Super Slam Ping Pong can be played with one hand while eating a greasy burger if that’s your training regimen. The joystick or D-pad controls everything except for the super slam (* key) and gives you a pretty wide range of return options against your funny foes. Left and right moves you, center is a normal return, up is topspin (red ball) and down backspin (blue ball). You must match spins with your wacky opponents for high quality shots that fill up your paddle meter for your super slam.
The gameplay feels just about right. Unlike some other ping pong and tennis games the ball moves slow enough that it doesn’t turn into a frantic sweat-inducing exercise in button mashing. You can control the direction and power of your return by timing your release to exclamation marks that go from 1 to 2 to green for max. The learning curve is minimum which lets you focus on your strategy in tackling these goofy paddlers. You also have master Wu Pong (101-0) to step you through your training.
There are 3 rounds of play against 3 progressively harder loonies each with different styles of play. No single strategy will work against them all. Some like to spin, some pound it down the line, some go crosscourt and some have tells that let you know what they’re up to. You have to take your licking against the more advanced cartoon crushers until you figure them out giving this title a surprising amount of depth. You can also go back and replay your favorite foe.
There’s no sound other a fitting theme for each character which probably helps facilitate the game’s quick load times, an important attribute for a pick-up-and-play casual game. Which is exactly what you should do if you’re looking for something that will bring a smile to your face and a little fun to your lunch break. This game although short, does exactly what it sets out to do and gets 4 ½ stars.