Pac-Man Battle Royale
Pac-Man Battle Royale[lower-alpha 1] is the 12th official arcade game in the Pac-Man series. It is made as part of Pac-Man's 30th Anniversary[1] and developed by Namco Bandai Games. It was released for the arcade in January 2011 and later ported to Pac-Man Museum for a digital release (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC) in 2014. Follow ups came with Pac-Man Party Royale, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle, and Pac-Man 99. A direct sequel, Pac-Man Battle Royale Chompionship will be released in 2022.[2]
Pac-Man Battle Royale | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Developer(s) | Namco Bandai Games |
Publisher(s) | Namco Bandai Games |
Director(s) | Kunito Komori |
Series | Pac-Man |
Platform(s) | Arcade |
Release | January 21, 2011 |
Genre(s) | Maze |
Arcade system | Namco System 147 |
Gameplay
Up to four players can compete at once, choosing a game length of between three and nine rounds. Each player controls a differently coloured Pac-Man character; a single player faces one computer-controlled Pac-Man opponent. The players move throughout a maze, avoiding ghosts and attempting to eat dots and power pellets scattered throughout. New dots and pellets appear whenever the players eat them all. In addition; if any player eats a bonus item that appears next to the ghosts' cage, all remaining dots and pellets are immediately removed and replaced.
When a Pac-Man eats a power pellet, he grows in size and can eat the ghosts and any un-powered Pac-Men until the pellet wears off. During this time, the un-powered Pac-Men turn blue but retain an outline of their original colour, and they cannot eat ghosts.
Un-powered Pac-Men are eliminated from the round when they either run into a ghost or are eaten by a powered Pac-Man. If two Pac-Men of equal strength run into each other, they are knocked backward a short distance but suffer no harm otherwise. Blue Pac-Men cannot knock or pass through each other.
Each round lasts a maximum of two minutes, with an on-screen countdown for the last 10 seconds. The last remaining Pac-Man wins the round. All players are brought back into the game at the start of each new round; after the final round, the player with the most victories is the overall winner.
Development and release
Pac-Man Battle Royale was first displayed in the United States in a playable state at the 2010 Amusement Expo show in Las Vegas.[3][4] in March 2010. It was then seen again at an after-party event during E3, where Namco America brought four cabinets for attendees to play.[5][6] Namco also took the unusual step of throwing a party prior to the launch of the game at the Whiskey River Saloon in Madison, Wisconsin.[7] It was not seen in Japan until September 2010 at the Amusement Machine Show,[8] which is opposite of most major Namco arcade releases where they are shown off in Japan first and are later brought to the US.
While the game was reported for a release in September 2010,[9] it was delayed for unknown reasons until late November 2010. NAMCO America, Inc. officially announced the release of Pac-Man Battle Royale on January 21, 2011.[10]
Unique to Namco's other modern arcade releases, the company created a Facebook page to promote the game, which registered locations where players could find the game.[11]
References
- "BANDAI NAMCO Amusement America - News". www.bandainamco-am.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- "Pac-Man Battle Royale Chompionship Spotted at IAAPA 2021; Headed to Arcades In 2022". Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- "Amusement Expo 2010: Pac-Man Battle Royale Hands-on". Arcade Heroes. March 12, 2010. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- "Pac-Man returns to arcades with Pac-Man Battle Royale at Amusement Expo 2010". Arcade Heroes. February 25, 2010. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- Haske, Steve (June 16, 2010). "Pac-Man Battle Royale: four-player death match, arcade-style". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- Leavey, Jason. "E3 2010: Pac-Man Battle Royale impressions". The Tanooki. Archived from the original on 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- "Namco throws a party for Pac-Man Battle Royale". Arcade Heroes. September 20, 2010. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- Feit, Daniel. "Hands-On: Pac-Man Goes Cannibal in Battle Royale". Wired. Archived from the original on 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2021-10-16 – via www.wired.com.
- "See video of Pac-Man: Battle Royale from Amusement Expo @ Gaming Target". www.gamingtarget.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
- "BANDAI NAMCO Amusement America - News". www.bandainamco-am.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
- "Archived copy". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-24.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)