Shadow Labyrinth

Going by the 1980 arcade original, Pac-Man can be just about anything. The pixel graphics are spare to the point of abstraction, with the features of our favourite hungry yellow circle defined only by the art on the side of the arcade cabinet. One piece of Atari box art envisions him as a sort of track runner with a lithe, humanoid body, while 1984's Pac-Land imagines a globular yellow fellow in a feathered cap. Bandai Namco’s baffling Shadow Labyrinth offers the most dramatic reinterpretation yet: as a dime-a-dozen floating companion character.

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Pac-Man joins a long line of robots, fairies and sundry sentient beings who flit through the air spouting exposition or suggesting what you ought to do next. The game redefines the character as Puck, a yellow drone stranded on an alien world. She (Puck is coded as female – perhaps more of a Ms Pac-Man tribute) summons an avatar in Swordsman No. 8, a cloaked figure with a floating mechanical arm, to wield the mighty ESP sword. As No. 8, you are the finder of secrets, fighter of bosses, acquirer of upgrades to reach new parts of the map – in other words, the archetypal Metroidvania star.

Shadow Labyrinth is a reimagining that is, fundamentally, a de-imagining; you are finding journal entries, parrying enemy blows and spending currency to upgrade your attack power. It is the subtraction of what makes Pac-Man distinct and the addition of things from other games: here is a mech, a sword and an anime girl in a bodysuit. That the story plays all of this straight is at least admirable – there is not a single wink or chuckle to be had about the fact that Puck can transform into GAIA, a mech that has a big Pac-Man head as its torso and snatches carcasses to stuff into its maw. That’s how you get crafting materials, after all.