Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
PAC-MAN 99 is here and it’s offering players a new way of experiencing the classic game. However, it’s also giving newcomers a taste of the pellet-munching yellow circle for the first time. For those that are just starting, knowing the basics of how PAC-MAN works, as well as general guidance on how to play, is going to be critical to having a good time. So here are some beginner tips for PAC-MAN 99!
The first thing to know about PAC-MAN 99 is that it uses only a few buttons. You can use the D-pad to control PAC-MAN or the left thumbstick – choose which one you want to use in the settings. The face buttons are responsible for different types of Styles while the right thumbstuck is responsible for targeting other players. But more on these later.
In terms of controlling PAC-MAN, the little yellow circle will attempt to go in the direction you last hit. That means you can hit right, and he will keep going right indefinitely, or until he hits a wall at which point he will sit still. You do not need to constantly hold the direction.
When you’re in a game of PAC-MAN 99, you’re going to be bombarded with information. So let’s break down what you’re looking at when you’re facing a maze.
On the left-hand side you can see the Speed indicator. This shows you how fast PAC-MAN is going. You can actually increase your speed if PAC-MAN is going too slow for you. Below that is the Round counter. This increases whenever you pick up a fruit. A new round means a new set of sleeping ghosts, dots, and pellets are in the maze (more on those below).
On the right-hand side is the counter of how many players are left and how many knockouts (K.O.) you have achieved. A knockout is earned when you manage to knock another opponent out of the match. Below this box is a section for the badges. Whenever you knockout a player, you will receive a badge fragment and anything they had. Badges help block Jammers.
On the left and right side of the maze is a little tube that connects. Go in the right-hand side to come out the left and vice versa. This is a good way to quickly jump sides without working around the middle.
Down the bottom are 16 spaces for circles. Circles represent how many Jammers are being sent to your maze. Any badges down there act as thresholds preventing Jammers from entering your maze until that many circles are present.
Around your maze are little representations of your opponents’ screen. The yellow lines indicate who is targeting you while a faint white crosshair shows who you are targeting.
The square dots around the map are called dots. Eating these helps respawn fruit and increase your speed. In the four corners are larger circles called pellets. Every time you eat a pellet, you will turn the ghosts blue, sending them running from you, and giving you the ability to eat them. Eating pellets also causes Red Jammers to freeze. Finally, the fruit that spawns below the ghost jail refreshes the maze (dots, pellets, and sleeping ghosts) and also kills Red Jammers.
Red and White PAC-MAN, called Red and White Jammer PAC-MAN, can be seen spawning around your maze. The White Jammers slow PAC-MAN down and die as soon as they touch him. Eating a pellet will destroy all the White Jammers. As for the Red Jammers, these will kill PAC-MAN if they touch him and can only be destroyed by eating fruit.
On the left and right side of the screen are words. On the left there is Stronger, Speed, Train, and Standard. On the right is Random, Hunter, Knockout, and Counter. The left side is responsible for the Power Ups PAC-MAN has while the right side dictates what players you want to target. You can change these at any point during a match by pressing the appropriate button or pushing the right thumbstick in a certain direction.
Now that you understand the basics of how to play PAC-MAN 99, you should be able to start improving and even ranking up. These beginner tips are just to get you started, if you want to learn other strategies, like how to use the Power Ups effectively, check out the Shacknews PAC-MAN 99 page.