Oh man, so here we go! Pac-Man. Good ol’ chomping yellow dude. You remember him, right? Anyway, reinventing Pac-Man could go a couple of wild ways. You know, they tried Pac-Man 2 once — where you kinda just threw rocks at him to make him move. Like, really? Who was in the room when that idea made the cut? Or, imagine Pac-Man in a Metroidvania game called Shadow Labyrinth. Yeah, that sounds a bit more my jam.
So, check this out. I was at PAX East 2025, trying out this Shadow Labyrinth game on a Switch in handheld mode. Another guy was playing on a massive PC screen next to me. Oh, and there’s this Amazon show, Secret Level — apparently, it’s a prequel, so you might wanna watch if backstories are your thing. The game ran at 30 FPS on Switch, kinda meh for the old beast, but it hit 60 FPS on PC. Not a disaster but, you know, smoother is better, right? The Bandai Namco folks told me it’ll be 60 FPS on the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. Fingers crossed!
Now, diving into the demo — talk about meat and potatoes, right? Lots of platforming — jumping, double jumping, dashing. You’ve got Swordsman No. 8, yanking and banking from spot to spot. And then you’re like this tiny Pac-Man (wait, PUCK?), gobbling pellets. Grapple points, rails… think buzz saws for fun. There’s this platforming gauntlet section, but I felt like a total noob, so yeah, bailed after a few tries. You ever just feel like watching paint dry in peace is more zen for skill-building?
Combat was the other gig in Shadow Labyrinth. Good thing there was a move list onscreen — saving grace for button mashing, seriously. Attack, dodge, heal, and when things got really intense, you could turn Pac-Man into a giant. Just gobble those guys up! Attacking was smooth, and the game’s difficulty? Just the right spice. Oh, there’s even a parry. Felt cool using that against a boss who, come to think of it, kinda looked like the Metroid Dread boss.
After squashing that boss, I blasted through a wall with a laser attack — talk about rewarding! Next, I hit a maze full of enemies where swords wouldn’t cut it. My buddy discovered you had to puff them up with a grapple — explosions everywhere! And here’s a nugget: there’s a Dig Dug tribute in there. Other Bandai Namco games pop up too, so I’m all eyes out for Galaga and Rolling Thunder nods.
So, what’s the release scoop? July 18 — coming to Nintendo Switch, the new Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam in three editions. Standard at $30, Deluxe at $40, and Special at $60, heck, the one with the black light for map secrets sounds worth it.
Walking away from Shadow Labyrinth, I’m all intrigued. You put gritty Metroidvania and Bandai Namco mashups in one pot — could be a mess but it’s not! And who doesn’t love something inspired by Hollow Knight? Loads to look forward to!
