qomp2 Review (Switch eShop)

When Atari first announced qomp2 as a reimagining of the arcade classic Pong, we must admit to feeling somewhat sceptical of the similarities. Yet after completing all 30 levels in the Graphite Lab-developed puzzler, we’re convinced that it is very much the spiritual successor that Pong deserves. It’s a game that only increased its grip on us the further we progressed until we could think of little else, combining simple gameplay with devilishly difficult labyrinths to provide an experience like no other. Well, except its immediate predecessor, of course.

The first qomp unfortunately skipped the Switch entirely, but its sequel is well worth checking out if you’re a fan of action puzzlers. The general gist is that you directly control the ball from Pong, which has decided it’s had enough of being whacked back and forth between two paddles and wants to explore the outside world. The thing is, the outside world is a greyscale labyrinth full of traps, enemies, and bosses, and so it’s up to you to guide the little ball to safety.

Controlling the ball requires the use of just two buttons: ‘A’ and ‘ZR’. The ball will move up and down automatically at 45-degree angles, and a simple tap of ‘A’ reverses your direction, while briefly holding down ‘ZR’ gives a short burst of speed. While you can influence the vertical direction of travel, the ball will only move in one direction horizontally until it hits a wall. As such, navigating the environment efficiently is a case of bouncing the ball around and predicting its projected destination, much like lining your shot with a paddle in Pong. This feels intuitive for the most part and proves itself a novel and enjoyable means of traversal, though there are admittedly a few rare moments where you’ll be stuck going in one direction before you’re able to turn around.

Then you’ve got the boost ability. Overall, the ball in qomp 2 moves slightly slower than it did in the first game; this in itself might prove annoying if you’re familiar with qomp, but the addition of the boost makes the slower pace much more palatable. More than simply increasing your speed, however, the boost ability allows you to slam the ball into blue-coloured blocks or walls, smashing them to pieces or moving them across the environment. Naturally, such blocks are often placed near spikes or lasers, so lining up your shot correctly is imperative to avoid careening into deadly traps.

As you progress, qomp 2 introduces new types of environments that directly affect how you can (or rather, can’t) control your ball. There are specific areas in which you’re unable to manually change direction entirely, others that block access to the boost ability, while travelling underwater completely alters the ball’s physics. Holding down the boost button underwater will cause the ball to sink, while tapping ‘A’ enables you to ‘swim’ up to the surface. The variety on offer is impressive, and it makes for a consistently engaging experience throughout all 30 levels.

Of course, it’s not all about just making it from A to B. To do so, you'll need to flip switches, move barriers, trace patterns, guide enemies to specific locations, and more. After every 10 levels, the game also throws a boss character at you, totalling four across the entire game. While these don’t provide a huge amount of challenge, they’re unique in design and the method required to dispatch each one is always fun and interesting. One of them is even based on an iconic Atari arcade/2600 title, which we won’t spoil. Needless to say, it was a delightful surprise.

Speaking of difficulty, qomp 2 gets fiendishly tricky during the later stages, though the challenge never comes particularly close to Graphite Lab’s previous effort, Mr. Run and Jump. That one is likely to make you tear your hair out at multiple points, but qomp 2 strikes a decent balance, providing a hefty challenge without tempting you to chuck your Switch out the bedroom window. You can probably expect to get through the game in as little as three or four hours, though it'll take longer if you’re keen on grabbing all the optional collectibles. If we're being picky, we would have liked maybe another 10-20 levels, but that's testament to how good the core game is.

There is only one type of collectible — a sort of tear-shaped trinket — and there’s one hidden in every level. Grabbing them is very much a case of risk vs. reward, as they’re often tucked away in areas chock full of spikes or other hazards. Other times, you might need to activate a switch and backtrack slightly to find the collectible; there’s definitely a hint of ‘Metroidvania’ in qomp 2 at certain points, and we’d be curious to see if Graphite Lab could expand on the concept.

In terms of visuals and performance, qomp 2 prides itself on gameplay above all else, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t still look nice. The greyscale environments are certainly basic, but when combined with bright blue to indicate interactive elements, it makes for a pleasant (and perhaps more importantly, easy-to-parse) experience that doesn’t drop a single frame throughout. There's a fish-eye filter on by default, but you can disable this at any point if you're not keen on it. The audio is also well done: the ambient soundtrack is consistently relaxing, while the gentle ‘tok tok’ sound of the pong ball could almost qualify as an ASMR trigger. Whack some headphones on and you'll be in heaven.