Soccertron – What We Think:

Soccertron is a two-player couch multiplayer Pong-style game with a familiar objective; get the ball in your opponent’s goal and rack up the higher score. It has some stylish neon lighting aesthetics that look very clean, and the music is not bad either. Its physics are serviceable for the most part, but still a bit floaty for this style of game.

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Horizontal movement is at a snail’s pace, so much so that it feels like it was added as a means to get the ball going again should it come to rest outside of the player’s reach. It’s a simple thing—like so many others—that could be easily fixed with a minor tweak. It’s almost like Soccertron wasn’t originally a two-player Pong game with some tuned up visuals, but more like a digital foosball table with only two goalies instead of an entire team.

I question whether this was by design or whether this is just an overlooked aspect of the game that friends and relatives felt bad about bringing up? Right now, Soccertron is just Pong, with guys that jump (and have limited fuel jetpacks) instead of paddles. If the characters moved faster and balance quirks were corrected, this could be a nice two-player alternative to the recent 8-player #IDARB.

We Value Your Feedback

Notable indicators that the ball has struck would be nice too, as currently there are none; the ball just suddenly changes direction. Feedback for doing the core ‘fun’ part of the game needs to be at the center of attention. It has to FEEL good. Hitting the ball with no feedback whatsoever feels like flailing a wet noodle (at least a wet noodle might respond with a “SLAP!” when it strikes something).

I will mention that I enjoyed the volleyball-style mode the most. This is one of the work-in-progress levels, and missing the ball makes the floor take damage until it disappears. It reminded me of TRON, in which the Programs were throwing the disc at each other and should they miss, a part of their platform beneath would vanish.

Turn In Your Paddle

Since this level is still a work in progress, missing the ball completely does nothing but respawn the ball in its current state. I hope that as this mode is fleshed out, as having missing the ball entirely do some damage to the platform would further up the intensity.

Other than that, though, Soccertron is just another Pong remake, and not even a particularly good one at that.

Soccertron – Official Site

Get Soccertron on Steam

[xrr rating =”2/5″]

Watch the official Soccertron trailer: