Pong

Pong (specifically Pong2, also called Pong Squared) is a Corey Miller one-player Mac shareware twist on the Atari arcade classic, in which you defend not one wall but all four sides of a square arena, deflecting an ever-faster ball back into the playfield across 19 increasingly hectic levels.

The twist on the original

Where the original Atari Pong asks you to guard a single side of the screen, Pong2 surrounds you with bouncing walls on every edge. A single paddle slides between the four sides as you steer, so a missed shot in any direction means a lost ball.

Levels and progression

The game ships with 19 progressively harder levels paired with original music and arcade-style sound effects. The pace ramps quickly, and the developer freely admits the difficulty is "very difficult and fast paced."

Shareware terms

Pong2 is unlocked through a US$7 shareware fee. Without registering, players are limited to levels 1 through 8; paying unlocks the full 19-level set and removes nag screens.

Author and platform

Pong2 was authored by Corey Miller (zaphodbee@yifan.net) and distributed via the Info-Mac archive and the author's homepage on Apple's old homepage.mac.com service. It runs on classic Mac OS as a small, single-application download.