Pong? Well it does kinda stink.
Truly, this game reminds me of Pong, except with nicer graphics, and tunnel vision to spice things up. The game is simple: earn points by hitting the ball past the opponent, and earn seven points to win. If a ball passes you, your opponent gains a point. To stop the ball from passing you, you move your paddle in front of it, and “bump” it back to the opponent. Really the only reason it’s named Tube Tennis is because the “ball” is shaped like a tennis ball in a few of the themes. There are four themes: metal, glow, nature, and surfer, all having a completely new look.
When playing, your paddle is controlled by two arrow keys at the bottom of the screen. Sweet and simple, learned instantly, and you’ll have no difficulties using. You also have the option to use the accelerometer (called “tilt”) which is more entertaining to use, but more difficult to control. The audio is basic. When the ball hits the paddle, a sound that is similar to a tennis ball being hit by a racket is made, and when a point is scored, or one of the options on the main menu is changed, a ring is played. That’s it. Sound can be toggled on or off on the main menu. The sounds aren’t annoying like in some other games, but there really isn’t anything notable about them either.
The difficulties of your opponent range from easy to hard (although there is a fourth difficulty which is unlocked by defeating the hard opponent), which are fairly named. Defeating the hard opponent will take some time and skill, while beginners will find easy as a nice little challenge. The main reason it has little replayability is the fact that nothing changes. You don’t advance in levels, there are no highscores, you unlock nothing, etc.
The gameplay will keep you hooked for 20 minutes, but not much longer; after that, it’s just wasting space. If you have younger kids, give it to them, and they might get a kick out of it. What would be a HUGE improvement to this game would be multiplayer ability through Bluetooth, or wifi, and I truly hope that will be an addition in the future. To be honest, as is, it’s not worth 99 cents, but if you ever see it on sale for free, I’d definitely give it a download.
iFanzine Verdict: If you were a die-hard fan of pong back in the day, you might enjoy this game. For everyone else: Chances are you’ll forget about this app after about a week, and then it will just become a meaningless icon on your springboard. If you happen to see it free, download it then, but don’t spend a dollar that could be used other where for more entertainment.
[xrr rating=2/5]