Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs Critic Reviews

Developing a Battle Royale in pace with the times starting from the gameplay of Pac-Man, released in 1980, without disrupting its nature, must have been very difficult indeed. PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle Chomp Champs partially succeeds, offering a very interesting formula in the first few game sessions, which gradually reveals all the limits, with no additional modes to keep the momentum going. In a couple of hours you get to see all that the video game has to offer, after that it is only a matter of time before the fun begins to fade. If you are looking for fast-paced and colorful competitive multiplayer, however, it might be for you.

This isn't the best twist on Pac-Man — that accolade goes to the excellent Pac-Man 256. But injecting Battle Royale DNA into the Pac-Man formula works well enough, and although it's rather thin on content, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs provides enough entertainment to keep you coming back, particularly considering its budget price.

Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs from Amber Studio and Bandai Namco Entertainment is light on the competitive entertainment that the game seemingly promises. While it does have spurts of fun and some solid customization options, it just doesn’t create enough competitive motivation to keep the game engaging or interesting.

The game feels and plays like a battle royale, but its core experience is still tied to its classic DNA. It offers a multiplayer adventure that can take you on a nostalgic and enjoyable journey while competing against 63 other players in short, engaging matches.

PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs isn't quite as endearing as Pac-Man 99 and has its share of shortcomings. Its core gameplay will keep you busy for a time but lacks real staying power.

PAC-MAN, the classic, is impeccable. Adding multiplayer concepts through the lens of Battle Royale is a great idea. However, PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs proves that not even this mix has a guarantee of success if care is not taken with the content offered. Without a life of its own, the tribute is a good memory, but it doesn't go much further than that.

At a price of 19.99 euros on all platforms -29.99 in its deluxe version with various skins and motifs for the maze- Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs offers an interesting gameplay but with ups and downs, becoming in the end a game that will make you spend good times between one activity and another, but does not contain the high doses of pique and wanting to keep playing that made us spend coin after coin in the arcade machines of the 80s.

Launching video games as a service and making them a success is no easy task, and as fun as the exponent is, I find it hard to imagine PAC-MAN Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs having a promising future. Its lack of elemental variety and the sheer number of bots in the games are an issue that needs to be addressed quickly if they are to turn things around.

A novel concept is unfortunately lost in a muddle of confused mechanics and cheap presentation that makes me question exactly why this foregone Stadia game even made the jump to major platforms. Where I managed to have some small fun on the virtue of this still being the PAC-MAN we know and love, I found myself quickly wanting to reinstall other versions of the game. Given that this isn't even the first instance of a PAC-MAN battle royale, I'm sad that this didn't manage to emerge as a worthwhile competitor.