Review: pop-pop

Reviewed By: Erica Marceau

Review Date: July 25, 2002

Genre: Arcade

Format: Download

Developer: popWrangler

Publisher: Ambrosia Software

System Requirements: G3 Macintosh, Mac OS 8.6

Network Feature: Yes

3D Support: No

Mac OS X Compatible: Yes

Retail Price: $25

Availability: OUt now

While pop-pop adds many gameplay features such as characters with special powers, the ability to send bricks at your opponent, a ball magnet, network play, and a puzzle mode, that doesn't detract from the fact that pop-pop is, in essence, another game in which you hit a ball with a paddle in order to break bricks of a variety of colors so they don't fall below a line, causing you to lose. I'm not saying that pop-pop is a bad game, but I see so many reviews seemingly glossing over this that I felt the need to point it out.

That said, pop-pop does have a lot of neat additions to the basic Breakout formula which makes it feel more like a fighting game. Every time the ball bounces off your paddle you get another energy bar. Once you have enough energy, you can use your character's special power which ranges from sending flowers to your opponent to clutter up the screen, to rubber duckies that send your ball bouncing off in various directions, to a brick spewing robot that marches across the screen. All of the powers are very well-balanced...there isn't one which overwhelms the others.

Another weapon in your aresenal is the ability to send bricks to your opponent. If you hit more than one brick before the ball strikes your paddle, then all of those bricks will be sent to your opponent. If you use some of your energy, you can supercharge your paddle and send the ball through more than one brick at the same time. Those sent bricks will be hollow, and, if your opponent hits those hollow bricks, they get sent back to you as metal bricks which take two hits to break. However, if you use the magnet to pull the ball to your paddle, you lose all of the accumulated bricks.

The computer plays very well, and the difficulty levels makes it easy to gradually get better. The real test comes from playing against other people, and you can meet potential pop-pop players through GameRanger or through the built-in tracker. You can even talk to each other at any time. The game automatically pauses when you're talking, which is a nice touch.

So there you have pop-pop, a game that turns a ball and a paddle into powerful weapons and breathes life into a game that's been done countless times before. For more information and screen captures, read our pop-pop preview from May 2002.

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