Saskatoon man one of only seven in the world to play perfect Pac-Man game

A Saskatoon man has joined the upper echelon of retro video gamers.

Greg Sakundiak, the owner of Genesis Electric, is one of only seven people in the world to play a perfect game of Pac-Man. He did it this Tuesday, the 40th anniversary of the iconic game.

His flawless run took four hours and 15 minutes to complete. In that time, he beat 256 levels while eating every dot and ghost without losing a single life.

Right now, he’s waiting to have his score reviewed and verified by Twin Galaxies, the record-keeping authority for retro video games. If they view the run as legitimate, his name will be added to the Guinness Book of World Records.

“It’s the pinnacle of classic video game playing,” he told 650 CKOM’s Brent Loucks.

However, it’s taken him quite some time to reach this peak. He’s been playing Pac-Man since he was just a kid back in 1981.

“I ended up getting to the end of the game then, but it wasn’t a perfect game. I just moved on to other games. I went away from it, then came back to it about 15 years ago.”

While many are familiar with the first few levels of the game, he said it changes quite radically when you reach the end.

“When you actually get to the last level, there’s no data left in the board itself. So, the whole right-hand side of the screen is all just a bunch of jumbled garbage. Like numbers and letters and everything. The left-hand side of the screen looks like a normal Pac-Man board.”

His journey to be one of the few to see that screen in person was a long one, but he’s glad to have made the accomplishment. As for what happens next, he’s hoping to take a step back.

“I think I’m just going to relax for a while and enjoy my family. I’ve been kind of ignoring them for the last little while trying to get this done for the 40th anniversary. I just want to take some time and relax…I’m exhausted, man.”