Hi, I''ve recently been learning java and I was wondering what would be a good game to make to sort of test my knowledge a bit (it would have to be an applet). Any ideas? Thanks!

First game I ever wrote was Worm game, I can post scouce for you, but you must try it by yourself first

When i was at pizza hut last i saw a modified Pong game that I wanted to try and code. It was setup like a hockey rink. You didn''t score by getting the ball (puck) past your opponents paddle, but by getting it into a net. Sort of adds another level to pong. and hockey pong adds the ability to include good sounds and animation. Lights and air horns and crowd roars...

I would say, do hockey pong and learn about the very basics of game coding, and the whole of game design, which includes excellent graphics and sound, high scores, opening screens & demo modes which the game cycles through untill someone starts playing it.... and so on.

You should also check Geoff Howlands (Chief Executive Officer of this gamedev.net website) page at:
http://www.lupinegames.com/

At the front page you find a table with dates, dated at 06-28-99 there is an article called "How do I make games?". In the article he lays out a "roadmap" for aspiring game programmers to follow, starting with Tetris and then advancing to more complicated things.

Thanks for the help. I read the article by Geoff Howland a few days ago, actually. Some version of pong is a good idea, I might do something like that. Thanks again!

I have to say I read that article too and I thought that was truly one of the best articles I''ve read on this site for a awhile( aside from the technical ones which have a merit all their own).