Leaving behind the bloodlust of Rastan from yesterday, we lay down our sword and instead pick up another weapon ready for combat – in this case a paddle; though this in truth will be a lot less bloody and a bit more sweaty. At number 53 in the Your Sinclair Top 100 we enter the arena of Ping Pong.
Ping Pong was initially an arcade release (no really) from Konami back in 1985, bringing to the arcade screen the frills and spills of the classic 9ft by 5ft table sport! This was then ported over to the ZX Spectrum in 1986 by Imagine Software with the programming and sound duties handled by Doug Burns, Jonathan M. Smith, Martin Galway.
Whereas most games in this vein leave all movement to the player, here the paddle isn’t controlled by yourself – the computer handles all the movements around the table, and you deal all the returns. This may sound like a simple affair however it isn’t, as from the off the learning curve is set so high the game can be soul destroying. It takes a brave gamer to stick at Ping Pong to reap any actual enjoyment from it.
As regular readers/viewers are aware I’m not a fan of sports games and believe sports should be kept outside where you should be getting fit. Ping Pong however does give you a sense of accomplishment once you begin to master the controls and gain some points, thus I did actually get a glimmer of enjoyment from this game; though I do still standby my “Get outside to get fit!” rule.
Another plus to this game is the truly outstanding music delivered from Martin Galway which you can listen to here…
Originally published July 6, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
