The Saga of Billy Mitchell and the Perfect Pac-Man
Pac-Man is a yellow icon from the arcade golden age. Billy Mitchell’s name is synonymous with arcade skill. Mitchell is arcade royalty, famous from Life magazine in the video game craze. Pac-Man is key to his story.
The Perfect Game: A Myth Becomes Reality
In 1999, Billy Mitchell from Florida claimed a perfect score in Pac-Man. Many thought it was a myth. He achieved a score of 3,333,360 points, beating all 256 stages without making a mistake. This was not just clearing a few levels. It meant gobbling every Pac-Dot and devouring every fruit. Timing was key. He had to eat Power Pellets to chase four ghosts: Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. Completing this challenge across 256 levels without losing lives led to a perfect game. Mitchell was the first to do so. The achievement seemed almost mythical.
From Record Holder to Record Dispute and Back Again
Mitchell held records in gaming history, including Donkey Kong. He basked in arcade fame. But then, in 2018, controversy struck. Twin Galaxies questioned the legitimacy of his gameplay scores. They wiped his records clean, banning him from their ranks. Imagine losing your digital knight status! Mitchell did not stay silent. He filed a defamation lawsuit against Twin Galaxies in 2019, claiming bias. The courtroom became a battleground. In 2020, a new twist emerged. Guinness World Records reviewed the scores and reinstated them. They acknowledged a mistake. Twin Galaxies later followed suit, restoring his records too. Justice was served in a digital sense. Eventually, Mitchell and Twin Galaxies reached a secret settlement, placing an end to the saga. For more about Mitchell, check his Wikipedia page.
The Elite Few: Perfect Pac-Man Achievers
While Mitchell was the first, he is not alone in achieving perfection. A rare group exists of perfect Pac-Man players. Jake Goldberg from Pennsylvania is one of them. In 4 hours and 12 minutes, he completed all 256 levels with a perfect score of 3,333,360. Twin Galaxies recognizes him as one of about 11 people worldwide who achieved this milestone. Eleven! That number is fewer than moonwalkers. This highlights the challenge of a perfect Pac-Man game. You can read about Goldberg in a UPI article featuring the Pennsylvania player.
The Anti-Climactic “Ending”
Achieving a perfect Pac-Man score might suggest a grand finale. Perhaps Pac-Man gets crowned or a parade ensues. But no! Instead, the game glitched out, displaying a chaotic screen of gibberish. This outcome was not programmer error; it was unexpected. Toru Iwatani, Pac-Man’s creator, itted they did not anticipate such skill. A perfect score was far beyond their expectations; thus, they programmed no ending for it. Mitchell and Goldberg pushed boundaries beyond what creators imagined. If you’re inspired to pursue Pac-Man glory (without aiming for perfection), consider tips like those in this wikiHow guide on getting high scores in Pac-Man. , while perfection is hard to attain, the thrill of chasing high scores and outsmarting ghosts is enjoyable.
