Overview
Guide to the power-ups in Pac-Man 256
Intro
This guide shall attempt to provide a basic summary of each power-up in the game. Unless mentioned, all power-up descriptions are curtesy of the Pac-Man Wikia[pacman.wikia.com]. Power-ups not currently on the Wikia are provided by myself or in-game descriptions. At this time I am missing 2 power-ups, but I shall update the guide once I unlock them or the Wikia adds those entries.
Update: All power-ups added. I don’t plan on updating this more, but if you guys would like edits or changes feel free to ask
Laser
Game Description: Shoots a laser that toasts ghosts
Wikia: Laser is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, a laser beam shoots in front of Pac-Man’s direction, destroying any ghosts that come in contact with it.
Freeze
Game Description: Slows all ghost movement
Wikia: Freeze is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, all ghosts will be partially encased in ice, slowing down their movement or, for some ghosts, preventing them from chasing Pac-Man.
Bomb
Game Description: Touch a ghost to trigger an explosion
Wikia: Bomb is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, the player gains the ability to run into a ghost, triggering a massive explosion that destroys ghosts within a certain range around Pac-Man. If the player does not come in contact with a ghost when the time expires, the same explosion will trigger around Pac-Man.
Giant
Game Description: Pac-Man grows and can squish ghosts
Wikia: Giant is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, Pac-Man becomes large, being able to squash all ghosts.
Tornado
Game Description: Summons a tornado that chases ghosts
Wikia: Tornado is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, a tornado shoots out from the front of the player, homing in and destroying the nearest ghost. A later upgrade, the Twinado, can be unlocked.
Stealth
Game Description: Ghosts cannot see or harm Pac-Man
Wikia: Stealth is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, Pac-Man turns holographic, rendering him immune to detection and unable to be killed by any ghost. Detection immunity, however, does not apply to Sue or Clyde as they will still home in on your general direction.
Fire
Game Description: Pac-Man will leave a fiery trail
Wikia: Fire is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, Pac-Man will emit a fiery trail that stays for a short duration on each tile that Pac-Man has crossed. Pac-Man will not be harmed by these flames. This can be very useful in cases where Pac-Man has nowhere to run.
Trap
Game Description: Lays traps that catch ghosts
Wikia: Trap is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, spikes will appear around the map for a set duration. These one-time use traps will kill any ghost that runs over them. These spikes will not hurt Pac-Man.
Magnet
Game Description: Nearby items are attracted to Pac-Man
Wikia: Magnet is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, a circle will expand for a short duration, then contract back into Pac-Man, collecting any coins/pacdots that get caught inside the circle.
Pac-Men
Game Description: Summons clones of Pac-Man that hunt ghosts
Wikia: Pac-Men is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256. When consumed, miniature versions of Pac-Man will appear in front of Pac-Man, homing in and attempting to eat a ghost. This miniature Pac-Man can also multiply.
Shatter
Game Description: Summons stalacmites. Smash them for points
Wikia: Shatter is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256, and can be seen as an upgrade to Freeze. When consumed, all ghosts become semi-encased in ice, similar to the Freeze Power-Up. However, stalagmites form in random locations on the map, and when ran over, Pac-Man will receive points.
Pyro
Game Description: Fire spreads in all directions
Wikia: Pyro is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256, and can be seen as an upgrade to Fire. When consumed, the tile that Pac-Man is on will be set ablaze, destroying any ghost that runs across it. In addition to this, the fire will start spreading to adjacent tiles.
Twinado
Game Description: Summons two tornadoes that chase ghosts
Wikia: Twinado is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256, and can be seen as an upgrade to the Tornado Power-Up. When consumed, two tornadoes will spawn in front of Pac-Man and home in on nearby ghosts.
Optics
Game Description: Lasers bend around corners
Wikia: Optics is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256, and can be seen as an upgrade to Laser. When consumed, a laser beam shoots in front of Pac-Man’s direction, destroying any ghosts that come in contact with it. In addition, the laser will turn right by 90 degrees once at the wall directly in front of Pac-Man.
Boom
Game Description: Touching ghosts triggers mini-explosions
Wikia: Boom is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256, and can be seen as an upgrade to Bomb. When consumed, Pac-Man turns red and causes miniature explosions when touching a ghost. When the power-up expires, an explosion the size of a regular bomb power-up is triggered wherever Pac-Man is standing.
Regen
Game Description: Pac-dots will regenerate
Wikia: Regen is a Power-Up found in Pac-Man 256, and can be seen as an upgrade to Magnet. When consumed, a field will expand around Pac-Man, collecting all fruits and pac-dots. Once the field starts retracting back into Pac-Man, the pac-dots that were eaten will reappear in their exact spot.
Radar
Game Desciption: Projects a rotating beam that kills ghosts
My Description: Causes a slow, rotating beam with a large range which kills all ghosts it touches.
Cherries
Game Description: Creates a radius around Pac-Man that turns ghosts into cherries
My Description: Causes a recurring “ping” around Pac-Man for the durration of the power-up which causes all nearby ghosts to turn to cherries. Do not mistake the lasting duration of the circle to cause ghosts which move into it to turn to cherries as that is simply a visual effect.
Sonar
Game Description: Emits a pulse that scares away ghosts
My Description: Causes ghosts to move away from you and gives invulerability much like Stealth. May be considered an upgrade to stealth as after the durration of the power-up they are all far enough away that you could have an easier escape route.
Electric
Game Description: Electrifies Pac-Man and shoots nearby ghosts
My Description: Once per second shoots a bolt of electricity which kils a random ghost on screen.
Beam
Game Description: Creates a vertical beam that clears ghosts above and below
My Description: Creates a laser which extends vertically from Pac-Man to the top and bottom of the screen, killing all ghosts it touches.