‘Crossy Road’ Developer To Work On ‘Pac-Man 256’ For Bandai Namco, Game To Come To Mobile Devices

“Crossy Road” has become one of the more popular free-to-play mobile games in recent memory, thanks to the game’s simple dodge-and-survive gameplay mixed with cute graphics. It seems like Bandai Namco took notice of the game’s success, as it recently contacted developer Hipster Whale to work on “Pac-Man 256,” a new “Pac-Man” mobile game with gameplay similar to “Crossy Road.”

Fans of “Pac-Man” will be familiar with some of the gameplay elements, as Touch Arcade has confirmed that eating pellets and power-ups is still a big part of the game. In addition to that, the colorful ghosts return to menace the yellow glob yet again, though it appears that players will also be running from something else.

“Pac-Man 256” is inspired from the level 256 glitch from the original “Pac-Man” game, which messed with gameplay and made things hard to control for the player. Now, according to Gamespot, the “256 glitch” has returned and this time as a menace to “Pac-Man” and the ghosts, attempting to rid them from existence as seen in the gameplay trailer below.

As far as the gameplay goes, it seems like “Pac-Man 256” will combine the old-school "Pac-Man" gameplay that players know and love with the isometric view and controls of “Crossy Road” from Hipster Whale. This should provide for an interesting experience, as the game straddles the line of paying tribute to an old game and trailblazing a new start for “Pac-Man.”

Prior to this, there have been other “Pac-Man” mobile games available in the App Store, usually ports of the older Namco arcade games. A few games have tried incorporating other game mechanics from popular mobile games, like those seen in the infinite runner genre and the match-3 RPG titles that have also been quite popular as of late.

The trailer indicates that “Pac-Man 256” will be an iOS exclusive and will be coming to Apple platforms sometime this summer, though no official release date has been confirmed. Fans wanting a fresh take on the “Pac-Man” games or those who simply adore the “Crossy Road” gameplay should get a kick out of this title.