PONG Quest

Want to know how you can tell that 2020 is officially off the rails? No, it's not because we're all stuck inside during a pandemic, but rather the fact that we're only four months into the year and I've already reviewed two role-playing games based on Pong. When I talked about Hypergalactic Psychic Table Tennis 3000 back in March, I figured that the concept was a novelty the likes we probably won't see again, and yet here we are, just a few weeks later, and Atari drops PONG Quest on the world. As crazy as it sounds, this is another fantasy adventure game that sees a little paddle go on an epic quest to defeat a bunch of other paddles. It's fun and certainly charming, but, and I can't believe I am about to ask this question, is it the best Pong RPG of 2020?

This is story of a kingdom in peril. Although he lives in a gorgeous palace, King Pong worries that his people are turning against him. They're all acting funny, and he thinks it might have something to do with the Spooky Door. The problem is that in order to open the Spooky Door, he'll need to collect four orb-shaped keys. That's where you come in. As a young, customizable paddle, it's your job to conquer the castle's four randomly-generated dungeons in order to collect the orbs and see what's on the other side of the Spooky Door.

In some ways, this is exactly what you think it is. We walk around the Zelda-inspired dungeons and get into one-on-one fights that are settled by playing a brief round of Pong. The scoreboard has been replaced by a health bar, but the basic concept is the same. It's your job to hit the ball back and forth in an effort to slip one past the enemy paddle. Although both characters will lose a little health with every hit, the trick is to do more damage by winning the point. If you can win the match, then you'll pick up the loot and come one step closer to finding the boss and collecting the key.

While Hypergalactic Psychic Table Tennis 3000 had you flinging magic all over the place, PONG Quest has a slightly different approach. Instead of unlocking new spells, you're essentially picking up single-use items that can be selected in battle. On top of getting the usual health potion and power boosts, you'll also pick up items that will make the ball temporarily invisible, make it teleport across the table, plant little mushrooms, create a force field, drop oil slicks, generate ice and so much more. There are more than 50 to collect, but don't think means you can become a hoarder. It won't take more than a few minutes to realize that you can only hold a few items at once, so you won't always go into battle with the equipment you want.

I don't want to just gloss over the combat, because it really is exciting. In fact, I would say that I prefer the one-on-one action in this game over the other Pong RPG. The staggering amount of items helps keep the combat fresh, and I like how each dungeon introduces its own set of attacks. For example, you'll find freezing items in the ice dungeons and sci-fi technology from the robots. It's also fun how the attacks can be turned around and used against you, especially in the later stages.

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On its own, the dungeon crawling is fun, if not short-lived. The best thing about this game is that you're able to throw the various items at your friends in the competitive modes. Best of all, you can even fight each other online, something that was sorely missing from Hypergalactic Psychic Table Tennis. I also like that they added a version of the original arcade game, just in case you want to strip everything away and go classic. For as silly as this concept is, I'm impressed with what all has packed into PONG Quest.

On the other hand, there's no getting around how repetitive this game is. Part of the problem is that all of the dungeons look and play out the same way, so there aren't very many surprises. The game tries to shake things up by adding puzzles and mini-games, but even those tend to wear out their welcome by the end the game.

It's also worth pointing out that the user interface could use some work. Cycling between the various items is frustrating in the middle of battle, especially when you're holding ten different attacks. I also wish there was a button you could press to unselect the item, which would effectively eliminate a lot of the needless cycling. And while I'm on the subject, the game needs to do a better job of describing the items in your inventory when our hero is exploring the dungeons. You can drop whatever you want, but there's nothing telling you what it is in the first place. Little oversights like that add up after a while. The combat may be fast and exciting, but the adventure itself feels a bit undercooked.

Who knew that there would be this much material to mine out of the classic game Pong? Although it's a bit repetitive and isn't as ambitious as I would have liked, the developers have done an excellent job breathing new life into the 1972 arcade game. Between the fast pace and throwable items, the one-on-one combat is surprisingly exciting. Best of all, PONG Quest brings all of the best elements from the campaign over to the competitive multiplayer mode, which even allows you to play online with friends. I know it sounds crazy, but apparently 2020 is the year when I recommend not only one Pong-inspired role-playing game, but two.