What is Pong: The Next Level?

Just when you thought retro was on its way out, along comes a game sure to make former paddle pros raise an eyebrow. MacSoft's Pong is loosely based on Atari’s 1972 hit by the same name — in roughly the way one could loosely base a car's design on a chariot's. The new version provides 260MB of OpenGL rendered action and stretches Pong’s simple concept quite far. Despite a clumsy interface and enough nostalgic schmaltz to sicken Lawrence Welk, the game is engaging enough to be worth its relatively low price.

You control a 3D version of the same rectangular paddle that starred in the original game. Pong features level after level of challenges, ranging from slight modifications of the original game to variations that only resemble the old game in that they involve a ball and a paddle. As you complete levels, an Atari logo gets painted gold to represent your progress.

The game suffers from overblown Atari nostalgia — by the end, you’ll have seen more of the logo than Atari’s marketing department did in the early eighties. Its clunky interface is marred by controls you can’t modify and poorly designed keyboard presets.

Still, Pong is an enjoyable, well conceived game for a low price. The levels are varied and numerous enough to provide solid entertainment for a good while.

Sammis, Ian. (October 2001). Pong: The Next Level. MacAddict. (pg. 47).

Download Pong: The Next Level for Mac

Architecture

IBM PowerPC

System Requirements

From Mac OS 8.5 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

PPC G3
Mac OS 8.5 - 9.2.2
64 MB RAM
180 MB hard drive space

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver