Hit Back

Hit Back (ひっとばっく )
Developer: Tomy
Release Date: 1999
Platforms: PlayStation

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Tomy, a long-running toy company that also published plenty of Naruto and Zoids games, took a crack at game development on the PS1 with Hit Back in 1999. The game begins in Mimil and with Princess Mimiru reading a book to four of her friends. Storytime is quickly interrupted by a Shinigami that kidnaps the princess and retreats inside the book. The four friends give chase, enlist the help of a fairy that turns into a ball, and begin to work their way through the book’s scenarios in order to rescue the princess, starting with living hieroglyphics and culminating in a fight against Satan himself.

It’s tempting to describe Hit Back as a variant of Breakout, but calling it a squash game would be more accurate. Your goal in each level is to repeatedly hit the ball across the room without letting it get past you when it comes back, all the while destroying every monster in the room. In order to keep the ball in play, you can jump in the air to catch it when it goes high, though the jump feels utterly weightless and finicky to work with. As you volley the ball successfully, it’ll change shape, sometimes causing it to home in on enemies for you. Power-ups also exist and can provide multiple balls, extra lives, and a temporary increase in player size to make things more manageable. Every level ends with a boss fight and while your character can’t die, they can be stunned and pushed around by attacks, which can spell doom if the ball comes back at a bad time.

Hit Back makes use of its establishing lore as an excuse to get weird and toy with the player’s expectations along the way. Every level is just one screen, but you’ll encounter all sorts of creatures and backdrops, including bugs, robots, laser-shooting aliens, a room lined with vending machines, a room full of screaming faces, and more. There are even some branching paths along the way, serving as additional replay value if the individualized dialogue for each playable character in between levels and the separate Trial mode that tests your endurance weren’t enough on their own.

Hit Back is an enjoyable take on a straightforward concept. It’s a quick playthrough, forgiving when it comes to difficulty, and has plenty of charm to go around, making it a good choice for those who want a creative, fantastical take on squash.