PING PONG Imagine 1986 CONTROLS : Keyboard, Kempston, Cursor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AIM : Hit a ball across a table. (It is table tennis, after all...) GAMEPLAY : The game (a conversion of Konami's arcade game) plays by all the rules and regulations of table tennis. The first player to score eleven points wins, unless there's a 10-10 tie, and five levels of play are available, from slow speed to oriental style (i.e. ridiculously fast). The table is viewed in perspective from above, with player 1 in the foreground and player 2 or the computer in the background. You can play a variety of shots by pressing either left, right or up at the moment when the ball hits the bat. Pressing right gives a cut; pressing left gives a drive; pressing up gives a smash. The timing of the shot governs the direction in which the ball moves. Pressing fire switches to backhand mode. The human player always serves first, by pressing down to launch the ball and following with a normal shot. Each serve has a time limit and if the ball doesn't cross the net within seven seconds, the opponent gains a point. After five points have been scored, the service changes over unless the game is tied at ten points apiece, when service alternates and the game continues until one player gets two points ahead of the other or reaches 15 points. COMMENTS : "A highly playable and enjoyable sports simulation". RATING : 90% (CRASH #28, May 1986) NOW : Still an enjoyable and unusual game; I can't think of any other ping pong games... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KEYS : Redefinable