Super Slam Ping Pong

You don't have to be an expert to enjoy sport. I've spent many a late night (or early morning, depending on your perspective) this August tuning in to the events in Beijing, cheering on the Brits in sports I have absolutely no idea about. The fact that I have no clue what's going on doesn't really come into it. Nor does the fact that I was cheering on a 14-year-old boy in the diving pool who, for his own good, should probably still be playing with his Lego set.

The point is, sport doesn't have to be super serious to be successful; you can do any game justice simply by capturing its spirit and exploiting it for all it's worth. That's most certainly Super Slam Ping Pong's aim. It's in no way a simulation of table tennis, ping pong, or whatever you might choose to call it, but it does manage to capture some of the fast play and the split-second decisions that have to be made in the middle of a rally in your average match.

The key to encapsulating such traits on a mobile is keeping it simple. While the real game of ping pong is littered with technical and precise moves left right and centre, Super Slam keeps its shots in the few and its tactics revolve around the notion of building play so you can finish with a 'super slam'.

That's the crux of each game, with every successful rally in a row building up your slam meter. When it reaches its pinnacle, a quick tap of the '*' key will see off your rival by whacking a quick and powerful shot past their bat.

Normal shots, meanwhile, fall into one of three categories: a standard return, and one with added topspin or backspin. Most of your early opponents can be overcome simply by returning the ball consistently with a standard hit, though as you progress, more variety is called for. Some opponents, for instance, relish plain shots, playing you into positions you just can't win from. This is when mixing up your returns becomes the basis for success; by changing both the direction and type of your shots, you can keep your rival on their digital toes.

Super Slam Ping Pong comes with a deft return system that requires you to hold down the button for your chosen shot as soon as your foe strikes the ball. You're then guided as to the best time to hit the ball (triggered when you let go of said button) by a system of exclamation marks, which turn from red, to yellow, to green. While any of the latter two converts to a successful strike of the ball, only a green exclamation mark (or preferably two, if you can hold out that long) will return the ball with venom. It's a question of just how long you can hold out before making your shot, as there's a chance that if you leave it too long, you'll miss the ball altogether.

All such tactics are taught in a couple of quick and straightforward tutorial modes that sandwich the standard games. For instance, when you come up against your first 'advanced' opponent, your coach, Wu Pong, will teach you the basics of the spin shots, so you can employ them with ease in the next round. He also stresses the importance of responding to your foe's own shots – more boost is added to your slam gauge if you mirror their special returns, and it can also stop you losing a shot. Attempting to hit a standard shot when you're faced with a chip can end in disaster.

Other than that, play follows the kind of form you might expect from a table tennis title; one point is rewarded per rally won, with serve passing after every two rallies. Standard games are simply a case of getting to seven first, while 'grand slam' contests, as they are referred, use the 'first to 11' system employed in the real life game.

But Super Slam Ping Pong doesn't get bogged down in the intricacies of the sport, and nor does it attempt to recreate the dedication and skills professional players have to master. Its cartoon style and reverent nature mean this is the kind of sports title anyone can pick up to sample just a little of what makes the real thing special. It might not be the type of investment that offers long-term gain, but Super Slam is a game that comes with a sincere love of the art of smashing a little tiny plastic ball back and forth on an almost microscopic table. If that matches your own perception of this sport, you'll feel right at home here.