There are few gaming characters as instantly recognizable across popular culture as Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, but Bandai Namco’s Pac-Man is one of them. The yellow fruit eating circle’s iconic “Waka Waka” eating soundbite is one of the most recognizable sounds in the game. Pac-Man, which debuted in arcades in 1980 (a year earlier than Mario), will celebrate its 45th anniversary in 2025, although it looks much different.
To celebrate this, Bandai Namco is taking Pac-Man into uncharted territory, far from its family-friendly roots. The puck-shaped icon is reborn in Shadow Labyrinth, a dark 2D action platformer.
Announced at The Game Awards 2024, Shadow Labyrinth gives Pac-Man an edgier, more mature makeover, in line with other Bandai Namco games like Elden Ring (2022). While it felt like a surprise in the moment, it’s actually not the first time we’ve seen a new take on one of gaming’s classic characters. This ties directly into episode 6 of Prime Video’s streaming series “The Secret Level,” which debuted on Dec. 2. 10.
Rolling Stone interviews Shadow Labyrinth producer Seigo Aizawa and Pac-Man brand marketing manager Knorr Piasek about series milestones, the inspiration behind Shadow Labyrinth, and how Bandai Namco is taking a darker direction. We talked about why we decided to move forward.
be reborn
Shadow Labyrinth follows the events of the “PAC-MAN: Circle” episode of Amazon’s Secret Level anthology (yes, this episode was actually a prequel). A swordsman wakes up when a yellow floating ball called PUCK chases him. This is already a big reference to Pac-Man’s origins, but it might be helpful for fans who are familiar with “Pac-Man” being the character’s name in Japan. Bandai Namco could have gone in any direction for a gritty interpretation of Pac-Man, including making a soulful game like Elden Ring. Or they could have made an RPG, but the producers chose a very specific path instead.
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Shadow Labyrinth makes Pac-Man the assistant of a mysterious warrior controlled by the player.
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“When we wanted to explore a new type of Pac-Man game, a key element became important: the maze,” Aizawa told Rolling Stone. “When we thought about mazes, a 2D action platformer was the perfect fit for the genre.” Games in this genre are commonly known as “Metroidvanias,” derived from their forerunners the Metroid and Castlevania franchises. It features non-linear exploration and gameplay. Typically, when you zoom out on a map in a Metroidvania game, it looks like a maze.
Aizawa and Piasek say that Shadow Labyrinth is a traditional action platformer similar to Ori and the Blind Forest (2015) and Hollow Knight (2017), and not a “roguelike” like Dead Cells (2018). I made it clear that. It’s similar to a 2D platformer game, but the level design and enemies are randomly generated. “We ourselves don’t call it a metroidvania, but we acknowledge that people absolutely classify it that way,” Piasek explains. “It’s a bit of a joke, so we also call it Puck and Slash!”
The traditional Pac-Man maze design has been reimagined as a 2D platformer or “Metroidvania.”
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Shadow Labyrinth also does not include the Pac-Man branding in its title, but the decision not to include it is likely to allow the game to bring in new audiences who have not played the series before. It was to do. “There was a lot of discussion about whether or not to include the word ‘Pac-Man’ in the title. In the end, we decided against it,” Aizawa says. “Pac-Man has historically been a family-friendly game, and we wanted to brand the game in a different way.”
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Piasek added, “We know that when players describe this game by anything other than the name Shadow Labyrinth, they’re going to say, ‘That crazy, dark Pac-Man game.'” We know that they will do the hard work for you. ”
stage setting
Shadow Labyrinth’s setting is actually inspired by the Ice Age, and the enemies and bosses are designed around that concept. In the classic Pac-Man game, the eponymous characters dodge ghosts, but what exact role they’ll play in Shadow Labyrinth remains unclear at this point. Key art for the game shows a peculiar ghost in the sky, but Piasek hints that there’s more than just what meets the eye. “Fans are already starting to theorize that there might be other games mentioned here, not just Pac-Man,” he says.
Pac-Man’s insatiable appetite takes on a darker side here, as he eats monsters whole.
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Looking at the release trailer, it’s clear that there will be a lot of grotesque monsters, and in order for the swordsman to become stronger and survive the maze, he will have to at least use a giant black Pac-Man with reversed colors to devour the bosses. This is a callback. Pac-Man’s eating motif.
Piasek also teases that there may be outside forces that influence the monster’s growth. “The Ice Age concept is the design principle that guides the core enemy design and some of the monsters unique to this planet,” he explains. “But there were other things that came to this planet that may have helped those monsters develop into something bigger and scarier.”
Shadow Labyrinth celebrates the character’s 45th anniversary in a very unexpected way.
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Shadow Labyrinth is scheduled to be released in 2025 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X|S. Aizawa also confirmed that there are no post-launch content plans at this time. “This game comes in one package, so there’s no DLC (downloadable content),” he says.
For Pac-Man veterans, the developers know that Shadow Labyrinth is a completely new take on the game’s icon. “The main theme for our 45th anniversary is ‘Making an Impact,’ so we thought ‘Shadow Labyrinth’ was an appropriate title,” says Aizawa. Piasek added, “Especially because this is the antithesis of what you would expect from Pac-Man.”
