 PING PONG 

 Imagine 1986



 CONTROLS : Keyboard, Kempston, Cursor

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 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...

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 KEYS : Redefinable

