Pong style video games have been a favourite of many gamers since their inception back in the 1970’s. A simple two player game where each player is required to move their bat up and down the screen in order to intercept the oncoming ball to prevent it from getting past them.

(Downloads at the bottom of this page)

Who would have thought that a simple electronic tennis game with primitive graphics and sound could become so addictive?

There have been many variations of the original produced over the years but perhaps none quite like RetroBall.

What is RetroBall?

RetroBall is a variation of these pong style games. The game is played on a 32 x 32 pixel LED screen housed in a beautiful tinted acrylic enclosure. The unit measures 40cm x 40cm x 4.5cm deep and weighs in at 2.7KG.

There are four paddle controllers, one in each corner of the unit, allowing for up to four simultaneous players. You can choose from two levels of difficulty and can even play with up to five balls on the screen at once. It’s retro mayhem!

RetroBall also includes a built in speaker for some fantastic 1-bit sound FX to top off the old school gaming experience.

Playing The Game – Single Ball Mode

There are two modes to choose from when playing with just a single ball – Easy and Hard. The difference between the modes is the speed that the ball travels.

Each player will start the game with eleven points. Players are to move their bat to the left and right in order to intercept the incoming ball and knock it back into the game area. If they miss the ball they will lose a point, the game will pause and display scores of all players. The game will resume automatically after approximately two seconds.

A player will be knocked out of the game and their bat will be replaced with a solid wall when they lose all their points. The game will be over when only one player remains. (I.E. all other players have lost their points).

To add extra depth to the gameplay, players can make the ball spin off at different angles and speeds depending on how fast and in which direction their bat is moving when the ball is hit.

Hard Mode and Easy Mode

Two players showing each players score:

Four player single ball:

Playing The Game – Five Balls Mode

Each player will start the game with fifty points. Players are to move their bat to the left and right in order to intercept the incoming balls and knock them back into the game area. If they miss a ball they will lose a point and their score will show for a split second but the game will not pause.

A player will be knocked out of the game and their bat will be replaced with a solid wall when they lose all their points. The game will be over when only one player remains. (I.E. all other players have lost their points).

To add extra depth to the gameplay, players can make the balls spin off at different angles and speeds depending on how fast and in which direction their bat is moving when a ball is hit.

5 Balls Mode

Four Players, with two recently missing a ball.

One player knocked out already:

Two players knocked out:

We Have a Winner 

The last man standing will be presented with an animated you win message scrolling in their direction.

DOWNLOADS

Please note, there is an error in the PCB design (Gerber file) it is actually missing one track on the board. I will eventually fix this up but in the mean time, you can easily fix it yourself. Information can be found here:

https://www.bradsprojects.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1172

RetroBallFiles