We’re filled with uncertainty when approaching an iPhone game that’s been converted from a mobile title, especially one that proved to be a real gem. The problems arise from unavoidable comparisons of platforms that aren’t really comparable.
Just because a game made superb use of the mobile’s available resources, that doesn’t mean it will work on iPhone. Separating opinions between the two is a damnably tricky thing to do.
Table Tennis Star already had the high ground, since it was such a success: who'd have thought boring old ping pong would work so well? Even in real life it’s not a contest that encourages high blood pressure or the flow of tears. Yet the most immediately noticeable aspect of Table Tennis Star is the accuracy of its on-screen representation.
The table and bats have received more attention than you would reasonably expect. Their cleanliness, slick movement, and realistic edge sets the mood superbly against the gorgeous backdrops. Of course, without some recognisable and entertaining gameplay, all the eye candy in the world doesn’t matter.
It’s easy to fathom how an iPhone would help you to pick up the paddle. After all, this really isn’t much more than a 3D version of Pong (or is Pong a 2D version of table tennis?). Touch controls make it a simple matter of sliding your finger across the bottom of the portrait-orientated screen to move the bat and return the ball.
Moving the paddle into the path of the returning ball is enough to hit it, the action performed automatically. You can add extra power to a hit, although doing so is prohibitively tricky – not that it should be simple. Getting it right is almost irksome enough to discourage you from trying.
Almost, but not quite.
The trick is in getting the paddle in the right place for a return shot, then releasing and touching the screen again. Doing so quickly builds a power meter and the return shot is affected depending on how much you manage to get that power gauge up. You’ll miss a fair few shots in trying to blast the ball back across the net, but perhaps that’s how it should be.
Putting spin on the ball is much easier. After you hit the ball back, sliding your finger in either direction curves the ball. The trouble is, your opponents also use this tactic, which means your power shots will rarely get much use.
The difficulty curve begins quite well, though the inability to access more talented players is ramps up the curve sharply. Only after you’ve completed the whole championship do new characters unlock, which seems to defeat the purpose of unlocking better characters if your basic one has already won. Likewise, the controls are equally unbalanced, with paddle movements too unrefined to make difficult shots.
As the game speed heats up, your finger naturally darts across the touchscreen and the paddle does little else than zoom from one extreme to the opposite. Capturing any refined control in the middle area doesn’t seem to relate to your actual finger movements.
With some refinement of the touch controls and a few tweaks to the difficulty level, Table Tennis Star would easily live up to the excellence of its mobile counterpart. It’s still a remarkably accurate representation of the sport, which is no small achievement when taking the limitations of handheld gaming into account, but there’s still room for a great deal of improvement.
Table Tennis Star
A remarkably accurate representation of the sport, but needs some refinement in the video game stakes, such as controls and difficulty levels
