**Psychotic Is An Understatement**

Psychotic Pong is a game created by youngcaliman

Today I will be reviewing Psychotic Pong by Youngcaliman.

Prethoughts:

Youngcaliman is probably one of the best, if not the best game creators with the PPG maker. Having played Youngcaliman's previous games, I knew that I would be in for one of the greatest gaming experiences I've had on Sploder. I also shouldn't be surprised if I would waste up to an hour of my life just in an attempt to beat it. I've come to expect that every game that is made by Youngcaliman will be one of the greatest PPG games on Sploder. I knew a bathroom break was going to be required before entering the realm of Youngcaliman's games. When I clicked on the game, I saw a plethora of colors, but was it good?

Review:

The game Psychotic Pong follows a very interesting concept, but is also obvious to an extent. You must drag square blocks to push a small "pong" ball across a variety of colors so that you can get it to a flag zone. While this sounds like an easy enough concept, it is probably one of the more challenging PPG games on this website. The ball can move across just about every colored surface, but the blocks can only move across their corresponding colors. The puzzles require you to judge the power put into the movement speed of your block dragging ability with the mouse. Whether it involves you to push the ball a small amount or a very large amount, you will have to think about the consequences. As you progress, you will have to use speed along with the timing of your pushing, adding even more challenge. Some levels made me use precision when moving the ball, such as making the ball hit an angle so that it will ricochet to a second angle to get it to a new area, allowing you to progress further. Other levels however, forced me to use the right amount of force so that the ball doesn't get stuck in a white zone, but doesn't hit a wall and bounces back into the white zone anyway.

The game also features concepts shown in his previous games, including pressing certain colored glass blocks with blocks of the same color in order for you to progress in the game with the ball. Another concept with this game is that the farther you get in a level, the higher the chance of you losing is. I personally found this irritating at times, but was able to stick through the entire game. "Psychotic Pong" also doesn't have an actual way to die, but a variety of ways to lose the ball, including moving platforms just eager to destroy 5 minutes worth of progress. This gives you the ultimate anguish of not restarting because you were killed, but because you weren't good enough to beat the level the first time. This game did have a few quirks, like the fact that I needed to be precise about every time I pushed the block around. The levels were also very long, which almost made me lose interest. This is a great game altogether, and should be tried by every member at least once.

Afterthoughts:

This game has given me a nice refreshing taste of games made by Youncaliman. Every puzzle completed gave me a sense of inner contentment because of the difficulty demonstrated with each new puzzle. Every time I completed a challenging level, it gave me a sense of gratification from the creator, as if he were saying "you did it, Great job!" It gave me enough inspiration to play through the game. This is probably one of the greatest games that I have ever played. Some levels were very elaborate and well thought up, giving complexity to each level.

Hazard/Block Placement:

This game doesn't exactly have enemies unless you would consider the puzzles themselves to be your enemy. You can have from up to 5 minutes invested in a level when suddenly a moving platform slides across, knocking the ball into a white zone. I'd consider these platforms enemies mostly because its only goal in the game is to destroy any progress you made in the levels. These platforms are well placed as well. They appear throughout the game, eager to make you angry at them, hoping you mess up. These were placed in the best locations. Since they move across the playing field, they require you to use skill so that you don't fling the ball to where they can knock it away from you. While there isn't any actual enemies, these "progress killing platforms" make up for it. But to be perfectly honest, I feel like the ante could have been raised a little more, with these platforms appearing in more levels.

Pros:

- Amazing Puzzles

- A colorful design

- Innovation

- Addictive

Cons:

- Intense Difficulty

Amazing Puzzles:

Yes, that's right, the puzzles are just outright intense. I know the concept of pushing a ball around doesn't sound very hard, but you need to push the ball with just the right amount of power and accuracy or else you have to start over. This game is extremely difficult, but it keeps you hooked on playing it. Every chance you miss will make the smell of success so much sweeter if you decide to stick with it.

Colorful Design:

Let's face it, this game will lose some of its appeal if it didn't have the wonderful assortment of colored shapes that you must slide across. The creator could have easily went with bland, unappealing colors, but instead went with a rainbow of enjoyment. In all seriousness, the color placement is absolutely perfect. Not only does it provide a sense of style, coolness, and beauty to the game, but it also has a major impact on the gameplay. I approve of the colors that the creator decided to go with as well.

Innovation:

Youngcaliman is most known for his innovations to the PPG. In this game however, I feel that he manages to pump it up to the next level. He makes dragging the most prominent feature in this game. He also made outstanding use of passthru and collision layers to make this game work. It may not be very noticeable, but this was a very innovative and groundbreaking game with the use of the dragger and passthru layers.

Addictive:

If you play this game, you will be ensnared by its amazing gameplay and will play it until you are practically forced to be surgically removed from your computer/laptop monitor. Anyone who doesn't is probably not putting their full effort into it. Youngcaliman can always ensure that you will be willing to sacrifice time from your life just in an attempt to beat it.

Intense Difficulty:

Obviously, since this game was created by a person who is known for making next to impossible games, it wasn't any different. In all honesty, the majority of people will play every level at least three times before beating it. This is a con mostly because people can't see that patience is a key virtue. If you do play this game, you will have to take a trip to the bathroom because you will need it. Every time you are five seconds away from victory, you might actually have a sudden nervous breakdown, forcing a twitch messing you up, and will be forced to start the level anew. This will cause annoyance with some people, but anyone who sticks with it will feel inner contentment. Remembering that you can't die in this game, the difficulty on the opening screen might say that it is easy, but you will regret believing that lie.

Scoring:

Grade: B

Improvements:

While this game is actually one of my top favorite games, there could be the addition of platforms that could add to the difficulty even though it is already difficult. The colors could have been expanded on, aside from the already appealing colors available such as red, pink, blue, and green. These are only minor improvements but could help the game out a lot.

Final Thoughts:

This game might have an insane level of difficulty, but is one of the most worthwhile games to play. The colors used are appealing to the eye and give you a basic understanding of where you can or cannot go. The puzzles are a refreshing change of pace, but maintain the attractiveness expected of a game made by Youngcaliman. It will keep you entertained for the most part, if constant losing does not falter your opinion on good games. If you can remember to take a trip to the bathroom before starting, you should play it. This game may prove itself hard, but in my opinion is a must play for all members.