. The arcade part of the game is a VERY difficult version of Pac-Man. The red ghost is the worst! The background sound is kind of annoying when you are in the pinball mode.

9.130/10

1 year ago

JJB

JasonTheBest

Pinside apprentice

1y 14,000 1 3 12

Overall a really fun experience, it has an ok arcade game and a meh pinball feild, but it somehow manages to make them work great with each other. Other than the lame art and a few other small grievances, I think the game is amazingly unique and great.

I could not stop playing...

JasonTheBest edited previous rating on February 06, 2020.
JasonTheBest has this game on the wishlist.

7.204/10

1 year ago

MAP

MarkP

Pinside member

Tucson, AZ

3y 17,000 2 13 9

The playfield is difficult and fast pace due to the small overall size. Great theme if you grew up on pacman. Overall a boring game but unique how the game switches between pinball and arcade. Definitely a collector's item for the pacman fan.

MarkP currently owns this game.

9.316/10

3 years ago

LXL

Isochronic_Frost

Pinside member

4y 130K 3,054 43 1

EDIT: I scored my own Baby Pac-Man and owning this machine is WAAAAY better than the rare times you see it in the wild!
Baby Pac-Man has extreme replay value. It’s not a game I play every week, or even every month. It’s the type of game you sit down and end up playing it several times a week for hours on end. It’s a uniquely addicting game: you could suck and get demolished by the brutally hard ghosts for 10 games in a row and want to give up, then you get to the pinball portion and suddenly light EVERYTHING score an extra baby and the game just takes OFF! When you lay down the law on Pinside (ba-dum-ts) the video portion becomes an entirely different game!

After having Baby for 9 months, I can honestly say that it has just grown on me more and I cannot imagine parting with it anymore.
The funniest piece is how the artwork has grown on me over this time! I really wasn’t too fond of the weird pac-baby and the odd playfield art, but after seeing it everyday I started loving it. The best part is the bezel, the ghosts and fruits with pax-Dots. I wish the original Pac-Man featured art like this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I finally got a chance to play Baby Pac-Man a few weeks ago and I played it probably 8 times in a row.

Baby Pac-Man is addicting and cruel, and I love it.

It's a game you either love or hate.
I love the unique quirk to it. It's such a weird, awkward, strange game the someone comes together and plays wonderfully!

The video portion is so insanely hard it draws me in. Good luck clearing the first maze. If you're good you might make it to the 3rd one.

The pinball portion is very very smooth and somehow the half-sized playfield really is a dream. It has an incredible flow and really helps the game immensely. The strategy and technique is all in the pin.
Done with LEDs the playfield looks beautiful.
My only complaint is the left flipper shot to the right upper post sends the thing SDTM and it pisses me off. On my last game I hit that twice in a row and immediately drained the ball... that really ruins the mood pcassionally.

I really loved this game so much I'm currently on the look out for one!

Isochronic_Frost edited previous rating on August 25, 2018.

5.597/10

3 years ago

DOC

drsfmd

Pinside member

7y 69,050 2,642 108

Hated it when it was new, had a chance to play again recently, and I still hate it. Boring game, awful design that exploited the Pac-Man craze of the early 80s.

9.580/10

3 years ago

???

tyro

Inactive member

Unknown

5y 7,250 53

a rare cabinet but super fun!

8.027/10

4 years ago

JAY

jaystile

Pinside member

4y 36,400 96 7

I really get a kick out of this game! It is so weird that I immediately want to play another game. The pinball portion of it it is kind of lame, but married with the video game it is awesome!

8.132/10

4 years ago

DRW

Lithonion

Pinside member

6y 46,550 167 7 6

This game is both fun and sentimental so I might rate it a little higher then others. :) My wife and I purchased this for my one year cancer free results. As others have stated if you don't like Pacman or are terrible at pinball you will probably hate this game. This is the most brutal Pacman/Pinball game I have ever played. The ghosts do not follow a pattern as they do in the dedicated arcade versions. Also with the playfield being so small the ball can get moving super fast. You have to do well in the pin to be able to survive the arcade game. We don't ever plan on getting rid of ours. We still play it regularly, or at least till we are so ticked off at the super smart lock on Pinky ghost and have to give it a rest a couple days. When people come over they gravitate to this machine first. Many people have never even seen one.

Updated score: After owning this pin hybrid for years now it is still the most played game in our home. Something about this game keeps us coming back for more even though it is so simple. So I bumped my rating just a tad higher as it to me is well deserved considering this is pin is played almost every day while others in our collection go in spurts.

Lithonion edited previous rating on July 08, 2020.
Lithonion currently owns this game.

7.448/10

4 years ago

SDC

Archytas

Pinside member

Kettering

7y 73,150 279 3 152

Good fun game, I enjoy playing this on the rare occasions I see it. A really fun combination of a video game and pinball. Proper sized flippers and ball but a much shorter playfield with less on it but most of the time you will be playing the video game which is what you should be doing, it is Pac-Man!

7.876/10

5 years ago

DAN

BeaverBrewing

Pinside member

Beaver Falls, PA

8y 77,650 288 7 280

I want one!

First off, the video mode is wicked. Those ghosts are not friendly...much harder than Pac Man itself. Got through 2 levels and thought that was a miracle.

THe playfield is also nice considering the size. Great satisfaction going from side to side hitting the FRUIT lanes. Also like the Godzilla radar-like shot in the middle. Always enjoy hitting those even when they aren't that important.

Video mode could have used some real color. This is kinda greenish...reminds me of the crappy atari port for Pac Man back in the day.

5.868/10

5 years ago

ED

megadeth2600

Pinside member

Pittsburgh, PA

7y 49,050 622 46 6

A very bland pinball machine and an equally bland video game. The pin/vid hybrid was a great idea, but Baby Pac Man fails to deliver. Also, owning this game is not advised for people not well versed in arcade machine repair. They are known to be very problematic. Hopefully, someday, a kit is made that will both enhance the game as well as make the electronics (particularly the Vidiot PCB) reliable.

megadeth2600 currently owns this game.

5.625/10

6 years ago

TFW

Twilliams

Pinside member

6y 29,400 52 4 12

Not a great pin... not a great video game. But if you put them together they kind of work. You need to realize that things you do in the pinball part have much to do with what happens in the video game part.

Twilliams has owned this game in the past.

6.118/10

6 years ago

ZAP

BabyPac

Pinside member

Plano, TX

6y 28,150 123 3 6

Neat little piece of history. The ghosts in the vid section are unforgiving! I restored one and it'll always be a special game to me because of the work I did on that one cabinet. :)

BabyPac has owned this game in the past.

7.836/10

6 years ago

EDR

winkdot

Inactive member

Richmond, KY

7y 13,250 38 7 6

This is the most unique machine in my collection. It's a bit hard to rate as purely a pinball machine as it's a video game + a pinball machine. The video game part is Pac-man with different three different mazes and very fast and pretty tricky ghost. The cool thing about it is there are no power pills as they must be earned by playing the pinball part of the game. You can also increase the fruit values and tunnel speed on the pinball side of play. I always clean up some dots and go for the pinball part as soon as possible (via tunnels on the video playfield). The table is short so play is somewhat different from a full size pinball table and takes getting used to. If you are not a fan of video games, this one is not likely for you. Some of my non video gamer friends just can not play this game very well at all. So far my Baby Pac-Man has been reliable(cross fingers). Very unique and interesting game.

winkdot has owned this game in the past.

6.807/10

6 years ago

CRG

Toasterdog

Pinside member

Clearwater, FL

8y 90,550 3,611 46

A fun game, but hard to give a true rating since it incorporates pinball and an arcade game. From a nostalgia factor it's a great addition to the game room, but game play is hard do to unrelenting ghosts and the pinball portion is pretty uninspired. With that said it looks cool and was a great concept, especially back in 1982. I wish this game had the arcade game truer to Pac-Man and the pinball side had a little more to offer. Slings that were active, instead of passive would have made a big improvement in my opinion.

6.650/10

6 years ago

JAY

DeadParrot

Inactive member

Unknown

6y 9,250 3 14

I feel like this game would be an absolute classic if the ghosts weren't ruthless killing machines who show absolutely no mercy.

7.112/10

6 years ago

ERW

chuckwurt

Pincinnati

6y 174K 20,785 16 10

First of all, if you are not BOTH as lover of Pacman AND Pinball, then this game is not for you, move on. However, if you are passionate about both, this game is one of the best, most difficult, and entertaining games ever. That being said, once you develop a feel for the basic strategy of the game, it can feel repetitious. The key is to have a score goal in mind. Pacmam and pinball lovers a like love a good high score challenge to achieve. Take for instance, my machine has a personal friend of mine's high score of over 3 million points stored on it. That is a hell of a feat in this game IMO. So I am literally addicted to this game because of the challenge it presents and the overwhelming sense of satisfaction when you achieve a very high score (1.5 million plus IMO). So, if you are looking for a very difficult, but addicting game, that will keep you coming back for more, than this is the game for you. I love it!!

chuckwurt currently owns this game.

6.851/10

6 years ago

DAB

Pinfidel

Pinside member

Webster, MA

7y 70,050 3,505 7 47

Sorry, but I'm a sucker for a pin that combines a video game in with it. See Caveman!

I really like this game for what it was. It was a decent blend of both worlds. Playing the pinball section was some fun as was the maze section. What pissed me off was the ghosts were faster than you in this as opposed to other "Pac" games, so you'd die quickly. It was tough trying to finish a couple mazes. But still, this was an overall fun game to me. = v )

Pinfidel currently owns this game.

6.998/10

6 years ago

904

HighProtein

904 Pinball Zine

Jacksonville, FL

9y 157K 5,770 22 479

PAC MAN PINBALL!!! neato, so so fun...

5.382/10

7 years ago

TOM

DocRotCod

Pinside member

Edmond, OK

8y 57,650 1,539 9 6

I keep this game in my collection and play it every great once in awhile. If I could just skip the video portion and play the pinball I think it would be more fun. The graphics are very washed out and gameplay is extremely hard. It would be nice if an updated game rom surfaced making it more enjoyable. Playfield is simple but fun.

DocRotCod has owned this game in the past.

4.858/10

7 years ago

ARS

thedefog

Pinside member

7y 90,350 5,669 70

Cool idea that fell flat on its face. It seemed like when I was little, almost every arcade had this hunk of junk. Unfortunately it probably holds the record for both worst pac-man game and worst pinball machine simultaneously.

7.015/10

7 years ago

TOM

tjc02002

Pinside member

East Haddam, CT

7y 46,650 459 13 10

If I just played this game in an arcade, i would probably hate it. its hard. But since i own the game, i absolutely love it. its challenging but when you get into a good game its amazing. out of all the pins i have owned i have had the most fun with this one.

tjc02002 edited previous rating on July 22, 2013.
tjc02002 currently owns this game.

Next 1 2

There are 40 ratings (that include a comment) on this game. Currently showing results page 1 of 2.

You too can add your own comment by rating this game! Click here to rate the machine.

Hey there! Got a moment?

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run thanks to donations from our visitors? Please donate to Pinside, support the site and get anext to your username to show for it! Donate to Pinside