Saw some Pac-Man talk in the previous page... Allow me to express my opinion on his moveset and why I think he may have been designed the way he was.
I actually think his moveset is creative and it's a really nice nod to Namco's arcade game legacy that dates back to the 80's.
He's kind of like Duck Hunt in that regard. Duck Hunt is not just the dog and duck, but also an embodiment of the NES Zapper and the games that used it, hence the moves based on Wild Gunman and Hogan's Alley, and the fourth wall-breaking Zapper shots.
He is THE third-party retro character and one that fits along with the Nintendo retros like Mr. Game & Watch or the aforementioned Duck Hunt.
Did you know that Sakurai would have refused to use Pac-Man if Bandai Namco had demanded him to use the Ghostly Adventures design?
It's clear that Sakurai was aiming to capture a retro arcade feel with Pac-Man in this game. Most of the Pac-Man content in the game is based on the original Pac-Man and other arcade games like Pac-Land, Super Pac-Man and Pac-Mania. This may be why games like Pac-Man World and Ghostly Adventures are largely ignored.
Speaking of Pac-Man World, I know his Smash model heavily resembles his look from there, but the design actually dates back to the first arcade cabinets, originating from the art work done for these games. His sprite in Pac-Land also heavily resembles this design, so both the Pac-Man World model and the Smash 4 model end up being a 3D rendition of said artworks.
That is all I have to say for now.
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