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Cheap and dirty, just like the ping pong table in your basement

Opening this review, most possibly after viewing reviews of Table Tennis on another website somewhere, you probably expect it to be much less about the game and much more about the visual downgrade against the Xbox 360 original. In fact, you probably assume that I would linger upon that topic, making it my main point against the game.

You would have assumed incorrectly.

It's hard to dislike the presentation of Table Tennis if you haven't been spoiled - it's smooth, visually appealing, stylistically solid, and the audio production is top notch. That said, the controls leave much to be desired.

Instead of using a 1:1 control scheme wherein real world motion would equate to in-game movement, which most likely would have required quite a big of effort to implement well, Rockstar decided to make gestures that work like a D-Pad. Up, down, left, and right gestures start off a serve and set up what direction you serve in. A horizontal slash up and to the right or down to the left decide which side of the table catches a volley. In a world where EA was able, in a first gen game, to make natural, intuitive controls for Madden, I can't fathom why a table tennis game a year into the Wii's lifespan would use such a strict and limiting gesture set.

Now, while I said I wouldn't obsess about the 360 comparison in visuals, it's hard to excuse the lack of online play in the Wii version. Sure, Nintendo consoles don't really get much consideration in the way of online gaming. I admit that. In the case of Table Tennis, though, online multiplayer is the difference between a flawed game that's still good because it's fun, and an average quickie port.

Even moreso, Table Tennis underwhelms in the realm of customization. Whereas most sports games have a mode used to create players nowadays, Table Tennis feels somewhat empty without that capability. Even if there were no offered modes to do so, it would have been nice for Mii support to be coded in, a la MLB Power Pros.

All in all, Table Tennis is just too quick, and too cheap port to really get into. Without online play, the game limits itself to local multiplayer - a segment that Nintendo's launch title Wii Sports Tennis has already covered, and with better controls. Heck, even if the game had a bit more natural gestures, it would do wonders for the quality of the game. But as it stands, Table Tennis for the Wii only makes me want to play the 360 version to see what I'm missing.