Shady's Poopong is a Pong clone by independent developer CC & SH. The original game was a Free Ware release for PC in 2006. True to its name, it involved the developer's mascot, an anthropomorphic gorilla named Shady, and poop.
2013 was the 20th anniversary of the character of Shady, so there was a resurgence of releases for the title, with free ports to web browsers and Amazon's Android store, as well as an Enhanced Remake for PC in the form of Shady's Poopong: 20th Anniversary Edition.
The 20th Anniversary remake was initially available on CD-ROM, but that venue was discontinued as of 2015 and was moved to a digital version on the developer's Itch.io page. A 22nd Anniversary Edition was released the same year; it was a parody of anniversary editions, including its own previous incarnation, and actually *removed* most of the features, such as all modes but the standard. However, it did include refined graphics, moved the title song to gameplay proper, and featured an announcer voiced by Michael McConnohie. This version was released only on the ill-fated OUYA platform, which unless one counts his cameo in Skull Girls, is Shady's console debut.
Shady's Poopong provides examples of:
- And the Rest: In reverse on 22nd Anniversary's credits screen: "These are the idiots who brought you this game! Plus... your suave announcer..."
- Arc Number: Clicking the picture of the Space Bar on the "How to Play" menu in the remake 714 times reveals an Easter Egg. 714 is a recurring number in CC & SH products.
- A Winner Is You: Beating the remake's Boss Rush mode "rewards" you with a screen reminiscent of the Trope Namer.
- Big Bad: Thunderbeak, a giant evil crow, is the final boss of the remake.
- Difficult, but Awesome: In the remake, scoring 1000 points in the first challenge unlocks all of the game's challenges, instead of having to unlock a new set after each boss.
- Easter Egg: Clicking the picture of the Space Bar on the "How to Play" menu in the remake 714 times populate's a Shady head "ball" on-screen, which does really doesn't do a heck of a lot but look neat and "collect" the power-up icons
- There's some picture of a bloke in a slicker and shades if one presses the Ⓤ button on the 22nd Anniversary version's title screen.
- Embedded Precursor: The 20th anniversary remake includes the original Shady's Poopong, but with a two-player option.
- Engrish: Intentional, with game-end screens that poke fun at Pro Wrestling, Zero Wing, and Samurai Shodown
- Boss Rush: After beating all of the challenges in the remake, the player has the option to play against all four of the game's bosses again, with one life.
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In Memoriam: The remake is dedicated to one of the testers of the original game, who died in 2008. - Player Versus Player: Oddly, the original game does not support this. The remake not only features it in the new modes, but also adds it to the original version embedded within.
- Scoring Points
- Self-Deprecation: The Announcer of the 22nd Anniversary Edition calls out the game's quality and calls all of the people listed on the credits (other than himself) as idiots. However, these lines were actually written by the game's developer.
- Shout-Out: Quite a few, especially to other games. In both the original in the remake, if player one wins, the message is "Victoly", after the famous Samurai Shodown misspelling. If player two wins, you get a Zero Wing reference in "All Your Base Are Belong To Us". The "Anniversary Mode" in the remake actually illustrates these scenes with pictures that parody the games.
- The Challenge Mode of the remake adds a third end screen, telling you that A Winner Is You, straight out of Pro Wrestling
- Title Confusion: The remake is celebrating the anniversary of the character of Shady (1993-2013), not the original Shady's Poopong game (released in 2006)
- Toilet Humour: And how!
