the characters and maze look familiar in Pac-Man Battle Royale, Namco Bandai’s latest iteration of its most popular videogame franchise, the potential for multiplayer competition makes the game sizzle. Up to four gamers can go head-to-head, and the goal is not to eat the dots but each other.

Each round begins with a maze and a handful of dots. As soon as the initial ones are devoured, new dots spawn along with a number of power pellets. Eating a power pellet temporarily enlarges your Pac-Man and weakens both the ghosts and your opponents, leaving them all vulnerable to your snapping maw. The last Pac-Man remaining wins the round.

The classic videogame franchise, which just turned 30, has chewed through popular culture over the years, with Pac-Man and his spooky foes appearing in a variety of games (and even on touchscreen voting machines) . The new, cannibalistic version was on display earlier this month at the JAMMA Amusement Machine Show here, a trade show about arcade games and hardware.

Many little touches add to the Pac-Man Battle Royale experience. When equal-strength Pac-Men meet, both are knocked back and become helpless for a split-second.

After five rounds, the game does its best to compliment each player’s performance with accolades such as “Won the Most Rounds” or “Ate the Most Ghosts.” In short, there are no outright winners or losers in Battle Royale.

While cruising the maze, little sparks occasionally appear, as if Pac-Man is scraping against the wall. In between rounds, players can tap the start button to “slime” the winner (who can slime the losers in return). This means absolutely nothing, and yet during the Tokyo demo, everyone at the table was tapping like mad, creating a mess of colored splotches on the screen.

Battle Royale is fast and fun. Te respawning dots, the seesaw battle over power pellets, the roaming ghosts and many other innovations are a lot to take in at once. It struck me as the kind of game that manages to transcend skill level — no matter how well I fared in my time with the game, I was always engaged and entertained.

With its tabletop design, complete with cup holders, Pac-Man Battle Royale could liven up nearly any restaurant or bar. The game is entirely in English and it made an appearance at this year’s E3, so here’s hoping it’s announced release date of 2010 is true.

See Also:

• Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating
• Interactive Google Doodle Celebrates Pac-Man's 30th
• Touchscreen E-Voting Machine Reprogrammed to Play Pac-Man

Authors: Daniel Feit

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