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"Imagine the arcade Pong - paddle movement control + hit type + the Linux penguin + a bunch of bow-tie wearing monkeys..."

Ah, Ping Pong for the Commodore 64. What you expect is not what you will get in this strange and somewhat humorous game. After all, what do you expect such a game from the mid-80s to play like? Perhaps, something like the arcade game, Pong, where you constantly maneuver your paddle in front of the approaching ball to return it to the other side, right? Wrong. In this game, THE COMPUTER actually controls the paddle for you. 'But... But... Where's the fun in the game if the computer plays for you?' you might ask. Well, you might be surprised at the answer. Where the arcade Pong concentrated on position, this game concentrates on when and how to hit the ball. Sadly, it needed to concentrate on the number of ways a little more. (More about that in a moment.) And, what do you expect from this old game in the visual department? Again, maybe some sort of modified arcade Pong screen? Wrong. Even though it all happens in one screen, the programmers went to the trouble to make the visuals look top notch. The view point is behind the Human player 1. (Which is really just a great looking Ping Pong paddle with a disembodied hand gripping it. Ghost Pong???) In front of the paddle/hand team is a decent looking green Ping Pong table with border lines and a net in the center. (The table looks nice and 3-D.) At the far end is another, if not smaller, paddle and hand team. (Can be completely controlled by the computer or by a second Human player.) Surrounding the table is four walls, (One is behind Player 1 and is unseen.) making the table look sort of inset into the ground as a bunch of bow-tie wearing monkeys sit in the above stands and watch the game. (Part of the game's sense of humor.) In this one game screen, everything is well drawn and delivers a true sense of 3-D. Even the Ping Pong ball looks great as it grows, shrinks, moves and imitates darkness as it flows during game play. (If the ball goes off and under the table where you can see it, it somewhat hides in the darkness. Which is a great visual trick.) The game has four other screens to it. But, they are mostly utilitarian text screens and are hardly considered graphical in any way. Except for the intro screen, which has a white bouncing ball, a poorly drawn Ping Pong table seen from the side and a well drawn penguin, sitting in a pan and punching itself mercilessly, until the bouncing ball bangs it on the noggin and knocking it unconscious. (Why a penguin is knocking itself silly... Well, that is for the programmer's weird sense of humor to know all about...) The other screens are for the day's high scores, a menu for selecting the game level and 1 or 2 Human players, and for entering your initials into the high scores. (Which has a short and looping tune playing in the background. About the only true game music there is.) Oh, and I think it is Konami, the game's maker, that has their name plastered all over these screens. (Three times in the intro screen, alone.)

Control wise, this game concentrates on when and how, instead of where, to hit the ball. So, the way you use the joystick and one button is a little different than you might be used to. When serving the ball, pressing left and right move your paddle/hand to the left and right of the table. Pressing up slowly rises and falls your paddle. Pressing the button while holding up serves the ball into play. Now that the ball is in play, your paddle/hand will track the ball's position without allowing you to do a thing. Pressing left will bring your hand to the left side of the paddle and allow you to hit the ball towards the left side of the table. Pressing right will do the exact opposite of left. Pressing down will swing the paddle slowly. When hitting the ball with down, you will usually cause the ball to travel slowly. Pressing the button makes the ball travel at a medium speed. So, pressing up is the ball's fast speed, right? Wrong. While up is a fast return, it is also the special move that can only be used safely, right after the audio clue is given. Normally, when the ball is in motion, it literally makes ping-pong, ping-pong, ping-pong sounds. However, when the struck ball goes wooooOOOOoooo, this is the clue that it is time for the special move to be used. (Use the special move without first hearing the wooooOOOOoooo sound and you will probably strike the net and give your opponent a point. I have no idea if the wooooOOOOoooo sound is random or depends on the hit.) Sadly, this game could have had more hit types available by holding down the button and selecting a direction. But, they programmed it with only the three. There is a second player mode. But, don't annoy another player with it. Somehow, the game physics for the far player can only be managed by the computer. Human players only seem to slam the ball to the extreme left or right. Yet, Player 1 suffers from none of these strange physics. It is a real shame, as having two controllable players at once would have been part of this game's charm.

Sound wise, this game has a bunch of strange sound effects in it. There is the bouncing ball chimes and the penguin movement sounds in the intro screen, the ping-pong sounds of the Ping Pong ball hitting paddle, table, paddle, table, the wooooOOOOoooo sound to notify the time to use the special move, the hollow sound of the ball bouncing on the floor, a sort of whistling sound from the monkeys after a point is made, and some strange sounds I like to call penguin speak that differ if the point is made by an In, Out, Net or Tie point situation. That is pretty much the extent of the sounds, all of which become tiresome and annoying really quickly. But, mute the sound and you lose the wooooOOOOoooo clue. And, without that, gaining points will be very difficult. The game also has four short and catchy tunes. A five second one at the start of each set, another short tune at the end of each set, a quick game over tune, and a fifteen or so second looping tune in the high score initials entry screen. (Game does not save scores between gaming sessions.)

As far as challenge goes, the game offers five levels of it. Level one has a very slow ball speed with an AI that almost always errors or produces wooooOOOOoooo balls. Each level above that increase the ball speed and decrease the AI error factor. By levels 4 and 5, you will appreciate the tracking paddle, as that ball may be going too fast for comfort, if you had to intercept it via the joystick interface. And, when you beat the level 1 AI, you progress to Levels 2 through 5. However, you can opt to start at any level in the menu screen. The goal is to reach 11 points, unless both sides have a close match happening...where it turns into a race for several more points than your opponent.

Overall, the game is cute and not too serious of a video Ping Pong game. The graphics in the actual game screen look great. The control for player 1 is simple and works well. Forget letting a second player play the far end, thanks to a game bug. (That really hurts the game, too. As the game is just too basic for the programmers not to have tried to fix it.) The AI and the variable gaming speeds deliver plenty of challenge. But, if you wanted more of a ping pong game where you could miss because you couldn't intercept the paddle with the ball or a fair two player game, you will have to look elsewhere.

Still, what is up with that self-hating penguin??? Did it want to be in another game, or something???


Reviewer's Score: 6/10 | Originally Posted: 01/16/02, Updated 01/16/02

Ping Pong was a conversion of the classic arcade game by Konami. It was released by Imagine Software in April of 1986 and was developed by Doug Burns (or Bernie Duggs) who would go on to create the excellent Hypaball.

Anyway, this classic game was a simulation of table tennis - and was the best version of the sport on the ZX Spectrum by far.

Ping Pong ZX Spectrum

The game followed the rules of table tennis - so the winner was the first to score eleven points. If the game was tied at ten points each (deuce) then the first person to go two points clear of the other was the winner.

The game took a viewpoint of just behind your end of the table, with the table and net viewed in front of you. Player one always took this viewpoint - so the computer or human player two controlled the bat at the 'far end' of the table. The perspective viewpoint on the table was pretty good.

In a nice touch there were onlookers on each side of the table, with the folks on the left cheering every point you won. The 'crowd' reminded me of the spectators that featured in Daley Thompsons Decathlon with the round of applause they gave you on winning a point.

Konamis game played well on the Spectrum Your bat was displayed 'floating' on the screen and the computer controlled it's movement (as in left and right movement). You had to time your shots and choose to go forehand or backhand. You could also slice or drive your shots back - a good variety of shots could be produced once you got the hang of the game.

If a ball bounced up high towards you it was also possible to smash a return back - which could be satisfying as you walloped away another winner.

There were five skill levels to play against (1 to 5) and level five was played at warp speed with your opponent very difficult to beat. I never managed to beat level 5 anyway.

It should be noted that this arcade game featured excellent synthesised two channel menu music (probably the first of it's kind on the ZX Spectrum) which is now down in the history of great Spectrum music.

On Release:
Well the original arcade game by Konami had not been very popular in the UK (I don't know why) so the game did not generate a lot of excitement at first. However, word soon spread about the music and then the gameplay. This game was a superb arcade conversion that was playable and addictive both in single player mode and two player mode. Crash magazine awarded it a Crash Smash rating and rightly so. This game went on to be a big hit on the Spectrum, and another for Imagine Software.

The test of time:
Well after playing this once more I still really like it. It's still playable and once you get the hang of it (all over again!) you realise that a good game is in there. The graphics were never the best, but they serve their purpose and work well within the game. The shots you can make sort of remind me of Wii tennis - in fact a version of this on the Wii would be superb!

This classic arcade game for the ZX Spectrum is definately worth another look after all these years.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and get Ping Pong. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade game
RELEASE DATE: 1986
RELEASED BY: Imagine Software
DEVELOPER(S): Doug Burns
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

Do you remember when a revolutionary new form of entertainment -- a machine called Pong -- first appeared in amusement arcades everywhere and everyone said: 'Golly, how thrilling -- a revolutionary new form of entertainment!'? Do you remember when Binatone turned it into a 'home arcade console' and everyone said: 'Golly, how thrilling -- an arcade game in our very own place of residence!'? No? Well, since then there's not been much heard of Pong. Until now that is, for Imagine have taken the theme, turned it from a horizontal game to a near vertical one and added an extra dimension with 3D graphics.

Ping Pong is played according to the rules of table tennis, the winner being the first to score eleven points. Only one player can play against one of five different computer opponents -- there is no two-player option. Level one is a bit docile and bats the ball slowly around the table, but level five is a crazed pongicidal maniac who shows no mercy.

The game is always viewed and played from the base line with your bat positioned about a quarter of the way up the screen (get your eyes and position them above one of the screen shot of you're confused). The score and other relevant information, whether the ball is in or out, for example, is displayed either side of the table. Crowds flank each side of the screen and play a small part in the game -- the ones on the right cheer the computer and the ones on the left cheer you.

Your bat automatically follows the ball so it's up to you to time the return. Pressing the fire button drives the ball back, whilst pushing down on the joystick 'cuts' it and pushing up executes a smash. Moving the joystick left or right moves the bat either to the forehand or backhand position and depending upon how early or late you hit the ball it veers either right or left.

Serves are performed by pushing up on the joystick to throw the ball in the air and then pressing the fire button to drive it. After every five points the serving changes hands. If the scoring is tied at ten points a piece then the tie-break comes into effect. In this situation the first player to either go ahead by two points or reach fifteen points (whichever comes first) is declared the outright winner.

Ten points are awarded for a shot and when an opponent is beaten a bonus is awarded. If your score is high enough at the end of a game your initials can be entered in the highscore table.

Yet another case of a potentially good game ruined by the restrictions imposed by the licensing deal. This is a conversion of the arcade game Ping Pong and a very close conversion it is too. Unfortunately, arcade Ping Pong isn't very good in the first place. In a word, or a couple of words, it's dull. The graphics and sound are on a par with the game, ie, dull. I couldn't honestly recommend buying Ping Pong, but it may be worth a look at if table tennis is what you enjoy most.

After playing Ping Pong on the Amstrad and Spectrum I expected great things of the 64 version, but unfortunately it isn't anything special. There is a lack of variety in shots and it seemed to make little difference whether a shot was played early or late. This makes the game rather dull to play. The graphics are OK, but I would have expected a jolly title screen tune or something, as the Spectrum version had an amazing little ditty. If you're a table tennis nut then I suppose this is a good buy, but there are better games than this.

Presentation 83%
Five levels of play, a highscore table and a few cute touches.

Graphics 61%
Lacking, but adequate.

Sound 58%
A couple of reasonable jingles and noises, but little else.

Hookability 78%
Very simple to get into and play . . .

Lastability 65%
. . . but perhaps a little too simple.

Value For Money 65%
Below average price, but then so it should be.

Overall 66%
The best table tennis game on the Commodore, but then it's the only one.