PAC-MAN 99 Powerups

PAC-MAN 99 is the latest battle royale game to hit the Switch eShop as a nice little bonus for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, but figuring out the best way to win isn't an easy task.

If you've already jumped into a few games and feel like you've mastered the basics, you'll want to start making use of PAC-MAN 99's power-up options. Called Standard, Stronger, Train, and Speed, these four in-game settings can have a huge impact on how you play.

So, without further ado, let's jump in and find out which PAC-MAN 99 power-up is the best, as well as how and when to use them...

How To Use PAC-MAN 99 Power-Ups

Using a power-up in PAC-MAN 99 is a simple as hitting a button, although doing so while trying to keep an eye on everything else going on isn't as easy as you'd think.

By default, your power-ups are triggered by the A, B, X and Y buttons on your controller, although you can map them to other parts of your controllers by customising your settings. Each button corresponds to a particular power-up, and we've indicated these for you below.

When you have a power-up highlighted, simply eat a Power Pellet to put it into motion.

Standard (Y)

As is probably obvious thanks to the name, this is the most standard option you can select and is the option automatically chosen for you when you begin a game.

There's nothing fancy to speak of here – by having Standard highlighted, you'll gain no special bonus powers, but this also means there are fewer drawbacks or penalties to fear. It's the Mario of PAC-MAN 99, a good all-rounder.

Stronger (X)

Stronger makes every attack you send to your opponents more powerful. With Stronger selected, every time you eat a Frightened Ghost to send a Jammer Pac-Man to your opponents' screen, you'll actually send a small army of them instead, no doubt causing a major headache for your foe.

Sounds good, right? Well, having Stronger highlighted also appears to reduce the time that your Power Pellet remains active, meaning you can get some really strong attacks in but only for a short time.

It's best to use this when you have a relatively clear maze and aren't in danger of being caught out – if there are Ghosts everywhere, you probably want to be powered up for longer than this selection allows.

Train (B)

You'll want to use Train before gobbling up the Sleeping Ghosts that sit in the centre of the maze. With Train selected, you'll notice that more Ghosts are added to the train created than under usual circumstances, allowing for more Jammer Pac-Man to be sent to enemies when you eat them up later.

Again, though, there's a downside to this, too. For every extra Ghost that appears thanks to the Train power-up, you'll also receive a Jammer Pac-Man on your own screen, seriously slowing you down until you can clear the maze.

We'd argue this one is the most advanced tactic of the lot, and should only be used by players who are really comfortable navigating the maze and dodging those extra Jammer Pac-Man.

Speed (A)

Finally, Speed does exactly what it says on the tin. Selecting this will let you race around at double speed after eating a Power Pellet, allowing you to zoom across the maze and reach faraway Ghosts in time.

The downside? The number of Jammer Pac-Man you send to opponents will reduce, making this an ideal option for getting out of a tight spot, rather than going all out on the offensive.

This article is part of our complete PAC-MAN 99 guide, which includes beginner tips and tricks, advice on how to use Power-Up options (Standard, Speed, Train, Stronger), how to use Targeting options (Random, Counter, Hunter, Knockout), the game's basic controls and how to customise them, how to play a private match with your friends, and how to acquire and apply new custom themes.

Let us know if you found this guide helpful, and feel free to share your own tips in the comments below.