The Pac-Man theme comes from Pac-Man, the maze arcade game released by Namco in Japan in 1980 and in North America later that year. Composed by Toshio Kai, the short jingle plays at the start of the game and has become one of the most recognised melodies in gaming. As arcade culture moved online, the tune spread through gameplay videos, remixes and meme edits, where a few notes were enough to signal retro gaming. It remains popular because it is cheerful, compact and instantly tied to the yellow character and his maze.