Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis Impressions October 12,2007 - In a visit to Rockstar Games' office earlier this week we were fortunate enough to happen upon a final build of Rockstar Table Tennis for the Wii. The original for the Xbox 360 was pretty well received, and let’s be honest, it wasn’t a matter of “if” regarding its port to the Wii once they announced support for the gesture based console. It was a matter of how good it would be once it got to the platform. We’re happy to announce that this is the title the Wii needed to reassert the fact that great Wii games can come from studios other than those owned by Nintendo.

What else can be said other than the fact that Rockstar Table Tennis absolutely trumps Wii Sports tennis. It’s not even a comparison, and although we may be speaking prematurely, if you own a Wii, there’s no reason you should be passing this one up. To be frank, there aren’t a whole lot of great Wii games out on the market, as many developers are still feeling the system out trying to find the sweet spot for control schemes. That said, from what we played, Table Tennis is a title worth considering a “great" game for the Wii.

During our visit we focused our attention on trying out the three control schemes packaged with the game: Default, Control Freak, and Sharp Shooter.

The default control scheme is best suited for the Wii purist, allowing you to control your shots with swing of the Wii-mote, while your character’s body is on rails and is controlled by the computer. Unlike Wii Sports, the way you swing the Wii-mote determines the placement of the ball. So swinging up and left will pop the ball up and to the left. Swinging down and to the right will send it on a short trip to the right side of the table. This essentially means that when you get the hang of it and instinctively smack the ball in the direction you think it “should” go in, it will. It responded pretty well for us and of the three, this was our second favorite. There’s clearly a learning curve with something like this and it’ll take a little bit of getting used to in order to gain an appreciation for this layout.

Control Freak is just how it sounds, a control freak’s control scheme. This one takes your character off of the rails and gives you control of his body movement with the use of the nunchuk. Ball placement is still determined by your swings of the Wii-mote, which makes this control scheme the most difficult to get a hang of; you have to worry about your character’s placement, as well as the ball’s placement. Unless you’re a well-seasoned Wii player, this isn’t a scheme we suggest using on your first try. Although we still got whipped by the Rockstar rep walking us through the game, we were surprisingly doing a satisfactory job of keeping up with this one. It still goes without saying, though, this is not reserved for the faint of heart, considering how much you have to keep in mind. Once you get to the proper skill level, however, Control Freak opens the door to more strategy on the offensive and defensive.

The final control scheme and the one we found the most enjoyable is Sharp Shooter, which is what the original game used as its main setup. Instead of using the nunchuk for your body movement, which is back on rails, you use it for ball placement. The opposite side of the table is split into invisible cells which you can target using the analog stick on the nunchuk. This one is easily the most approachable if you’re not used to using the Wii-mote for precision shooting. This was our favorite, and according to what we were told, is most peoples’ favorite as well.

You can add spin to your shots using the D-Pad on the Wii-mote. Volleying back and forth, not forgetting to put a bit of spin on your shots, will build up your focus meter. The focus shot is like the secret weapon in your arsenal. A slow motion animation accentuates the importance and power of a focus shot, which sends the ball flying back at your opponent with tremendous speed and spin, making it especially difficult to counter against, though wholly possible if you’re paying attention.

Rockstar Table Tennis has come out to be a pretty damn good time. Sure, it doesn’t look all that great but that comes with the territory of being a Wii game. Nonetheless it looks good enough for what it is. This comes as proof that gameplay is where the money is, and Rockstar Table Tennis does everything to be an enjoyable game to pick up and play either alone or with a friend. We’ll have a full review soon which will touch on all the game modes as well as our official judgment.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More