Okay, so imagine reimagining Pac-Man. I mean, they could have gone with a weird sequel like Pac-Man 2, where you, I don’t know, lob rocks at him to make him move? Sound bizarre, right? But no, they tossed him into this game called Shadow Labyrinth. It’s kinda caught my attention, not gonna lie.
Anyway, at PAX East 2025 — yeah, I was there, juggling between a Switch and some big-screen PC action — I stumbled upon Shadow Labyrinth. It comes with this quirky origin thing tied to a Secret Level episode on Amazon, so catching that might be worth it. Ran decently on Switch, though at 30 FPS, it sorta felt like trying to sip a milkshake through a coffee stirrer. On PC, it was smooth as a jazz sax solo at 60 FPS. News is, Switch 2’ll fix that. Thank the gaming deities.
The demo? Oh, it had all the usual gaming jazz — platforming and combat. You’d be jumping around as Swordsman No. 8, dodging buzz saws while turning into a tiny Pac-Man (PUCK) munching on pellets. I made a half-hearted attempt at the gauntlet section but hey, conventions aren’t where I peak. I need solitude, like, majorly.
Combat was in-your-face but user-friendly. The move list was plastered on the screen, just in case you forgot how to, you know, do basic stuff. You got the usual—attacking, dodging, shooting, etc. Oh, and you can turn Pac-Man into a giant. That’s just funky fun. Parrying the boss felt like echoes of Metroid Dread — those bosses can be hauntingly familiar.
After smashing the boss, I absorbed him (like, Pac-Man style) and scored a laser attack. Handy, because the next bit involved blasting through a wall. The maze section? Had these unkillable guys until—boom—grapple hooks fill ’em up with air. Kaboom! Shades of Dig Dug there. And yep, more Namco Easter eggs await, Galaga and Rolling Thunder, pretty please?
So mark your calendars, July 18’s when Shadow Labyrinth hits Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. Comes in Standard, Deluxe, and Special Editions—seriously, a black light to uncover hidden map secrets? Grab that for under 100 bucks!
I walked away, genuinely intrigued by the whole gritty Metroidvania vibe. It shouldn’t click, but it kinda does. If you love Hollow Knight, maybe pin this one on your radar.
