Oh, come on, surely some of you are as (very) old as me?
First released in 1989, Pang started life as a two-player arcade game which challenged players to travel the world on a quest to destroy bouncing balloons that were terrorising several of Earth’s landmarks and cities. Then came conversions for home systems, with Pang appearing in several forms on the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and the PC. Celebrating 21 years (I am so old!) since the original game blasted onto the arcade scene, Pang returns!
I haven’t read anything online or in the press about this Nintendo DS game, yet it’s SUCH a gem of a game (an addictive one at that!). The play revolves around the Magical Michael, an aspiring young magician, who accidentally bungles an experiment and disperses balloons into the world. Michael must then travel the globe to destroy the balloons and clean up his mistake, before it is too late…
The basic gameplay of Pang (once known as the arcade game Buster Bros.) requires little explanation. This is great for gamers like me, ones who don’t like reading instructions and prefer simplicity and ease. There are over 40 unique levels in Tour Mode (and hidden stages too!), fresh structures and a colourful design. The visuals are crisp, ensuring your screen is never hectic. I know that it’s not Call of Duty’s level of graphics, but I love the cleanness that is perfectly matched for handheld consoles. This cleanness of play is complimented by the structure which allows for short bursts of gameplay (for me, this is on a par with short chapters in a novel!).
I hope some of you remember the original game from the late 80s (anyone?). I loved it, but then again I grew up in a coastal resort where arcades were places for teens to hang and new arcade games were a BIG deal! Much of the core content from that time remains the same in this version, but the sharp new look and clever new features are exclusive to the Nintendo DS. You can compete against friends and compare scores using Online World Rankings, which make this a little gem of a game.
In my opinion this is an addictive game that I’ll be returning to again and again (largely when the children are at school and I can steal the game and their consoles from them). I am sure that many of us 30somethings will cling to the retro feel and the nostalgic longing for that lost arcade youth… but it’d be a real shame if the younger generation didn’t get to experience this one too.
Pang: Magical Michael is a refreshingly addictive game and with an RRP of £19.99 I feel it’s a bargain.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I have to be honest…I’ve never heard of it!!
C x
That’ll be because you’re a youngster and I am OLD! It’s an ace game. Son says it’s like a ‘balloon popping game that you can play on the Internet but harder’. Addictive x
I haven’t heard the words ZX Spectrum uttered in years! Takes me back, way too far. I like the look of that game though.
I am retro!!!! Game is very ace x
Great review. I’m an old fan, too. Hearing this was coming out pretty much made my gaming year! Loving it so far and have managed to crack the world top 10 in panic mode.
Glad to see yet another positive review emerge for what is, as you said, a true gem of a game! I’m pleased you were able to appreciate the simplicity of the visuals because they were purposefully made like that. The lady who worked on the game’s art is the same person who worked on Mighty PANG years ago (currently she’s on maternity leave - so good luck and congratulation to her for when the special time comes!), and the idea was indeed to avoid making the DS screen ‘too busy.’
Mitchell Corp. has plans to do a sequel eventually, but it all depends on how well this first DS game sells. It’s been doing well on Amazon UK so far - I’ve seen it go out of stock and then get re-stocked a few times now, which surely must be a good sign, and Rising Star has also indicated that there are no spare/unsold copies being returned to them, which is obviously another positive. Here’s hoping P:MM2 gets the greenlight, and I get another crack at doing the voice of Magical Michael ^_^
…which leads me to…
The voice of Magical Michael has split people’s opinions in various reviews I’ve read around the Internet…What did you think of it?
Oh, and there’s a profile on Magical Michael here, if you’re interested: http://www.cubed3.com/news/14209/ with all the information directly from Mitchell, with a little bit of approved tweaking from myself