TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: You might ask why they
call the game "Munchman" when
nothing is being "munched" in the game (as Munchman himself is not
eating anything, but rather laying down chains). This
is a common question that many people have after playing it, and the
answer lies
in the prototype version of the game
(which carries a 1981 copyright on
the title screen, versus the 1982 date on the released version). In the
prototype, Munchman actually gobbles dots and power-pills in order to
pass each level just as in Pac-Man.
However, TI thought it would be too risky to market the game that way
as it was a clear rip off of the arcade original.
So to avoid any lawsuits they took out the dots and had Munchman lay
down a series of chains, where the player had to cover the entire maze
instead of eating dots. Also, the
power-pills were changed to TI logos but still served the same purpose.
One other note is that the maze was altered for the final version of
the game (in my
opinion the maze that came out in the released Munchman cartridge is easier than
the prototype one) and the title screen was changed. After all these
changes, the name Munchman was
retained even though the "munch" had been taken out from most of the
game
play. |