Remember when Pac-Man got its own battle royale game where 64 Pac-People competed to eat each other and be the ‘Chomp Champ’? Me neither! But Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle apparently came out on Google Stadia – ah, that’d be why – back in 2020, and served up a massively (or at least medium-ly) multiplayer spin on the arcade classic. With Stadia dead and buried, Mega Tunnel Battle is chewing its way out of the streaming console’s grave with a new subtitle and a fresh Steam release next month.
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs puts a load of Pac-Man mazes next to each other to form a single connected map for its dozens of players to waka-waka their way around. Like normal Pac-Man, you can wolf down dots, fruit and ghosts (aided by power pellets), but can also cannibalise your fellow Pac-Folks to be the last Pac standing. Or, er, whatever it is that Pac-Man does, anyway.
Around the map will be a variety of helpful items – from shields to speed boosts – you can collect to help you boost your score and wipe out the competition. Other items will help you turn the ghosts on your opponents, too. In keeping with the battle royale feel, mazes will steadily disappear over the course of a match, requiring the players to tunnel their way into other players’ screens to survive.
There’ll be a selection of different modes, including elimination and ranked, with online leaderboards and the chance to earn tokens through both playing in general and completing missions. Those tokens can be spent on cosmetics – yes, really – for your personalised Pac, including the option to switch up their body, head and face. I’m genuinely amazed that a yellow circle with eyes can have so many distinct body parts, but there we go.
Chomp Champs won’t be exactly the same as the Stadia release, adding some new soundtrack music and visual upgrades. You’ll be able to play cross-platform with those on consoles, and spectate or hop directly into matches with your Pac-Pals via a dedicated friends system.
Chomp Champs will land on Steam on May 8th, with its standard edition costing £16 and a deluxe edition with the standard cosmetic bonuses (including lunar animals and Namco-inspired costumes) and one-week early access priced at £25.