"A Pong game? Hmm. By Atari!? Hmmmmm... $15?"
Sure, there was some speculation to begin with. But after several hours of play, I can"A Pong game? Hmm. By Atari!? Hmmmmm... $15?"
Sure, there was some speculation to begin with. But after several hours of play, I can happily confirm that Pong Quest is WELL worth the price of admission. It's a quirky, funny adventure with a decent amount of challenge, and more than just a couple hours of playtime.
As you might expect with Pong, there's nothing too flashy or ornate. The different attire customization / combinations you can give your character (pong stick) are fairly robust. This leads to a nice variety of NPC and enemy types - all simple pong sticks dressed up differently - most of whom have something witty or funny to say. Fair warning though... putting a hat/hairstyle on your Pong stick can be dangerous at first, since it doesn't technically extend the length of the stick. I played the first 30 minutes or so with a tophat on my character, and had shot after shot fly over my head because I was trying to use the tophat. I strongly recommend you play hatless/hairless at first, and get used to the exact length of your character.
The game is designed around dungeon-exploring; very similar to the style of the original Legend of Zelda. The map is revealed as you venture from room to room - fighting enemies, meeting NPCs, purchasing power-ups, or completing a small variety of puzzles. Each dungeon is complete after a certain task or parameter has been met, leading to a boss fight that's actually much less daunting than it initially seems. (We'll see if I still have that opinion after I try Expert mode!)
As far as the battles go, that's where the core "Pong" concept comes in. The fights are simple - play pong, while cycling through a short list of power-ups and using them. There are LOTS of power-ups available in the game, but you can only hold a certain number at a time. However as your character levels up, you have the option to apply several buffs, like increased HP, or more power-up slots. Between each encounter, you also have the option to drop the power-ups you might not like so much, and scoop up the ones you prefer.
Battles are a fine balance between playing Pong... and deciding which power-ups work best. This can take a little practice, and is what sets the experience apart from basic, old "Pong". Some of the power-ups, and I do mean only a few, can actually work AGAINST you. You have giant whirlpools of water which can change the ball trajectory, or the Centipedes who drop mushrooms behind them, all of which the ball can bounce off of. (Centipede?... Atari?... GET IT?...) A nice catch is that you can't heal yourself between battles - you have to learn how to incorporate the heal power-ups during the battles as well.
One last thing I have to point out is that you must hit the ball with the FRONT surface of the Pong stick only. Maybe my memory is fuzzy, or I played a different Pong back in the day... but I could swear that you used to be able to hit the ball with the SIDE, or narrow portion, of the pong stick. In this game... not so much. I also haven't tried local 2-player mode, but I can't imagine it being much different than the Quest battles, which means even more hours of fun.
I admit, I have been buying more obscure, relatively unknown games in this day and age of quarantine, and it's really nice when one turns out better than I expected. If you appreciate a good bang-for-buck value, and you have fond memories of Pong, don't miss out on this one.… Expand
