WiiWare Review: Family Table Tennis
May. 28
There's an almost utilitarian simplicity in Family Table Tennis' existence. Just as V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack (barely) satisfied WiiWare's need for a quick-and-dirty gambling sim, Family Table Tennis plays an equally barebones game of ping pong. It's as simplistic as it was inevitable, but unlike V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, Family Table Tennis' friendly aesthetic and satisfying gameplay give it the kind of charm that downloadable titles often critically lack.
If you want to play a quick game of ping pong, Family Table Tennis will give you just that, and scarcely more. The game contains four characters, four stages, and a single-player campaign that can be worked through in less than ten minutes. A collection of three mildly enjoyable minigames will provide another five minutes of entertainment, after which you will have played through Family Table Tennis' single-player content in its entirety.
With such an extreme lack of variety, one would hope that Family Table Tennis plays a pretty damned good game of ping pong. The thing is, it totally does! It's a little rough around the edges, presentation-wise (characters rarely appear to make ball-to-paddle contact during a match), but in terms of gameplay, the consistent timing and accurate and sensitive motion controls provide a surprisingly convincing ping pong simulation. Gameplay wrinkles like staggers and super shots add a nice bit of strategy, and (perhaps most importantly) the game even provides an accurate reproduction of the little "thwok" sound effect of a ping pong ball bouncing off of a table.
It's not like Family Table Tennis faces much competition in its field. It provides slightly tighter gameplay than the table tennis minigame in Wii Play, and it easily beats out the commendably awful Balls of Fury in just about every respect (though it suffers slightly for its lack of a sound clip that constantly repeats "Have your grandma pull the car around.").
Despite being the best of its kind, though, Family Table Tennis still would not otherwise be worth a purchase if it had cost a penny more than its 500 Wii Point asking price. Luckily, Family Table Tennis' low cost makes it easy to justify an impulse buy for those in quick and urgent need of a virtual ping pong tournament. Just make sure you bring at least one friend along, though, because the single-player modes will leave you bored in a hurry.
PROS: Surprisingly satisfying gameplay; cheerful aesthetic; fun to play with your eyes closed.
CONS: Lacks variety; no Wi-Fi versus mode; takes up a staggering 274 blocks of Wii system memory.
GRAPHICS: 3.00
SOUND: 3.00
CONTROL: 4.50
FUN FACTOR: 3.50
Comments
Sounds like a boring game.
But the graphics look pretty
in a simple way.
Looks like they made this game
in a hurry to compete with the
other wii-ware titles.
Your haiku is weak.
Six, seven, five? Six, nine, six?
Unacceptable.
You show promise, though.
Treat syllables like the earth:
With love and respect.
What could this game possibly be using all of that memory for? Big Brother at it again.
I don't know man, where's the story mode? The one where it tells you the plot of a B-grade comedy movie entirely in text and movie still-shots without leaving any of the jokes in? For 5 bucks and 274 memories, I would expect AT LEAST a cake out of the deal.
You must be registered and logged in to leave comments.
If you are already have a login with GamePro.com, Gamerhelp.com, Games.net or GameProFamily.com, then use that login!