KenKenMkIISR Puts an Arcade-Perfect Pac-Man on the Raspberry Pi Pico and a QVGA LCD Panel
Neat arcade port includes full source code, which KenKen hopes will work "as a reference for creating games for Raspberry Pi Pico."
Pseudonymous microcomputer enthusiast "KenKenMkIISR" has published the source code for a fully-functional Pac-Man port to the Raspberry Pi Pico, designed for playback on a QVGA LCD panel.
"I have released a full-scale Pac-Man to enjoy with Raspberry Pi Pico," KenKen writes of the project, which builds on earlier work building games machines from the Microchip PIC32MX microcontroller. "Since it is a simple circuit, you can try it immediately if you have any parts. The source program is also open to the public, so please use it as a reference for creating games for Raspberry Pi Pico."
Taking advantage of the flexibility of the Raspberry Pi Pico, which launched earlier this year as both the first microcontroller development board and home to the first in-house silicon from Raspberry Pi, the port of Namco's classic arcade game Pac-Man plays just like its arcade equivalent — albeit in miniature.
The supporting circuit is simple: Five buttons offer four-way direction control plus a start button to begin the game; a sixth button, for fire, is included for future projects but not used. A small piezoelectric speaker provides audio, while a QVGA LCD panel based on the ILI9341 controller connects to the Raspberry Pi Pico over SPI.
The source code for the project has been published under an unspecified license on KenKen's GitHub repository, along with a compiled version which can be dragged onto the Raspberry Pi Pico for immediate use.