Bandai Namco is celebrating the 35th anniversary of Pac-Man with a new Pac-Man game from the makers of mobile smash hit Crossy Road

Melbourne’s Hipster Whale is developing Pac-Man 256 alongside Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver, and the free-to-play game will be available for smartphones and tablets this year.

Pac-Man 256 claims to be a new genre of Pac-Man game, one in which the yellow gobbler is trapped in an endless maze and chased by the usual four ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde) and a new enemy: the infamous ‘256 glitch’.

The 256 glitch is a bug that renders the 256th level of the original arcade game unbeatable by transforming the right side of the screen into a jumbled mess of numbers and letters.

Alongside the villainous glitch, players can expect to encounter plenty of Pac-Dots and Power Pellets in Pac-Man 256, but also coins, power-ups, and more.

Hipster Whale director Matthew Hall said he's thrilled to be creating a game based on one of the first he ever played.

“Playing Pac-Man in a seaside arcade in 1980 is one of my earliest memories,” he said.

“It is an incredible honour to be able to contribute to one of the most iconic video game franchises in history.”