Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar Games Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Sports/ Simulation/ Sports (Table Games)
Graphics & Sound: Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis arrives at a good time for the Wii. Powerhouse sports franchises are popping up left and right on the system with often good but not great results. The original salvo that was Wii Sports set a precedent for fun, easy-to-play sports titles that hasn't been adequately answered. The other disappointing trend is that we can't easily point to games that fall somewhere between a deep title like Madden and Wii Sports. Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis perfectly fills this gap. Table Tennis can't feature lots of sweeping vistas since the action takes place on a 9-foot table. Think about the level of detail surrounding the typical billiards videogame and you're right on track. What Rockstar did to make up for the lack of interesting background scenery is to create a rich audio environment. Play Table Tennis with your eyes closed and your ears will tell you there is a throng of folks cheering, booing, and chanting your name. The voice-acting done for the crowd is awesome, with strained shouts of encouragement and periodic chanting of your player's country or first name. The announcing is pretty dry, almost mechanical, and strictly limited to the score and turn. It would have improved things to feature more personality in the announcer's voice to match the crowd. The players are mute except for periodic grunts or groans on a difficult shot. The focus on graphics appears to be in the table action and how the ball appears with each shot. Several camera angles are available that help customize the view. Special camera cut-ins and slo-mo effects happen automatically to feature particularly exciting volleys or single returns. In a long volley you'll also see the background lights dim and the music will start pumping more forcefully. Gamers not acquainted with Table Tennis that may be tempted to assume there isn't much excitement in popping a celluloid ball back and forth across a green table will be surprised at how much energy can be generated by fast-paced play coupled with mood lighting and techno music. A word about the techno... a little bit goes a long way. There are three pages of music credits in the Table Tennis game manual, but the musical palette is strangely sparse considering the huge list of songs. Perhaps Rockstar consumer focus-group testing showed that Table Tennis players prefer techno music over anything else.
Gameplay: A curiosity of Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is that it is not sponsored by the International Table Tennis Foundation (ITTF). The ITTF is given a nod as the controlling authority for the game and the USA Table Tennis Association is used as a licensed brand, but this is otherwise an independent Table Tennis game. The downside of this is that we don't have "real" pros, not that most folks west of Greenwich Mean Time would know a Table Tennis pro from a hole in the ground. Still, it always makes for a good immersive experience to have in-game characters anchored in real-life players. The suspicion on our side is that ITTF may have a licensing deal worked out already with some other company for an upcoming game. The downside of this for ITTF is that Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is going to be a tough standard to beat and will most definitely be a high-water mark against which future titles will be measured. Extensive training helps to make Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis accessible to anyone willing to devote the time to learning the controls and the rules of the game. Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis follows the standard international rule that says games are played to 11 points, but other options can be selected for points-to-win. The training goes over serving and returning with a focus on the Wii controls. There are several training sessions on putting spin on the ball and pulling off advanced moves. The training mode is positioned as a series of tests, so you can't actually reach the advanced training without opening up the basic stuff. After completing training, you'll be ready for a quick Exhibition match or a series of Tournament rounds. Exhibition Mode allows you to play with available characters and options in locations you've unlocked. Multiple items for each character can also be unlocked through Tournament play. The difference between Tournament and Exhibition is mostly depth since you string many more games together in Tournament and have the chance to unlock more optional items, characters, and locations. The play on the table defaults to the standard 11-point match. If players are deadlocked at 10, there are as many rounds as necessary until one player has a 2-point lead. Playing seems like it wouldn't take long, but volleys can get long once you master the controls. Especially in the higher difficulty level, it isn't unusual to have volleys with 50 or more shots across the net. All the standard rules apply for scoring and service alternates as it would in a real game. The experience of Table Tennis in this game is probably as close as a videogame has ever been to simulating the real thing.
Difficulty: There is definite challenge in the game that isn't strictly tied to mastering the controls. There are multiple types of control that basically allow you to be more effective, but also demand that you take more control over all aspects of the game. More about this under Mechanics, but suffice it to say that the basic control scheme is just the Wiimote on its own, very vanilla and very safe. You can swing it from side to side and unless your timing totally sucks, you'll probably connect with the ball. It's at this point that you start paying attention to spin. If you can't master ball placement and spin, you're doomed. The opponents you'll face not only have this stuff down, which isn't to say they are without their faults. They'll whiff at a ball here or there and they'll overextend themselves at the wrong moment in the wrong place. Your mission is to learn how to capitalize on these moments. The truth is that you don't need the so-called Control Freak or Sharp Shooter control schemes enabled to mop the floor with your opponents. In many ways, the advanced schemes make things more difficult. The real skill in Table Tennis is learning to play strategically. Smashing and strength play is a strategy, but the advanced players can do that and more. The neat thing about Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is how well it simulates the game without taking away fun from people that just want to slap a ball around as a party game. If you think the CPU isn't testing your limits, you can add another player with a Wii-mote and test yourself against some good old-fashioned human A.I...
Game Mechanics: The Wii has done a lot for gaming and the motion controls are extremely well utilized in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis. The basic control scheme accounts for just how the player-character is hitting the ball. The CPU moves the player to set up all the shots. Ball placement is just along a four-square grid and is determined by how you swing the Wii-mote. Up and left is the far corner of your opponent's side, while down and right is the corner nearest the net on your opponent's side. The Control Pad dictates spin and the (B) button or trigger uses built-up charge for extra powerful shots. Adding the Nunchuk lets you either pinpoint where your player will be or where the ball will be placed; these are the Control Freak and Sharp Shooter modes, respectively. The physics of the game are spot-on. Even with the CPU controlling your character's motion, it is possible to bang a bad shot due to spin from the opponent or a particularly fast return. If you play a reckless game and send balls flying off into far corners, you are bound to see an opponent make a smart return or slam you. There isn't much of a save system in the game that counts for anything. Saves happen during Tournament play, but there isn't a big announcement saying that the save happened to prevent you from feeling like you can't walk away. Something more explicit would have been nice. The other obscure thing in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is how each character's stats are presented. The way stats show up on screen, it is hard to tell where characters are strong or weak. Over time and using the manual it makes more sense, but looking at the charts for each character creates more confusion than answers. The fun of Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis can't be overstated. Anyone with an ounce of love for the game in real life should be rushing out to add this title to their library. Heck, you could buy this game and a Wii for the price of a new table - plus the Wii takes up a lot less room in your house. The weak spots of Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis are the lack of online multiplayer (BIG weak spot) and the lack of licensed players. A more robust Career mode with players that could be customized more would also be a treat. It's not like the replay value isn't here but the more depth available in any game, the better. Playing this one for hours and hours, it is clear that Rockstar backed the right horse on Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis. And don't you dare call it ping-pong!
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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