Table Tennis

If I told you a year ago when the Xbox 360 was being finalized and games were starting to be talked about, that Rockstar was supporting the system, what's the first thing you'd think of?? Grand Theft Auto? Midnight Club? The Warriors? Sure, something like that. But then what if I told you in March that the first game Rockstar (keep in mind we're talking about Rockstar here) was going to put out on the Xbox 360 was Table Tennis (better known as PING-PONG!! in the US), would you have believed me? My very first reaction to that news was, "What, are they putting it out on Xbox Live Arcade??" I mean, seriously; Table Tennis?? From the guys that make rated M games? Were they serious? Was this a joke? The answer to those questions in order was: No, yes, yes, yes, and no. In fact, Rockstar Games was so serious about this game they really marketed it on the net and in game magazines. They were dead serious about it. And when you play Rockstar's Table Tennis, you'll see that too.While it's...Read more

Graphics :
They get the job done, they aren't as impressive as I was expecting, everything seems to have a bit of a blur effect on it that makes the textures seem less sharp than they actually are. Everything is in fairly detailed 3D though, ranging from the players, the judge, the audience. all pretty solid, but nothing too impressive. The animations are extremely well done, nothing looks jerky, everything's pretty fluid, and the nice touches, like rippling clothes, are really well done.

Sound :
43 song soundtrack, mostly techno, mostly coming into play as the matches drag on. Once you hit about 15 hits in the rally a song starts playing in the background and gets louder as the match goes on(or the ambient sound goes down, either way, the music becomes more noticeable as the match wears on), helps make it seem more dramatic/intense. Otherwise, the sounds pretty standard, audience cheers, boos, pings, pongs, and the occasional taunt in your players native...Read more

Rockstar has created a very nice game here. Truthfully, at first I didn't think a game about Ping Pong was going to be much fun. I decided to just go for it, buy the game, and see how it was. I was amazed at how much fun the game actually was. The graphics should have a review of their own because they're amazing. The motions and animations of the Table Tennis players is perfectly replicated. You move the guy and you see his shirt sway with the person. You can see the beads of sweat on their faces and the depth in the game is stunning.

As for replay value, it's not too high, which is why I gave Rockstar Table Tennis an overall rating of 4 stars. It's a really fun game in the beginning, but after a while it becomes nothing but repetativeness. The same motions and moves over and over again. Don't get me wrong, it'll take a while before the game gets old, but it does get old. It's a great game and it's very different from most of the games out on the market.