The Digest:The old Pong classic get revamped with upgraded graphics, 4 person multiplayer and the king and queen from a deck of cards.  Old School gameplay, meets new school graphics. VoodooChief brings us their rendition of the classic game, Pong. They mix in some multiplayer, add a few obstacles, and objectives to spice up the simplistic, addictive game.

THE FACT SHEET

RELEASE DATE: December 29, 2008
DEVELOPER: VoodooChief
GENRE: Classics
Price: 80 Points

PRODUCT OVERVIEW:
A Bat and Ball Game in Classic Arcade styling. Fully Human simulated AI opponents. Can you beat them ? A feature rich game including Multibats, multiball, shaped bats and much more. Come play the challenge of the Computer AI, and if they are too much for you. Get a friend to help out in Cooperative mode. Aceball is a polished and feature rich arcade challenge

PRODUCT FEATURES:

• 4 person Multiplayer
• A lot of levels
• Simple

The guys at VoodooChief took a stab at the arcade classic and they’ve added a couple of nice improvements. The ability to play the game with 3 other friends is a very nice touch and the varied characters that float around add some variety, but it won’t stop people from complaining.

The game itself is just boring. While playing this game, all you can think about is the original game and how much better it was in it’s simplicity. The addition of breaking blocks to complete a level or scoring a certain amount of points does nothing for the game. It’s a lack luster way to try and mix it up.

The multiplayer segment is not addictive like Pong was. There are two modes: Co-operative and skirmish. In co-op you and another player play against 2 AI controller opponents. You have the option to change the bat you control to curved or triangle for example, but they’re just cosmetic and aren’t as good as the default rectangle. Skirmish has you play against another player or compete in 2 vs 2. It’s still not very exciting, and will barely hold your attention.

The big curveball that’s thrown into the game is the addition of the king, queen, joker, and various other card suits that float around. Hence the name ACE-ball. When the ball ricochets off these heads, it will alter the course of the ball. The idea of having something affect the ball is great, but when these heads just pop up your sitting there thinking what the hell is that and why is it there? Which is exactly the opinion of this game.

Why is it here?

Conclusion: This is one of those games that you focus on small things like the music after you beat a level rather then its gameplay. Aceball is a lazy remake of Pong and does not really have anything going for it. There are unnecessary additions, boring gameplay, and just isn’t very fun. Yes it’s an indie game, but that doesn’t mean you should rate it any different. If it’s bad, it’s bad.

Single Player: 1/5 | Multi-Player: 1/5