Game Gear version.
Indeed. Even in the GG case, the scrolling is locked to Pac as soon as he reaches the central third of the screen, and it feels a bit abrupt. My point is that a slower vertical scrolling starting earlier, together with the way Pac moves along the y axis of the screen, would be less disruptive for the kind of playstyle Pac-Man has. Namco used this scrolling style also on GBC.