In 1972, MASH began its long run on the television screen, Godfather and Deliverance hit theatres and the draft was phased out of the US. But who cares about all that shit? 1972 was the year of Pong. It was the first real video game that helped pave the way for massive entertainment pastime we treasure today. It was tennis with really bad graphics, but it goes down in history as a pioneer for all games, especially Breakout, Super Breakout, Arkanoid and Pong: The Next Level.

     Pong did make a return to the console system in 1999 with a brand new game that used the same concept of the original, only with graphics and extras to make the game less...well, boring. Atari and Hasbro Interactive got together for the Playstation version of the classic. Unfortunately I never really got to play the original game (I was born in 1976), and by the time I receive my first system, the Atari 5200, Pong would have been too primitive. While I do have recollections of playing the classic on a friend's system, and have had the pleasure of playing variations on the PC I still feel deprived of this historically significant game. But now I get a chance to play Pong on steroids and pass this on to my kids. They will see what my parents saw, but a whole lot more.

     In Pong: The Next Level, Pong now has an identity and you have to take your Pong and battle other Pongs in Pong World to become the true Pong Master. What the Smurf did I just say? Let's start from the beginning. Unlike the original, this isn't just one game of hitting the ball back and forth. This time, there are levels you must go through in order to beat the game. You may think it is easy, but you are dead wrong.

     I started the game with a simple one-on-one battle, taking place in the Arctic. Penguins get in the way of your shots and alter them, causing you to lose a read on the ball and lose a point. Once you manage to get past that level, your next trip will be to a soccer field where there are four Pong paddles on the field. You have a partner to go up against the computer in a soccer-like game of Pong. This was very hard, because the paddles are so close to one another. Still, not as hard as the next level where you battle the computer over rolling logs. When the logs rolls, it doesn't matter that you hit the ball back, because the logs just roll the ball back at you and in some totally wacked out direction. This log rolling does work against the computer as well, but try telling me that when I am cursing up a storm and trying to get the points I need to obtain victory. Finally, I made it to a level where you are your own opponent. You control the movement of the ball and have to hit specific targets or you cannot go on to the next level. I spent a good twenty minutes playing this part before finally getting past it, saving the game, and laying in a fetal position with my thumb in my mouth.

     Pong: The Next Level is so different from its predecessor. It is in color, first of all, but it also contains decent graphics putting you into different worlds, complete with very difficult mind distorting levels. For a treat the developers allow you to get special secrets that enable you to hit the ball differently from just the standard bounce off the paddle moves. You can even battle in multiplayer mode where up to four players can play at once.

     The goals for this version of Pong are different as well. Since this isn't about just beating the other guy, you have to move from difficult levels to more difficult levels, and so on. Your object is to obtain gold bars for each victory. These bars fill up in the old Atari sign. Once you fill up the Atari sign, you are the supreme Pong player. Just talking about the game has made me want to go back and play again.

     Badseed's Bottomline: This is a 5 out of 5. Simplicity is sometimes the best thing. Pong combines new and old and gives you a fun, addictive style of game play that will keep you up for hours. It just seems like the game evolves further and further with each level, allowing the player to anticipate what's next more and more.

     Send your comments and or questions about this article to Badseed@ybfree.com.

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