Overview – developed by Suspicious Jam and published by Eastasiasoft, King of Ping Pong: MEGAMIX is an arcade style table tennis battle game, where players battle it out with an eclectic mix of opponents. Take on the 5 masters in arcade mode, or go for the number one spot in the world through the championship series. This title is available for all console platforms, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Eastasiasoft for providing the copy of Kink of Ping Pong: MEGAMIX that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get started. There is no real plot for the game, so I will be going straight into discussing the gameplay for this release.
Gameplay – This title is an arcade style boss rush battle game, where the player faces table tennis warriors from across the globe. This is the ultimate table tennis tournament, where battles are fierce and test the boundaries of what the sport really is. The battles mostly follow the traditional rules of table tennis, volley the ball to try and get it past your opponent. But there is a twist, the only way to get the ball past the opponent, is to exhaust their stamina.
These battles consist of multiple rounds, where the player must drain the stamina of their opponent, exhausting them and being able to score. At the table, the player can move between the left, right and center of the table. In these positions, the player can send the ball in the same three directions, sending the ball back to the opponent. Each volley drains the on screen stamina for both players, with well-timed shots increasing the enemy stamina drain.
As the opponent returns the ball, if they are waiting in the position where the ball is sent, they will Punish the player, increasing the damage taken. If the player runs out of stamina, they will be able to continue the rally, but at a significantly reduced speed. This increases the pressure and chances of losing a point, requiring extremely tight timing to survive the round. Thankfully, when the opponent is exhausted, they will be unable to continue.
During the volley of a round, both the player and the opponent will gain power, charging a bar below the stamina. When this meter is filled, the player will be able to unleash a power attack, draining a massive amount of energy from the enemy. However, the opponents have their own powers, which significantly ramp up the challenge in later matches. These include ultra-fast punishes, disappearing balls and even creating multiple ball clones.
When the player scores enough points in a match, the opponent will become enraged, making them stronger and further ramping up the difficulty. This secondary phase of a match can be the most frustrating part of a battle, due to the rapid increase in speed and difficulty. This can lead to being defeated quickly, due to the high speed and increase to the aggression of the opponent. Once five points have been scored the match will be over.
There are two game modes for this release, Arcade and Championship mode. The Arcade mode is the most approachable mode and the only one available when starting, needing to be cleared to unlock the Championship mode. Within the Arcade mode, the player takes on the 5 world table tennis champions, one after another in sequence during the Arcade tournament. If the player fails, they can retry as many times as they like.
When an opponent has been defeated in Arcade mode, the player will be able to retry the battle. This can be done to practice and improve the rankings that have been obtained, with the maximum letter grade being an S rank. When Arcade has been cleared for the first time, the player can challenge the championship mode. In this mode, there are 5 championships of increasing difficulty, where the player has one chance to beat all of the opponents in order.
During the championship mode, the 5 opponents will have all of their power increased, with more brutal punishes, faster returns and higher difficulty. This increased challenge mode will have enhanced special power, rage sooner and stamina works differently between rounds. In this mode the player gets one shot to beat all challengers, if they lose one match, they will get kicked back to the start. This makes it a brutal and unforgiving challenge at the highest level.
Away from the gameplay itself, there are special gallery images and content that can be unlocked, with promotional art, concept images and more. Then there are the paddle unlocks, which will alter the look of the paddle the player uses. There are several designs to be unlocked, including pixel art style, a mirror design and even a solid gold paddle. These give an extra amount of replay value for the general gameplay experience, giving something to earn.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – there is a relatively easy to pick up control scheme for this game, with three set swing types and simple movement inputs. There is a pretty easy to understand tutorial that explains the gameplay, with all of the buttons on screen for quick reference. There is one unfortunate flaw with these controls, which is what feels like some input lag during play. It feels like there are inconsistent responses to inputs, with some swings just whiffing entirely.
Difficulty – this game has severe spikes in difficulty, where the gameplay challenge really ramps up, with the speed of the game getting much faster. Towards the end of the arcade mode, the opponents really become punishing, with frantic action and power attacks that leave little time to react. This is significantly more punishing during championship mode, with some brutal spikes. In Arcade mode, there is an assist feature that can help players greatly.
Presentation – visually, the game looks good, with character designs that have their own unique quirks and distinct look. There is a good use of effects on screen, without an over reliance on flash to keep the player engaged. The 2D art also looks pretty good, further adding to the identity of the experience. The sound for the game is decent, with music and effects that fit the game, as well as minimal voice work for the announcer.
Final Thoughts – I usually enjoy these types of game, which made me really want to check the game out, but sadly my excitement was misplaced. During the opening stages of play, the challenge and action was easy to manage, with a few attempts to get past the first two opponents. However, the difficulty spikes, character gimmicks and unfortunate timing issues killed this momentum, leading to a not very fun grind to get through the game.
The issues I faced made it a very frustrating and infuriating experience, which kills any excitement and enjoyment to have with the game. There was a lot of potential for this release, but unfortunately the troubles with gameplay, input lag and general jank put me off from returning to the game. If you are looking for a cheap table tennis battle game, this may be for you, but I am unable to recommend it with my experience.
In the end, I give King of Ping Pong: MEGAMIX a final score of 2.5/5. This is a solid arcade style table tennis battle game, offering a unique experience and gameplay system, but sadly it is marred by timing issues, unbalanced difficulty and lack of true refinement. If you want to check this game out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Xbox version (HERE)
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