Developer/publisher Dotemu

Format PC (tested), PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One

Release Out now

Apocryphally, in the early PlayStation years Sony’s development teams would often write the words for videogame genres onto slips of paper. These would be folded and placed into a bag. A team member would then remove two words from the bag and read out the combination, which offered a prompt for a new mashup for the team to explore. It’s easy to spot games born out of this sort of portmanteau creative approach, not least Data East’s 1994 Windjammers, which combined beach volleyball with air hockey, all underpinned by fighting game sensibilities that facilitate high-level competitive play.

The goal, both then and, in this unexpected sequel, now – is disarmingly straightforward. Two players hurl a flying disc (the Japanese title of the original game was Flying Power Disc) back and forth over a net, aiming to strike the opponent’s back wall to score (depending on where the disc hits) three or five points. Tennis-style lobs, slices, dropshots and leaping smashes allow you to moderate the pace of play, while trying to outwit and outmanoeuvre your opponent. As the rally continues, a special-move gauge fills which eventually allows for a spectacular power shot that carries so much force it can knock your opponent backwards into their score zone. In short, Windjammers reimagines Pong, and dresses it in the beach-sports aesthetic of the mid-’90s under thick layers of Californian glamour, Lycra and sunblock.