This week, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers were introduced to Pac-Man 99. In the tradition of Tetris 99 and Super Mario Bros. 35, this game takes Namco’s famous dot-munching mascot and puts him in a maze alongside 99 other mazes and 99 other Pac-Men. Players try to outlast each other as the maze gets faster, with the final Pac-Man chomping considered the winner. It’s a novel spin on an arcade classic, but it’s not the first time that a Pac-Man battle royale hit the scene. Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle released on Stadia at the tail end of 2020 and its battle royale mechanics let players interact much more directly than Pac-Man 99‘s subdued multiplayer mayhem.
In Mega Tunnel Battle, things start out with a scrunched-down horizontal maze, but it’s otherwise just like an arcade round of Pac-Man. Players can either play through each maze to rack up points or they can zoom out to the sides and enter into other mazes. These boards will already have another Pac-Man piloted by a human player, and that Pac-Man is just as venerable to power pellets as the ghosts are. Add in an assortment of random power-ups spawning through the warp tunnels, and the result is a chaotic and unpredictable arcade experience.
It’s true that Pac-Man 99 is a more traditional Pac-Man experience, as it replicates the classic maze from the arcades and rewards players for playing as they have for decades. Both games have their place, but Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle feels more akin to other battle royales on the market. Other than dropping obstacles into other mazes, there is no interaction between players in Pac-Man 99, so it feels like an arcade challenge mode rather than some sort of deathmatch scenario. This is why Pac-Man 99 can offer single-player modes against the CPU that stay true to its gameplay design.
How Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle Differs From Pac-Man 99
On the other side of the coin, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle only truly shines when players begin to interfere with other players and take them down. Players can store power-ups that add extra ghosts to the board or lock all the exits and then unleash them on an unsuspecting player. They can chase down a wayward Pac-Man like a ghost, or they can help other players out by chomping on a power pellet at the right moment. All of that action compounded by the machinations of tens of other players makes for a different experience each round, which is exactly what most people are looking for out of a battle royale.
Whether it’s Pac-Man 99, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, or just regular Pac-Man in an arcade, it’s great to see Namco’s icon thriving in the modern day. The fact that this simplistic gameplay can spawn two distinct styles of battle royale just shows how versatile retro arcade games can be. While Nintendo’s offering will undoubtedly be more popular due to its launch on the Switch, fans of that game should check out Namco’s other battle royale on Stadia. It’s one of the numerous great offerings on Stadia Pro right now, and it brings a whole new spin on multiplayer Pac-Man.
