Other Namco IP That Could Use The ‘Shadow Labyrinth’ Treatment

The Game Awards 2024 saw the surprising revival of multiple franchises long thought dead. Okami got a big announcement (no, I did not forget that there was already an Okami sequel on the DS, thank you), Ninja Gaiden is coming back, and in a twist absolutely nobody could have seen coming, arcade legend Pac-Man is getting a dark sci-fi metroidvania reboot called Shadow Labyrinth.

While we may never truly know why Namco decided to make a full game based on Amazon’s Secret Level episode, we can all agree that giving Pac-Man a gritty reboot is long overdue, and if Pac-Man can have a freaky, genre-shifting new entry, so can at least a handful of Namco’s other beloved arcade hits.

6 Galaga

Proposed New Name: Demons Of Death

I’ve always held the belief that Galaga is better in almost every way than its predecessor, Galaxian. I think it’s better than Space Invaders, for that matter. No hiding spots, no shields, just spur-of-the-moment strategizing and sequential enemy attacks. It’s like a turn-based RPG mixed with real-time combat.

At its core, though, Galaga is terrifying. There’s one of you—two if you’re willing to make a temporary sacrifice—and at least 40 giant space bugs coming at you in waves. Capitalize on the terrifying implications of the original, and a gritty Galaga reboot could make for a fantastic modern Star Fox-style game with dark undertones.

5 Rally X

Proposed New Name: The Hunt

Rally X is a very strange game if you stop and think about it a little bit. Why is there an army of red enemy cars chasing you down as though they’re a completely coordinated team, while you’re on your own? Why are they chasing you so desperately, like the Rally X macguffin is resting comfortably on your dash? Why is this rally track a giant maze with no start or finish line?

All of these questions and more could be answered in an online multiplayer game of one hundred cats and one mouse. Play as part of the red team, hunt the blue car down, and don’t fall for its oil slicks and gas bombs as you trick your way through a maze of dirt, mud, possibly blood, and burning rubber.

4 Taiko No Tatsujin

Proposed New Name: TNT: Shadows Of The Drum

Namco’s classic arcade rhythm game has been a staple of arcades in Japan since 2001. Only twice has the series allowed the game where you literally hit something with a stick to be about hitting enemies with a stick instead of a drum. Here’s the deal, Namco: give us a Taiko game with a dark story with eldritch horror elements and Unreal 5 visuals, and at least a few of us will give you all of our money.

The game could lean fully into the ridiculous, with a classic rock and death metal soundtrack, intensely difficult gameplay, and, of course, a gothic visual style that compliments the dark fantasy story and gritty score. Every properly timed beat of the drum could release the enraged spirits of drummers past, and maybe every so often, you could bludgeon your enemies with the drumsticks, too.

3 Dig Dug

Proposed New Name: Tunnel To Hell

Dig Dug and Dig Dug 2 are completely different experiences, but the original is by far the most well-remembered of the two. Tasking you with drilling into the ground and inflating enemy monsters until they pop, any visual upgrade at all to the arcade original would probably be a body horror nightmare on par with modern Mortal Kombat.

For an especially gritty reboot, Namco could task players with drilling directly to hell itself, destroying the classic dragons and tomato things at first but quickly transitioning into demonic creatures trying to dig their way back up from the depths of the underworld. The best part? A disturbing final battle with the devil himself.

2 Xevious

Proposed New Name: Hyperdrive X

Xevious is interesting when compared to the majority of sci-fi arcade shooters because it requires you to shift your focus between threats coming from the front and those located below you. This shift, as well as the visual distance between you and the ground, makes the game worth revisiting even today, so any reboot or reimagining, no matter how gritty, would need to keep the classic gameplay in mind.

What they could change, though, is those visuals. Give us an overcast sky, and let us get even closer to the ground with high-speed, low-altitude chase sequences for boss fights. Make the planet below something to fear instead of a pleasant green lakeside retreat on an endless loop. Either way, the serious sci-fi setting and slick gameplay could easily carry a modern Xevious title for more mature audiences.

1 Toy Pop

Proposed New Name: Lies Of T

This one is interesting because a gritty reboot of Toy Pop with radical gameplay changes already kind of exists in the Souls-like take on the classic tale of Pinocchio: Lies Of P. Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for another brutally difficult game with a grim fairy tale aesthetic. The more the merrier, right?

The biggest draw of the original title was the co-op multiplayer. If Namco ever gives us a gritty reboot of their most little-known arcade title, we can only hope the end result is a Lies Of P clone with co-op enabled. Maybe then unsung arcade heroes Acha and Pino can finally be the destructive heroes they were always meant to be.