I like Pac-Man 99 a lot. I've enjoyed all of the Switch "battle royale take on classic arcade game" titles so far, but I think Pac-Man 99 is my favourite.
One of the things it highlights is something that continually impresses me when it comes to online games, which is the fact it's actually kind of amazing that at any given moment, you can find a bunch of people who all want to do the same thing. In the case of Pac-Man 99, within the space of about 15 seconds or so, you can track down 98 other people who want nothing more than to play some Pac-Man at that given moment. Which is something that makes me smile.
I've won one game of Pac-Man 99 so far, and I came a very close second in a match earlier today. As with both Tetris 99 and Super Mario 35, though, it's a game in which taking part is the real fun. The very nature of the game means that every session is a bit different, and you can never quite predict whether this one is going to be the one, or if this is, instead, the one where you find yourself on the receiving end of one of those bastard red Pac-Men.
I really like the additional Namco themes they added as optional extras. I must confess as a big fan of classic Namco, I happily stumped up the £24.99 for all the themes and the offline modes immediately, because the previous modern Pac-Man games have always been games I like to return to over and over again — and this is no exception. The main 99-player battle mode is a ton of fun, but the score attack and time attack modes feel like a nice twist on the Pac-Man Championship Edition formula, too, so they're fun if I'm in the mood for something a bit different.
Plus I can make the whole thing look like Metro-Cross. Or The Legend of Valkyrie. Or Wonder Momo. What a retro delight! I love it.
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