Pang Adventures Review

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Pang Adventures PS4 Review Screenshot 1

In the latest blast from the past, in the video game world, Pang, a famous arcade game from the 80s, has been revived in to Pang Adventures. Whilst the originals were developed by Capcom, Pastagames and DotEmu have worked together to bring this new instalment to life.

The premise of the game is: two brothers travel around the world to stop aliens and bouncing balls from terrorising the land. Why this mission has fallen to these two brothers alone, we do not know, but the brothers work together to pop the bouncy balls, foil the aliens plans for global takeover and move on to the next stop on their world tour. This game provides a variety of weapons, but the famous weapon in their arsenal is a grappling hook. However, there are various weapons to keep you interested.

Pang Adventures PS4 Review Screenshot 2

Whilst you can play this game single player, it is really a co-op game. The difficulty is suited to two people, and unless you are a ninja, who can perform mind-blowing stunts with your controller, you will struggle to get past the first levels of the game. I am not saying it is impossible, but I am saying that you will get immensely frustrated and give up so you will never find out if you can do it.

The graphics have really given this game a new lease of life, making it look incredibly polished, and aesthetically pleasing. The backgrounds, which change depending on where you are in the world, are always appealing to look at, whether you be in Bora Bora or on top of a plane. Many of earth’s most famous places appear in this game, which are all beautiful to look at as you work hard defending earth.

The soundtrack is fun and peppy, and each place on the tour has a different style of music. Techno is the main genre, but it is influenced by cultures around the world. The loading screen as you wait for the game to load at the start takes quite some time, but the infectious soundtrack has you bopping your head while you wait for the start screen.

Pang Adventures has three game modes: tour mode; score mode and panic mode. Tour is the only one unlocked when you begin to play, which can be unappealing to a single player, who will struggle to unlock the other modes. Unless you can find a pal to sit down with you and grab another controller, you may never put enough time and hard effort in to this game to get what it has to offer. You have to complete tour mode to even touch score mode, whereas you just have to finish the first level to unlock panic, although this is no easy feat and better done with another person.

Pang Adventures PS4 Review Screenshot 3

This game is basically Space Invaders on caffeine. You are quickly surrounded by the enemies, and it is up to you to be strategic in the single player and a team in the co-op. Where Space Invaders can be enjoyed by one person, Pang Adventures wants you to have a pal to play with and makes it extremely difficult to continue without someone else. If this game had a verses mode, instead of a co-op mode, it could be an eSport, is the point I am trying to get across to you. It is in your best interest to find someone to play this with.

Pang Adventures is fun for a while in single mode. It can be enjoyed for longer in co-op, but I still would not say it would have your attention for a long time. I feel like after maybe 10 times playing it with someone, it becomes forgettable and you would delete it to make space in your library. For a retro gamer, it is nice to put this game on and think back to playing it at the arcade, but otherwise, this game is essentially here for a good time, not a long time.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Switch code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.

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Pang Adventures Review
  • Gameplay - 5/10
    5/10
  • Graphics - 5/10
    5/10
  • Sound - 5/10
    5/10
  • Replay Value - 5/10
    5/10
0/10
User Review
0/10 (0 votes)
0/10
Comments Rating 0/10 (0 reviews)
Overall
5/10

Summary

Pang Adventures is fun for a while in single mode. It can be enjoyed for longer in co-op, but I still would not say it would have your attention for a long time.


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