Game

Pursuit of the Pink Panther

Atari 2600 · Arcade

About this game

Pursuit of the Pink Panther was based off the famous cartoon series and inspired by the Pink Panther movies starring Peter Sellers as inspector Clouseau. This game actually started out life as Trail of the Pink Panther by U.S. Games (based on the then current movie), but when U.S. Games went out of business they sold the rights to North American Phillips (NAP) who decided to release their own version of the game through their Probe 2000 division. It is unknown if any work was already done on the U.S. Games version or if any of those ideas were used in the Probe 2000 version of the game. Although Pursuit of the Pink Panther was heavily marketed at the June 1983 CES, it was never released, most probably because the special RAM/ROM chip that NAP used to squeeze all the graphics and gameplay elements into the game couldn't be reliably manufactured. When the first batch of chips came back defective from the manufacturer NAP decided to cancel the game rather than try and find a new source for the chips. The crumbling game market at the time was also a big factor in choosing not to go forward. Description: 'Players control the Pink Panther as he sneakily makes his way through several screens, attempting to outwit the Inspector. For his final challenge, he must dangle from a swinging rope, steal the famous Pink Panther diamond and escape unnoticed.'