Webgame: 3-D Pong

www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/pong.html
Game Rating: 3 clocks.

Reviewed by EUOL

This one was just too classic not to post. Pong. We’ve all heard of it, some of us have even played it. For those of you who might not have, Pong is usually credited with being the first video game. The concept was simple: you moved a little bar up and down one side of the screen, and your opponent did the same on the other side. A ball bounced between you, and you tried to knock it back at your opponent. Kind of like table hockey, without the table.

Well, Pong is back. I’m not sure why no one thought of this before, but it’s really a clever idea. The rules have changed only slightly. In this remake, your perspective is from behind your paddle. The ball comes toward you, and you try and intercept it and bounce it back down the corridor at your opponent.

It’s a little disorienting at first, but you get used to that. It really is a fun game, and a nice little update of an old classic. I do have some beefs, however. The ball appears to go faster depending on how many times it’s hit, not on any sort of spin you put on it. So, most games go about the same length of time--a very short length of time. The computer is obviously set to make mistakes at a certain level, so as soon as you get a little bit good, it’s hard to lose.

A two-player option to this game would be very nice indeed. However, as it stands, it’s worth a look.

Written by EUOL on September 10th, 2002