Landon has fond ping-pong memories. In school physical education lessons, he used to perfect his penhold grip in an old dimly lit gym, laughing as he tried to aim for his opponent's eyes. He would laugh and sweat and dive and scream. It was a such simple, direct sport. You didn't have to be any good, but it was sweet nice to hit a bendy topspin winner that bounced off the absolute edge of the table, impossible to return. At a glance it may seem strange for a company like Rockstar to make a sports game. No gimmicks, no excess stylisation, no pop culture references - just a straight up sports game. Really doe, it feels right that Rockstar have stepped up and accepted such an esoteric challenge. They've always walked the road less travelled and confounded expectation and - bar a few missteps - they've always delivered a unique gaming experience. Table Tennis is no different. It's quite astonishing how well the intricacies of ping pang qiu have been captured. The bare bones approach to the overall design has clearly allowed the developers to focus on the fundamentals that build a solid sports title: the controls. Everything is kept simple. Each of the face buttons provides a different type of shot - topspin, backspin, left and right. One bumper softens the power of the your shot, the other provides a brief moment of slow motion 'focus' to help make that shot more critical (more on this later). That's it. Simple, right? Yes and no. True to life, the game moves at a high speed and many other subtle factors become key. How best to use your repertoire of shots (to counteract, defend and attack), where best to plant your feet - split second decision and timing are the gamer's weapons. They should give this game to kids to improve their hand-eye coordination reflexes. Table Tennis is an education in how a sports game should play. The physics system is nice and weighty and never unfair. The movement of the players is realistic, everything feels solid and responsive. Functionality over graphics; recent NBA Live titles need to pay attention. So, the controls are intuitive and quick to grasp. So what? Any good sports game should be pick up and play. What marks the great from the good is what lies beneath the surface. Table Tennis has a lot of depth, at least in terms of the actual game play. It'll take a long while to feel like a pro and some of the harder difficulty settings will really test your skills. Cracking the game open is a challenge and provides many hours of game time, giving the single player a chance to improve their skills. Of course for two players the game really comes into it's own and shines like a newly minted pound coin. It shines bright, and Rockstar must have been sufficiently happy with it to not go further with the in-game features.
Bar a basic round-robin multiplayer tournament, there isn't much else to get stuck into. No mini-games or challenges, no create-a-player or career mode. This ultimately is the big letdown. Table Tennis is so good you're left wanting more of it, and sadly there are no secret treats to discover beyond the obvious. The obvious is sufficient, but only just. Seven unlockable characters and some polo shirts for them to wear (FUCK YEAH!) makes up your lot. Is it silly to want to adjust the pimpled rubber of the paddle? Is it crazy to want to customise your favourite character's sneaks? Maybe, but this is what gamers have come to expect from sports titles. Still, the fundamentals are all here. Great looking characters, each distinctive right down to their facial expressions and temperament. More importantly each plays differently, their strengths and weaknesses subtly adding to the dynamics of play. You really have to learn opposing characters playing styles if you're going to defeat them. And you'll need to think on your feet too. The 'focus' shot is a great touch here, allowing you to momentarily slow time to execute a difficult or decisive stroke. Timing your shots well helps to build a focus meter that can be activated at will. When both players are caressing the ball perfectly, the game becomes a hypnotic, orgasmic experience. A subtle techno soundtrack really adds to the atmosphere, building tension for important rallies, the arena lights dimming as each player fights for the win. It becomes very, very addictive, a game you'll dip into again and again until something more sophisticated comes along (yes please, Rockstar).The best next-gen sports title? This depends on what sport is your chosen bag, but its very hard to fault Rockstar's enthusiastic dedication to recreating the art of takkyu. Certainly, Table Tennis is one of the most addictive sports simulators on 360, despite its lack of ambition. Sports simulator yeah you heard. One that's actually good clean fun. For Landon its become a time travel device, taking him back to that dirty school gym. He uses the beautiful replay system to watch his topspin smash clip the edge of the table in super-liquid-silk-slow-motion, impossible to return. It's a winner.
Hots: 7/10
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