Long delay on motion-sensing volleys ruins the game
Great care was put into making the ball move according to accurate physics. The characters grunt realistically as they drip with sweat during intense volleys.
Which begs the question: Why was so little attention paid to the clunky motion controls, which are the main draw of playing the game on the Wii?
The Xbox 360 version of "Table Tennis" debuted in May 2006. But the result of a year-and-a-half of adapting the game to the Wii feels like a half-hearted effort.
There's no denying the game's audio is excellent. Sound effects and crowd noise during matches are clear and realistic.
But an otherwise lack of realism is the game's biggest fault.
Certainly, the bar for play control has been set high by "Wii Sports Tennis." But wielding your virtual paddle in "Table Tennis" is not even Wiimotely close to 1:1 control. Instead, your on-screen persona swings a few seconds after you do. This obliterates any sense of immersion, which is the Wii's greatest attribute.
The color-coded spin controls are a nice idea, but the delay is too much of a dealbreaker.
Even worse, the gameplay options are threadbare. It has no career mode, no online multiplayer -- this disaster doesn't even have doubles play. All you can do is play a brief tournament or go one-on-one with someone in the room with you.
Add long load times and buggy, hard-to-navigate menus, and you've got a lame ping pong game that should get an overhead smash into the trash.