Shadow Labyrinth caught my eye for a few reasons, but the biggest one? It’s a spiritual follow-up to one of my favorite episodes from Secret Level. That episode reimagined Pac-Man not as a happy arcade hero, but as something darker and stranger. So when I saw that Shadow Labyrinth was actually turning that idea into a full game, I knew I had to check it out and see if it could live up to the episode that inspired it. What I found was something bold, twisted, and deeply committed to its vision, even when that commitment occasionally gets in its own way.
If you’ve ever played Pac-Man, you’ll recognize the DNA here, but Shadow Labyrinth warps it beyond recognition in the best way. Gone is the yellow mascot with a goofy smile. In his place is something far more mysterious, even slightly disturbing.
You play as Number 8, a cloaked figure waking up in an underground maze with no memory and no clue why the world around them feels so off. Early on, you meet a cryptic companion named Puck, who clearly knows more than he lets on. From there, the game drops you into its haunting world with just enough narrative hooks to get you moving, and a ton of unanswered questions to keep you thinking.
Why is Pac-Man possessing your body? Why does he eat enemies when you let him take control? And is he even Pac-Man anymore? That lingering sense of unease stays with you throughout the whole game. It’s less horror and more psychological mystery, but it’s incredibly effective.
Shadow Labyrinth doesn’t hold your hand, and I appreciated that. At the beginning, you only have a single healing charge, and it only refills when you find a checkpoint. That forces you to play smart right off the bat. Should you go down the side path that might hide a secret or a powerful upgrade, or push forward hoping to hit the next safe zone? That constant gamble gives the game its edge. Health management becomes a core part of the experience, and it makes every hit feel like a meaningful setback.
Combat, too, has layers. Number 8 starts with a basic three-hit sword combo, a dodge roll, and the ability to cling and zip along walls when standing on special D-lines, a nice nod to Pac-Man’s classic wall-hugging movement. As you progress, you can unlock and equip perks, which let you lean into specific playstyles. I found myself focusing on cooldown reduction and higher damage output, which made my Number 8 feel faster and meaner.
You also collect aura orbs from enemies and hidden caches throughout the labyrinth. These are the game’s currency for unlocking new abilities and upgrades. Want to boost your dodge range, unlock a combo finisher, or upgrade your Gaia system? Spend your orbs wisely. That system hits a nice sweet spot, enough to let you shape your character, but not so many options that it becomes overwhelming.
The Gaia system lets you become a high powered mech for short bursts of supernatural power. In combat, it’s a game-changer. Activate Gaia mid-fight and you can slice down enemies, trigger devastating finishers, or temporarily buff your attacks. During boss battles, it can be the difference of life and death, and got me out of a few really tough spots. These fights are intense, pattern-based encounters that force you to learn and adapt. I died. A lot. But every boss had a decent mix of frustration and satisfaction when I finally nailed the rhythm.
If you’re here for the “Pac-Man but not really Pac-Man” angle, the maze zones will be your jam. These areas take the classic dot-and-ghost formula and warp them into dark, puzzle-infested labyrinths with aggressive enemies and challenges. They’re clever, nostalgic, and brutal. The game even throws in minibosses in these stages, which keeps things fresh.
Outside the maze zones, Shadow Labyrinth leans hard into its Metroidvania roots. New abilities open up previously locked areas, and the world design is tight. Levels loop back on themselves, and shortcuts you didn’t notice before become vital later on. That backtracking feels rewarding, especially when you remember a blocked-off wall from hours ago and can now finally traverse it with your upgraded abilities.
Shadow Labyrinth’s art style is one of its strongest elements. It’s got this eerie, hand-drawn aesthetic that feels like Hollow Knight had a fever dream while watching 80s horror anime. Environments are layered and atmospheric, flickering lights in long corridors, whispering shadows, steam that pours from crevices and just enough visual weirdness to keep you unsettled.
On the Nintendo Switch 2, it looks sharper than on the original system, completely removing the slight fuzziness that can be seen around character models. The higher resolution makes the intricate details pop, and the improved hardware keeps the action smooth for the most part. That said, there is a consistent framerate hiccup every time you enter a new room. It’s minor, just a brief hitch, but always noticeable. Thankfully, once you’re inside the room, performance holds steady, even during the game’s more chaotic fights.
As much as I loved this game, it’s not without its frustrations. For starters, the controls feel slightly too stiff, especially in the early game. Dodging has a slight delay, and platforming puzzles demand high precision at times, which leads to unnecessary frustration. I did eventually get the hang of it, but the learning curve is steeper than it should be, and early deaths often felt more like control issues than personal mistakes.
There’s also a pacing issue. Shadow Labyrinth is surprisingly long. Longer than it needs to be. Some zones start to feel repetitive, with too many similar encounters stretched out over too much space. I’d hit the same room layout three or four times with just slightly remixed enemies. For a game that clearly takes cues from Metroid, I wish it had also borrowed Metroid’s pacing. Trimming down some of these zones would have helped the story hit harder and made the exploration feel more focused.
Final Thoughts
Shadow Labyrinth is weird, bold, and incredibly compelling. It takes one of gaming’s most iconic franchises and reimagines it into something brooding, mysterious, and challenging — and somehow, it works. The moment-to-moment gameplay is satisfying, the world design is smart, and the mix of lore, mechanics, and visual storytelling is impressive.
It’s not perfect. But if you’re a fan of Metroidvanias, love a good mystery, and want to see what happens when someone lets Pac-Man crawl out of the arcade and into the abyss, Shadow Labyrinth is absolutely worth your time.
A Nintendo Switch review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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8
- + A great twisted take on Pac-Man
- + Fun combat and skill upgrades systems
- + Metroidvania level design
- + The maze stages remix the Pac-Man formula in interesting ways
- - Stiff controls lead to some frustrations
- - Longer than it needed to be, hurting the overall pacing
