Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle is an online battle royale game in the Pac-Man series developed by Heavy Iron Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game originally launched as an exclusive for the now-defunct Google Stadia service. The game first launched as a free demo through October 20-27, 2020, before launching as a paid game at $19.99 USD on November 17, 2020.
The game was originally shut down alongside the closure of the Google Stadia platform on January 18, 2023. As with the other games on the platform, all purchases of Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle were refunded.
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs (also abbreviated as Pac-Man Chomp Champs), a re-released version of the game developed by Amber Studio was announced on October 10, 2023 and released for PlayStation, Xbox, Steam and Nintendo Switch on May 9, 2024 (May 8, 2024 internationally), though the game launched in early access on May 1, 2024 for players who purchased the Deluxe edition.
Gameplay[]
Screenshot of a game in progress, in Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle is an online battle royale maze game, in similar fashion to the original arcade game. Up to 64 queued players can play simultaneously in a single match, though the player may also create local parties to play with up to three other friends.
In this game, the player's goal is to guide their Pac-Man across the mazes and attack other players by invading their mazes in order to eliminate them and be the last surviving player. Like the arcade original, Pac-Man must also dodge fellow ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. All ghosts target Pac-Man as they did in the arcade original, though they also have one brief scattering phase at the beginning of a match/maze level. Warp Tunnels, present between the middle parts of each maze will warp Pac-Man to the other side of the maze, also slowing down any Ghosts that pass through. Similar to Ms. Pac-Man, they may also reverse direction in occasions and continue pursuit.
Each player begins in their own concealed maze, with Pac-Dots, Power Pellets and Ghosts. Like the arcade original, each Pac-Man can eat Pac-Dots spread throughout the level to accumulate points. By eating a Power Pellet, the player's Pac-Man will enlarge and will be able to eat scared ghosts as well as non-energized Pac-Man players for a short period of time. If all the Pac-Dots are eaten within a maze, the maze will level up; upon leveling up a maze, the maze will change its layout, change the fruit (increasing its point value) and both Pac-Man and the Ghosts' speeds will increase. When a maze levels up, all Pac-Man and ghosts will return to their starting positions. The maze can level up to a maximum of 10 times. If there is only one player in an opponent's maze and they clear the maze/lose a life, the opponent's maze will be overridden with their own maze.
Around every 10-20 seconds, maze gates will open between the farther edges of the mazes. The player's Pac-Man can travel through the maze gates to invade another player's maze, each of which is connected in a large maze field. The maze gates remain open for about 20 seconds before they lock again. Though the gates run on timers, they can be forced to open/close upon eating their respective items (Unlock Gates and Lock Gates), which will force the maze pathways to unlock/lock regardless of the timer (only in the original Mega Tunnel Battle). Nearby mazes and their maze levels can be peeked at by pressing the respective Maze Peek buttons on the controller/keyboard. If a maze contains no Pac-Man players by the time the gates close, said mazes will disappear from the interconnected maze field, and any non-connected mazes will be repositioned to an area closer to the connected maze field. Each game round lasts about 2 minutes in length, and has three rounds. In every round, the player will receive a mission on the information board which they can complete for an extra life alongside bonus points and XP, though it is not required to complete.
Alongside the base maze mechanics, item panels periodically emerge from the Warp Tunnels at the beginning of each maze level, which can assist or hinder players' progress. The items will travel throughout the mazes before they re-enter the Warp Tunnel and disappear from the maze. When a Pac-Man touches one, it will activate; if the respective item buttons indicated on the controller/keyboard while touching an item is held down, the player will instead hold onto one of two items, with the item being held in the slot of the indicated button. The player can then use said item by pressing the respective item button. If there is an item on the field by the time the maze is completed or the last Pac-Man in a maze loses a life, any wandering items will disappear from the maze.
Each player starts the game with three extra lives, though extra lives can be earned in the event the player collects an Extra Life item or every 10,000 points scored. The player loses a life in the event they are caught by a ghost or chomped on by an energized Pac-Man. If there is only one Pac-Man in a maze when they lose a life, the ghosts will return to their starting positions and the maze will be claimed by the regenerating player. The player is eliminated from the game if they lose a life with no remaining extra lives. Players must also continuously increase their total score in order to meet the minimum score threshold displayed on the top of the screen, which increases every 2 seconds. If the player's score remains below the required score threshold by the time the maze pathways close, their maze will be consumed by the Glitch and they will be eliminated from the game.
The winning conditions will depend based on the game mode the player is playing. The player will earn XP based on their progress at the end of a game, with higher standings granting more XP.
At the end of every game, the player will also receive coins based on the player's performance. The player can also earn coin bonuses by leveling up or by completing the one-time bonuses for finishing each game mode. Coins can be used to unlock new customization options for the player's Pac-Man and mazes.
Game modes[]
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle features a selection of game modes, with some game modes exclusive to each version of the game.
Elimination[]
Elimination is the standard game mode. Each player is eliminated under traditional rules and total wins and losses are not counted towards the player’s ranking position. In this game mode, the player may also host a party with up to three friends added via the game's friend list.
The sole surviving player at the end of the game wins the Elimination mode.
Challenge[]
Exclusive to the original Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, Challenge is a single-player game mode. where the player is tasked with several challenges to complete, with CPU controlled Pac-Men roaming around the mazes. The player can play this game mode while waiting in the queue for an Elimination game.
Ranked[]
Exclusive to Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs, this game mode follows regular gameplay but with competitive rules. The player cannot vote for items in Spectator mode or invite party players. The player cannot vote for items in Spectator mode or invite party players, and total wins and losses are tracked.
The player will win the Ranked game mode if they place in the top 32 standings of the game.
Training[]
Exclusive to Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs, this single-player game mode replays the first-time tutorial shown when playing the game for the first time. The player has 5 minutes to complete the tutorial.
Spectator[]
While it is not displayed on the main menu, the player can enter Spectator mode if they are eliminated from the current match.
If an Elimination game is being spectated, the player has the option to vote for the next Item selections to appear within the maze.
Score table[]
- Pac-Dot: 10 points
- Power Pellet: 50 points
- Scared ghosts:
- 1st consecutive ghost: 200 points
- 2nd consecutive ghost: 400 points
- 3rd consecutive ghost: 800 points
- 4th consecutive ghost: 1,600 points
- Bonus fruit: 200 points
- Maze cleared: 1,000 points
Items[]
Across the game, one of eleven (seven in Chomp Champs) will appear from the Warp Tunnels. These can be activated instantly, or up to two can be held for later use.
| Mega Tunnel Battle | Chomp Champs | Item effect | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed Boost | Speedy PAC | This power-up will increase Pac-Man's moving speed for a brief period of time. Pac-Men under this effect will emit a trail behind them. | Yellow (M.T.B)
Blue (C.C.) |
| Extra Life | Extra Life | This item will award the player one extra life. This item cannot be held for later use, unlike other items. | Yellow (M.T.B)
Blue (C.C.) |
| Lock Gates | N/A | This item will close the rival maze pathways for twenty seconds, regardless of the current timer. | Blue |
| Unlock Gates | N/A | This item will unlock any rival maze pathways, regardless of the current timer. | Blue |
| Ghost Speed Boost | Speedy GHOST | This item will increase the moving speed of all ghosts for a brief period of time. Ghosts under the speed effect will emit a trail behind them. | Blue (M.T.B)
Red (C.C.) |
| Stun | Dazer | This item will stun all rival Pac-Men and Ghosts, preventing them from moving for four seconds. | Blue |
| Invulnerability | PAC Shield | This item will surround Pac-Man with a barrier, which bounces Ghosts (either normal or scared) or any rival Pac-Men, including those that are energized. | Yellow (M.T.B)
Blue (C.C.) |
| Clone Ghost | N/A | This item will create a clone ghost of either Blinky, Pinky, Inky or Clyde in the maze, bringing the ghost count to five. If this item is in effect within the maze, using this item will have no extra effect. | Blue |
| Ghost Attractor | GHOST Attract | This item will cause the four ghosts to fall in love with the player's Pac-Man for a brief period of time. Ghosts in love will speed up and directly target the player (like Blinky), making avoiding ghosts more difficult; but can make it easier to gather ghosts for bonus points under Power Pellet effects, and surround other rival players with ghosts.
Ghosts in love will snap out of the effect either if they are eaten, catch their target Pac-Man or the effect wears off. |
Blue (M.T.B)
Red (C.C.) |
| Ghost Repelent | GHOST Repel | This item will create a scent field around Pac-Man for a brief period of time, which will scare off ghosts to the opposite direction if they get near the scent. This item can be used to make distance from ghosts or push them to rival players. Though the item scares off ghosts, Pac-Man can still be hurt by ghosts under the effect. | Yellow (M.T.B)
Blue (C.C.) |
| Smart Bomb | N/A | This item will unleash a large blast radius that instantly defeats every ghost and rival Pac-Man caught within the blast. | Blue |
Add-ons[]
- Lunar New Year - Put on sale on January 22, 2022 to celebrate the Chinese new year with skins, mazes, and themes. The Chomp Champs version of this pack was released alongside the game.
- Chomp Challengers Pack - A pre-order bonus for Chomp Champs, which includes five extra costume pieces for Pac-Man and a profile icon. The Chomp Challengers Pack was put up for sale as DLC on release day.
- Namco Pals Pac - A DLC pack for Chomp Champs included with the Deluxe edition of the game, which features costume pieces and maze themes based on Galaga, Dig Dug, Klonoa, Katamari Damacy and Mr. Driller.
Gallery[]
Lunar New Year (Stadia version)[]
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs[]
Cover art for Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs
On October 10, 2023, Bandai Namco announced on their social media pages that an expanded version of the game titled Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs would release on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. The May 9, 2024 release date was announced on April 11, 2024.[1] The expanded versions, developed by Amber Studio, adds new features to the game such as the ability to cross-play matches across different game systems.[2] Players who purchased the Deluxe edition could begin playing the game in an early access state one week ahead of its release date, starting on May 1, 2024.
Players who preorder the game would receive the Chomp Challengers Pack, a bonus DLC pack including five extra costume pieces for Pac-Man and an extra profile icon. In addition to the base game being presented in its regular form, there is a costlier Deluxe edition that includes the game and twelve extra costume pieces for Pac-Man and a maze theme. The Deluxe edition, in addition to granting an early access period for the game also includes the Namco Pals Pac DLC pack, which features costume pieces and maze themes based on Galaga, Dig Dug, Klonoa, Katamari Damacy and Mr. Driller.
Changes to Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle[]
While gameplay largely remains unchanged from the original Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, there are several changes made to the game’s mechanics and presentation.
Gameplay differences[]
- Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs adds cross-platform support, allowing game matches to be played with other players playing Chomp Champs on different platforms.
- The Challenge game mode is removed.
- A tutorial sequence is added upon starting the game for the first time.
- Online leaderboards are reset after a period of weeks.
- Joining queues for an Elimination/Ranked game are streamlined; the player is now queued for the next game available automatically instead of choosing an available game server manually to queue.
- Upon finishing the Practice, Elimination and Ranked modes for the first time, the player can claim a one-time 2,000 coin bonus.
- Non-energized Pac-Men can no longer eat scared ghosts, but they can still safely pass through them.
- The Lock Gates, Gate Unlock, Smart Bomb and Extra Ghost items are removed from the game, reducing the items available from 11 to 7.
- With the removal of these items, items are now classified with two different colors instead of three.
Audio/visual differences[]
- On Nintendo Switch, the game runs at a locked frame rate of 30 FPS.
- Pac-Man's eyes are changed to feature his standard pie eye shape, in comparison to the rounded bead eyes seen in the original version.
- The startup screen now displays the Amber Studio logo in place of Heavy Iron Studios’ logo.
- "The World of Pac-Man" from the Pac-Man 40th Anniversary album replaces the original Mega Tunnel Battle’s main menu theme.
- The UI designs are drastically altered from the original Mega Tunnel Battle, most significantly the redesigned menu and backgrounds.
- Newly added background music now plays during gameplay, whereas the original Mega Tunnel Battle did not feature background music.
- The font displayed while a game is starting is changed from the Pac-Man style font to a more traditional font.
- All players have their respective usernames displayed on top of them at all times, rather than using the Peek button to show their usernames. Their respective console platforms are also displayed next to their usernames.
- All items have new icon designs.
Trivia[]
- Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle (and Chomp Champs) notably makes use of Epic Games' Unreal Engine, making it one of the first Pac-Man games to use the engine.
- The "Cherry Chomp" profile icon in both versions is a cropped image of the Pac-Man Puzzle Tour title screen.
- Pac-Man can eat Power Pellets to eat other Pac-Man players, a mechanic which was previously seen in Pac-Man Battle Royale.
Specific to Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle[]
- This is the only Pac-Man video game to be released on the Google Stadia streaming service.
- Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle was released in commendation of Pac-Man’s 40th anniversary, and features designs inspired by the 40th anniversary branding.
- Throughout the game's lifetime, multiple free 30-minute trials were given out for the game across select dates. Following the announcement of the closure of Google Stadia, the game's demo was made available to play permanently until the service shut down.
- Chomp Champs appears to be missing the Christmas maze theme present in the Stadia original.
- Pac-Man's design is somewhat different in this game compared to other titles. Most noticeably, his eyes are black pupils with white dots instead of pie eyes; the inside of his mouth is also red instead of black.
- The later Chomp Champs version changes the eye design to the more standardized pie eyes instead; Pac-Man's mouth is also recolored black, and he is given a large tongue in promotional artwork.
Specific to Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs[]
- Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is the first online-based Pac-Man game to re-release following the original game’s closure.
- The announcement of Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs notably comes two days after the shutdown of Pac-Man 99, another Pac-Man game that followed the online battle royale format.
- On the night of October 12th, 2023, Chomp Champs was promoted in a light show comprised of drones in New York City.[3]
- In the announcement trailer for Chomp Champs, there are player names that reference aspects of the Pac-Man series:
- Unlike other Pac-Man games, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs has not been announced to have a Japanese release; despite that it is otherwise set to be released worldwide, including in other Asian territories.
- Despite no Japanese release being planned, the soundtrack for the game was released in Japan and was promoted by the official Bandai Namco Game Music account on Twitter (X).[4]
- The visuals used for the Dig Dug maze skin in Chomp Champs notably re-uses the sprite artwork (specifically for Dig Dug himself) used in the console version of Dig Dug Arrangement, which was featured in Namco Museum Battle Collection.
- The staff credits features PAC-MAN NEVA PAX!! from the Pac-Man 40th Anniversary album as its theme, the same theme also used for the credits sequence in Pac-Man Museum +.
Gallery[]
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle[]
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs[]
Trailers[]
Promotional[]
References[]
- ↑ https://twitter.com/officialpacman/status/1778422825767796964
- ↑ https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/pac-man/news/pac-mantm-mega-tunnel-battle-chomp-champs-brings-multiplayer-competitive-eating
- ↑ https://youtube.com/shorts/HWnQfT5EygQ?
- ↑ https://x.com/bne_bngm/status/1794654710412050576?s=61&t=Fbd1L5payXc2J2m9D2irWQ