Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
| Rockstar Games Table Tennis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Rockstar San Diego |
| Publisher(s) | Rockstar Games |
| Designer(s) | Benjamin Johnson |
| Engine | Rockstar Advanced Game Engine |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360 |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (or Rockstar Table Tennis) is a table tennis simulation video game for the Xbox 360 released on May 26, 2006 by Rockstar Games.
Rockstar Table Tennis is the first game to use the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, a game engine Rockstar will be using in upcoming games, including Grand Theft Auto 4[1]
Gameplay
Rockstar Table Tennis is a realistic simulation of the Olympic sport of table tennis (or ping-pong). The game is played by having two players hit a ball back and forth to each other, with the object of trying to make your opponent miss his return through the use of various 'spinning' maneuvers. For example, if one's opponent were at the far left of the table, he would 'spin' the ball to the right of the table. Only on a rare circumstance would this hit be returned. The game also features a drop shot, as well as a "focus shot" where the game goes into slow motion and the player returns hard-hit balls more accurately.
Characters
Rockstar Table Tennis has eleven playable characters. Each suited to a different style of play.
Unlocked players:
- Haley (USA)
- Jesper (Sweden)
- Liu Ping (China)
- Luc (France)
Locked players (unlock while playing offline tournaments):
- Carmen (Brazil)
- Cassidy (Ireland)
- Juergen (Germany)
- Jung Soo (South Korea)
- Kumi (Japan)
- Mark (England)
- Solayman (Egypt)
Two of the characters (Liu Ping and Jesper)and possibly others, imitate actual olympic table tennis champions from their respective countries. [ Liu Giuliang is the current Olympic Table Tennis champion from China, strongly resembling Liu Ping.]
Reception
Most reviews have praised this game for its simplicity, its "pick up and play" style, and the graphics. Most reviews scored in the 80-90 percentile. The game also includes numerous unlockable achievements that increase the longevity of the single player game.
In addition to its simplicity, the game does grow in complexity, allowing for 100, 200, or even more hit rallies which can feature multiple strategies throughout. While the single player does lack in depth, the multiplayer (via Xbox Live or on the same console with a friend) allows for exhibition and tournament play with up to 12 other players.
However, many reviewers criticised it's lack of features, such as a career mode, create-a-player, and other elements available in many other modern sports games. Table Tennis features only exhibition and tournament play (for both single and multiplayer). Most reviewers, however, were able to overlook the omission of such features due to the game's budget price (Table Tennis was priced new at $40/£30, $20/£20 cheaper than most Xbox 360 games).