Game Reviews

Table Tennis Touch

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| Table Tennis Touch
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Table Tennis Touch
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| Table Tennis Touch

I'm pretty sure I'm developing a sports injury from playing too much Table Tennis Touch. The tip of the index finger on my right hand has the early stages of a blister brewing on it.

It stems from the slightly desperate swipes I've been slashing out, hitting scorching returns to AI opponents as I aim to become the greatest table tennis player the digital world has ever seen.

Smaller gestures might work just as well in smashing the little white ball back to the other side of the table, but this is a game that manages to suck you in to its ping-pong games, and little gestures just don't do it justice.

Touch me

You control your paddle with a series of swipes. The faster the swipe the harder you'll hit the ball. You can add spin to a shot by dragging your finger in the direction you want the ball to turn after you've smashed it.

There are two options for serving. One simply plops the ball onto the other side of the table with no fuss, while the other involves double-tapping to toss the ball in the air and gives you more control over direction and turn.

Once you've learned the basics you can choose a number of different modes to practise your skills in. Campaign is the meat of the game, and sees you working through challenges and tournaments to earn reputation.

Quick play lets you jump into a single game with some set rules, and Arcade mode is a series of challenges that test your burgeoning swipe-tennis skills. You can unlock all the challenges with an IAP, or by playing through the campaign.

Spin me

Table Tennis Touch is a brilliant sports game. Its controls are smooth and accurate, its challenges brilliantly weighted, and its presentation slick and polished. More importantly, it's also an incredible amount of fun.

A multiplayer mode would be nice, although it's apparently on the way, but other than that the game hits the right notes pretty much all the time.

Table Tennis Touch is an excellent addition to any iOS gaming library, although be prepared to suffer if you want to be the very best.

Table Tennis Touch

A wonderfully well put together table tennis sim that deserves to be played by as many people as possible
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.