Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle

Taking an arcade classic and adding battle royale-styled action sounds like a winner, but technical flaws, shallow play, and a limited audience really leaves you hungry for more substance. Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle tosses players into a maze filled with pellets and ghosts, and tasks you to eat as much as you can before you're caught by these spirits. But the addition of power-ups that appear onscreen to possibly help or hinder your movements in the maze, along with other players that can invade your map, adds unpredictability to the gameplay. Since you'll be trying to outlast up to 63 other players in these maps, players have to keep their eyes out for threats from all sides, which can be challenging. Depending on how many points you gather, the challenges that you complete, and how high you are in the rankings, you'll earn in-game currency to customize the look of your Pac-Man and the mazes you explore.

While this sounds like a can's miss title, Tunnel Battle's first pitfall is technical where frequent lag and slow command recognition drains its pace to a steady crawl. Running over a power up or making a turn takes seconds to be recognized during play, even on a wired ethernet connection. This could cause you to overcorrect to make sure the game responds the way you want it to, which is fine if you're not being chased, but deadly if someone or thing is on your tail. Secondly, not many people are playing this game right now, so you'll frequently face off against limited competition or waiting on game sessions to begin because there aren't enough players to face. But what also hurts is the lack of depth. You can unlock cosmetic elements to the mazes and your Pac-Man to make them stand out, but ultimately, even with random challenges, you can experience everything the game has to offer within five minutes. As a result, if you were looking to sink your teeth into Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, you'll be disappointed to find that it's more of an appetizer than a meal.