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Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis

Published: Thu 8 May, 2008 | On:

If you're like me and could only shell out enough money to buy one of the three shiny "next-gen" consoles, and that console happened to be the Wii, then chances are you were quite intrigued to hear about Rockstar's Table Tennis being ported over to Nintendo's money-making-majestic-motion-master-machine. Well, I'm happy to say that it's about as fun as it sounds. Prepare yourself for a pun-tastic review.

If you're going be hitting this game solo, then you'll probably be disappointed by Table Tennis's weak serve [PUN!] of single player modes. there's a tutorial, exhibition, championship... and that's pretty much it. No online. There's a decent offering of bonus content available but some of the challenges are so ridiculous that I find it hard to believe that anyone would be dedicated enough to try unlock them all. But hey, if you want to try acing the computer on your serve on hard with Jesper so you can see him in a red shirt, be my guest.

There are three control setups: Wiimote, Wiimote and Nunchuck and Control Freak. My advice: stick with the Wii remote. The motion control really does add something to the game. The gestures are simple enough and work 90% of the time. It's nothing that will send your head into a top spin [SUPER BAD PUN!]. It can be a tad disheartening however to swing with all your might only to have the ball travel at half the speed of smell. Though there is a 'focus' bar that kinda balances this out.

The multiplayer mode, while lacking in options, is an absolute ace [PUN!]. Sure, it's simple, but then again, it doesn't need to be anything more. It's nothing to plan on your calender like a Halo Night. But gather a few mates after a night at the pub and you will not resist whipping this game out. There's nothing like winning an epic rally and earning smack-talk rights.

In the end, Table Tennis is not the Citizen Kane of gaming (and I doubt anyone would think that to begin with). The single player offering is weak and the lack of online will definitely turn heads in the opposite direction. However, if you want a game that you and your mates can constantly pull out again and again, then game set [APPROPRIATE PUN!].