Game of the Day 3/2/2016: Pong: The Next Level
Pong is, of course, a seminal video game that, while not the first, is all but synonymous with the birth of video gaming as we know it. While numerous iterations, knock-offs, and spin-offs permeate early gaming, most are variations on the tennis concept with little extra thought put into them. In the late '90s, Hasbro began publishing new 3D sequels and re-imagined takes on many arcade classics... Centipede, Q*bert, Frogger, and in 1999, Pong: The Next Level came for PC, PS1, and eventually GBC. While most of these games were pretty sloppy or didn't do well at capturing the essences of the games that inspired them, Pong was blessed with a storm of creativity that goes a long way toward covering up its flaws.
The opening interface borrows a lot from the 3D platformers of the day, utilizing a hub world with a limited selection of stages available for play at the start. As you select your stage, you select one of its three challenges to take on. These range from variations on standard pong that change the playfield, add wind physics, slopes, or mounds, add power-ups that block your goal or allow powerful slaps to send the ball flying, multi-ball, and a plethora of other concepts that add meaningful variety and a single player campaign that's actually worth playing for fun and unlockable secrets and stages. These are also unlockable by code if you just want to go straight into multi-player without taking on some of the tougher stages, but I found the game to be fun enough to want to plow through its missions.
The graphics are bright and colorful 3D with mostly simple textures and shading reminiscent of the arcade scene in the mid-'90s, and they do the job well enough... but there are imperfections. For one, the game likes to occasionally drift in its camera angle slowly, which can screw with your depth perception in a game that demands precision. This can be exceptionally irritating in multi-ball scenarios or when the ball is moving fast. The sound is cheery and appropriate, though nothing special. The control supports both digital and analog, but Pong really needed a paddle or spinner of some kind to be at its best, and that isn't an option on PS1, which kinda sucks. Still, it is imminently playable, and since it affects all players equally, it's hardly game breaking.
It wouldn't be Pong without multi-player, and The Next Level has it in spades, allowing up to four player versus play in tons of modes, stages, and unlockable power-up configurations. This is naturally where the bulk of the replay value comes from, and it doesn't disappoint. In the right crowd, it's a hell of a party game, and has a lot of the same appeal as a game of Warlords, although Warlords is an all time favorite of mine that I'll always love more.
Have you tried this version of Pong?
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