Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis

"A little to the left..."

Table tennis or ping pong is one of those games that I never really cared about. I liked tennis, but something about table tennis didn't seem right. Perhaps it was the limited space of the table that the game is played on. Either way, I heard good things about Rockstar Games' Table Tennis. It was well received by both consumers and critics. I was still skeptical. I waited and waited for the game to receive a price drop. That opportunity finally came and I decided to give the game a go. At first try, the game felt solid, but as I spent more time on the game, the more I realized how repetitive it is. It's not Rockstar's fault. It really isn't. The source material itself suffers from limitation.

Simple rules...

The rundown – Table Tennis is game where 2 players hit a small ball back and forth with paddles. The paddles are fairly small, as is the ball. The game is played on a table that is separated by a net. The game is widely popular in Asia. Here in the West – not so much. In actuality, Rockstar did a great job at mimicking the real life game. Albeit some clunky controls here and there, the game's action was fast paced. The one issue however, was the game's special effects of slowing down the action and zooming in on the ball as it reaches a corner of the table. Rockstar tried to make these incredible shots more appealing, but it didn't work out that way. For one, the incredible shots itself should be appealing enough for anyone who is a fan of the game. The slow down action interrupted the pace and flow of the game.

In the opening interface, the presentation of the game is simple and easy to manage. When first going through the menu, one will notice that the options are a bit limited. The options are few and far between. There is really only one single player mode that required your attention. The tournament mode runs through several circuits that range in difficulty. The first few tournaments are fairly easy, but as you advance, it becomes more difficult. When first starting, you get to choose between several characters. As you play, you can unlock costumes and unlock characters.

Finally, when all the administrative stuff so to speak is over, you can finally dive into the game's action. The game play is fairly easy to understand and get used to. But as you progress, the computer does a fantastic shot at returning shots and finding corners to throw you off and make you work. This gives off a false sense of easiness. At first, the player will feel like he is an actual pro, but once you start advancing, a little humbling will be presented.

Back and Forth

The game play itself comprise of hitting the ball back in forth with a wide range of buttons. Each corresponding button or a specific direction on one of the analog sticks is a different type of hit. An example would a top spin shot. The time you hold down the button also indicates how much of a spin you put on the ball. Placing that perfect spin can put your opponent in a heavy disadvantage. Despite the numerous types of shots, the game suffers not from developer negligence, but the poor transition from real life scenario into video game form. What I mean by that is it might be fun to hit the ball back and forth trying to score strategically, but in the game it becomes somewhat repetitive after a while.

Before you can hit the ball back and forth in a frantic pace, you must serve the ball first. As long as the ball crosses the net and within the confides of the table, then all is fair game. Serving is fairly easy. A bar will pop up when you serve. The bar will indicate both power and spin of the serve. Then once the ball goes into play, power shots and extremely curved spin shots are all game. The game is frantic because of the type of rallies that can be performed. At times, rallies can upwards to 20 easily. The problem though is the computer's ability to return smash shots. I haven't watched ping pong much, but from what I witnessed, smash shots aren't always returned with such great fluidity and ease. In the case of Rockstar's product, the computer does it fairly easily and on a consistent basis. This is even true when you place it in corners that you expect to fly out of the confides of the table with relative ease.

The game at times can become a strategic battle, as you try to place the ball in specific areas hoping to set up a better shot. Other times, it becomes s a battle of attrition. This is where the repetition comes into play. Some of the rallies can be intense, but as you are hitting the ball back and forth, with little to no variation, things become repetitive even if the developer did a good job at simulating the sport. Although, there are different players in the game that has different specialty and skills to try to add some variation, it doesn't quite work out that well. There are players who are more accurate, can place more spin on a ball, or overwhelmingly powerful, but in the end, the game still has a lot of back and forth action that becomes somewhat repetitive.

The graphics in the game is quite solid. Although it's not breathtaking by any means, it does a fine job at getting the player involved in the environment. Character models could have used some work, but for the most part the character animations looked nice. Even though when action is slowed down for special effects acts as a mechanism that interrupts the game's flow, the way it is done looks quite nice. The players that shift from one area to the next while hitting the ball also flows smoothly, which offers value in terms of what the game is trying to simulate.

Just a little short - ending with a net

Although the tournament might feel a bit skimpy, it's longer than one would expect. It's still a bit on the short side, but the difficulty will force players to keep trying in certain situations. But even with that said, once you're finished with all the single player options, there really isn't anything to get players to come back to the game. Normally, Xbox Live would be a big plus in situations like this, but for some reason beyond my comprehension, I can't get onto Xbox Live. But if you're fortunate enough to get on, then I'm sure there might be some incentive to play the game more. Even with that said, I still think the repetition would set in eventually. Xbox Live just delays the process.

Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is quite a mouthful. Unfortunately, the content isn't enough to fill my belly. Perhaps I am a bit biased. I've always thought of ping pong as some weird fixation. I mean, why would you want to watch ping pong, when you can just watch tennis? With that said though, the actual game does have some bright moments to fall back on. At times, it is quite strategic and finding that right shot to set up the next can be interesting. But it's the other times that ruin the experience. The nature of the game is simply repetitive. Although the controls feel clunky at times, this isn't the fault of Rockstar though, since the game feels well developed. I guess it could just be my personal taste, but then again I went into purchasing this game believing that playing ping pong in video game form would be a lot more than watching the game. It was more fun, but unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to really give the consumer lasting value. I found Table Tennis for 19.99, so if you find it for that price as well, you might as well pick it up. It's a fairly decent game and it's cheap.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/18/07