PengPong Review – A Penguin, Some Physics, And A Puck

Not that I’m telling you to drop your phone, coffee, or genitals immediately and go purchase PengPong at this moment, but I would encourage you to check out the Steam page (after reading this review) and download the demo.

And, while I appreciate that, whatever year we are currently in likes to focus on video, social media pithy comments and GIFs, and that reading through some person’s opinion in written form might not be the go-to, I will humour the present and include a YouTube trailer to see it in action.

A rogue-like twin-stick shooter, PengPong suggests a bit of wordplay of sorts, and surely a bird-like hero and some ricocheting is going on. Correct. I’d assumed that this bullet hell would be a pinball-inspired affair, and, for whatever reason I’d concluded, your own projectiles could hurt you.

Thank goodness that SANDY FLOOR (all caps) didn’t go that route, as that would make this a very difficult game indeed. It’s hard enough as it is, but I can conclude that there isn’t friendly fire, as you have enough on your plate surviving the mobs.

A Penguin Origin Story

With an ever-expanding pile of games to review, and games from my backlog that I want to simply catch up on, at first I was restless with PengPong and wanted to get stuck in and get a feel for the mechanics so I could draft up my review.

Following a few image sequences, I can validate that I’m a penguin with nothing to lose, so heads into outer space to fight aliens. An organic journey, methinks. Armed with a hockey stick and oversized puck, my job is to kill all the aliens in an arena, then delve deeper into the next one.

Only, there are far too many enemies. Not the kind of volume that melted my eyeballs in the likes of Asgard’s Fall or Jotunnslayer, but the amount that respawn. So correction: it’s not about annihilation and instead survival until the next wave, and making as much cash in the process.

Part of your hero’s origin story revolves around financial loss, so it comes as no shock that money’s his motivation. Additionally, you can gamble it all for even bigger stakes. Seriously, this guy learns nothing. Thankfully, their offensive instincts are better.

On The Rebound

Armed with a puck, the right stick aims, with the right trigger executing the attack. Genius. I’ve never come across this mechanic before, I hear you say. Ah, but there are two things you must know: the puck rebounds off other objects/enemies, and, like a mock Mjölnir, you have to wait for it to come back.

This works in PengPong’s favour quite a bit, as this isn’t a mindless (not a bad thing) Survivors-like where you can simply focus on movement. Yes, evasion is critical, though you have to commit to your attack using physics.

Adopting a lab coat to work out angles and recall all those things school claims to have taught you does not slow the rhythm; it just gives you the edge and probability of surviving longer. Initially, I was clutching my cheeks, spamming the closest thing to me. A boss encounter changed that.

Each boss has their own attacking plan, and there’s no way you can stay in one spot and hit them dead on. The key is to use the environment and create rebounds for multiple attacks, all the while avoiding their telegraphed attacks and the ongoing spawns of lesser aliens keen to ruin your day.

Take A Gamble

Each kill grants XP and coins. The former levels your skills (attack, evasion, criticals), while the latter fuels the real gamble. Slot machines pop up between runs (and randomly mid-run), letting you risk your winnings before spending on the permanent skill tree, thus boosting survival chances.

Add some additional characters and skill sets, and there’s plenty to get on with, and this was the turning point for me with PengPong. The early menu music and art style had got its claws into me a little. Lazy commentary, perhaps, but considering benchmarks for vintage cartoons, it’s a bit like Cuphead in its approach.

Between those runs is a world map (in space) where you can play, unlock stages, or repeat earlier ones to grind for coins, or to try harder difficulties and unlock all the goodies. So, stylistically, yes, PengPong was appealing, but having an interest in rogue-likes and always something new, the physics aspect hooked me.

Penguin In My Pocket

The ongoing rhetoric here of late is that I’m a newly converted retro handheld person, though I’m primarily playing my AYN Thor using my Steam account via GameNative. Not all titles work out of the box, but PengPong did immediately, and aside from the odd readability issue due to the size of the screen, it was ace.

I actually played this through the entirety of my lunch break today, sitting on the sofa, and I couldn’t have been happier, as it’s perfect to play on the go/in small doses and a responsible way to manage addictive bouts. Nobody can monitor my gameplay at my desk, but they can give side eyes in the living room.

With a new rating system for you, dear reader, I was going to give this a lower score as it doesn’t scream ‘buy me, I’ll change your life and give you rock-hard abs’, yet in execution, I was just having so much fun and could easily keep this on rotation in the months to come.

If it were the demo I was playing, I would have added it to my wishlist, if not added to my cart. I appreciate I’m adding a lot of recommended titles at the moment, and hesitant to add another one… but… if it’s that enjoyable, why not give it the score it deserves?