Nintendo Switch Online Gets Pac-Man 99 Battle Royale

Celebrating 40 years anniversary of the classic arcade game, the pellet muncher got its own Pac-Man 99 battle royale game. It launches today on April 7 at 6 PM PDT as an exclusive free offer for Nintendo Switch Online members. Just like Tetris 99 before it, in this game, you’re playing a game of Pac-Man along with 98 other people simultaneously and strive to be the last (Pac-)man standing.

Eat Power Pellets to turn the ghosts blue and then chomp them to send Jammer Pac-Man to your opponents. If they touch the Jammers, they will slow down and will be prone to get eaten by the ghosts. Occasionally you can also encounter a bunch of Sleeping Ghosts. If you eat them, they will multiply and form a Ghost Train just like in Pac-Man Championship Edition. Exploit this moment to eat them all and send your opponents a barrage of annoying Jammers. Of course, this also works the other way around.

With that in mind, this Pac-Man battle royale offers you the opportunity to switch between eight different Targeting Options and Power-Ups to mess with other players or giving yourself buffs such as speed up or sending extra Jammers by utilizing the d-pad and face buttons. Strategically switching these power-ups at just the right moment will definitely give you an edge over your 98 rivals. Watch the beautiful chaos in the launch trailer below.

If you are worried in case Pac-Man 99 will be a limited-time affair like Super Mario Bros. 35, don’t be. After all, Tetris 99 is still going strong to this day. And not to mention the game will have an optional $30 DLC pack containing:

• 20 different classic Namco themes from Xevious, GALAGA, to Dig Dug.
• Eight Pac-Man arrangements.
• Four offline modes:
  • CPU Battle Mode.
  • Password Match.
  • Score Attack Mode.
  • Blind Time Attack Mode.

You can also buy each of the classic themes for $2 each and $14.99 for the offline game modes and arrangements, though. Bandai Namco would be getting a lot of heat from gamers all over the world if it took down the game after people spend money on the DLC packs, right?