Shufflepuck 64

Shufflepuck 64 is a homebrew game by the team at High Society released on 28 Feb 2001. It’s essentially another Pong clone, but this time with some protective borders set around it, plus some ads.

You get get the ROM from its download page by using the password shufflemypuck.

About Shufflepuck 64

Shufflepuck 64 is yet another one of the many N64 homebrew games that are Pong clones. It has a bit of a twist if you can really call it that, in the sense that it attempts to replicate a game of air hockey. The game was most likely inspired by (and named after) the 1989 game Shufflepuck Café.

You knock the ball back and forth until a player misses six times, and then the game ends. What makes this game different from other Pong clones are these things:

• The ball speeds up over time.
• The goal doesn’t cover the whole height of the screen, corner shots will bounce back.
• The ball always moves in a diagonal direction and bounces 90 degrees.

The predictability of each rally makes it quite boring, but the ever-increasing speed makes up for it to give you a somewhat unique Pong experience on the Nintendo 64. This is also the only game of this kind that I can think of that comes with a bitmap and text scroller included within.

High Society and Noisy Boyz crew the gurus of entertainment are proud to present Shufflepuck 64 …… A new game for you! N64 gamers to play ……

Press start to select player or for ingame pause. 1 or 2 players use their D pad …… Play 6 games & try to be a winner!!!

A big big thank you goes out to LaC for his modplayer and help & Roadhouse for the great HS logo …. Also thankx to everybody who helped in here … Cali Djax Cliffi Acidline Closedone Sooty All members of High Society and Noisy Boys crew & everyone who ever released some piece of sourcecode or dox for the N64 …. And don’t forget our sponsors …. Thankx people!! HS respects go out to Eurasia, Paradox, Hitmen, Lightforce, Echelon, DCS, Oldskool, Accession, Pantheon, X Streem, Static, Ninja, RKR, Icarus, LaC, PSI, Control, SDC, Teklord, Liberator, Apollo, Valshare ….. NBC hall of fame: Cali Luigi Ghostmac N64US Kosul Odogg & Jimbop …….. Cali personal greets fly out to: Rico & his crew, LaC, Iggy, Kidstardust, Destop, RKR, Zaner, Colt, Hudson, Starbase, Copymasta, Lowang, Ryst, Bigwedge, Key, Softstar, Starfox, Frost, Galactic, Butterfly & all I forgot … NBC graffiti greets to: IMK ABG Ben BND Noic Suc RDL Dope Sir Kid ERS Bad BTM LBS CPS BKA & Die …

Meet us on efnet in #NBC or #HS … Do never forget theat the world is yours!!! …… The text will restart now ..

Credits

• Producer: Cali
• Code: Djax & Cliffi
• Music: Acidline
• Graphics: Closedone & Roadhouse

Review and conclusion

Shufflepuck 64 is a decent enough Pong clone. It has a nice soundtrack, stand-out graphics and fast gameplay.

The only thing I can really complain about is that the bounce angles are a bit too predictable and the AI is pretty much impossible to beat. Also you have to wade through a 30-second ad every time you boot up, which is kind of pointless since it’s a bunch of defunct websites and services.

I’d say that if you cant get past that, this is the best pong game from a competitive point of view. Th fast pace really keeps you on your toes and keeps it from getting boring. Definitely worth a shot.