Play Power Pad Test Online

Power Pad Test was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 by Nintendo. It was a pack in title designed specifically for the Power Pad accessory, a large plastic mat you placed on the floor with twelve pressure sensitive buttons. This put it in a small category of NES games that required you to get up and move, a precursor to later rhythm and fitness games.

You do not control a character on screen so much as you control the game directly with your feet. The main objective is to complete a series of short athletic challenges, like running in place to make an on screen character sprint or carefully stepping on specific panels to hit corresponding targets. Signature mechanics include timing your steps to match scrolling prompts in a rhythm game mode and using rapid foot taps to outrun a competitor in a side scrolling race. The pacing is immediate and physical; the difficulty comes from coordinating your whole body with the sometimes unforgiving pad sensitivity. It feels less like playing a traditional video game and more like a clumsy, energetic workout in your living room.