Editor-DN
The crack in my side, the pain in my arm, and the rush of adrenaline in my brain told me all I needed to know. I was addicted, and the only cure was another round. C-Smash VRS is the epitome of an arcade classic, redesigned and reformed for home VR systems after decades of being relegated to now-defunct arcades.
AC thVRsday
In his weekly column, Android Central Senior Content Producer Nick Sutrich thinks about all things VR, from new hardware to new games, upcoming technologies, and more.
It’s a Sega classic from the moment you start it, with music by Reese veterans and addictive, high-score-based gameplay to match. But this isn’t the only time I’ve found myself practically addicted to a VR game where I smash the ball with some sort of racket.
Before C-Smash, it was Racket Club, a social squash/pickleball hybrid whose community is as friendly as it is competitive and immediately topped our list of the best metaquest games when it debuted last fall. came In addition to these two titles, there is a remarkably enthusiastic community that likes to play other racket games such as Eleven Table Tennis, Pickleball One, Cyborgs, Racket Fury, and many others.
Like Wii Sports, games that revolve around existing games are the most accessible experiences because you don’t have to reteach gamers what to do. People already know how to hit a ball with a tennis racket or golf club, and great Meta Quest 3 accessories like the Wii enhance the experience and make it feel more real.
See, to break
C-Smash VRS originally launched as a PSVR 2 exclusive game last spring. This is a complete reimagining of the classic Dreamcast game. Cosmic Breakwhich places players on one side of a squash-shaped court while blocks are placed on the other.
If you’ve ever played the classic Atari game Breakout — or one of its many clones. On the Google Play Store – You will understand the concept immediately. It’s your job to lob the ball across the court and take out the targets as quickly as possible. C-Smash is a classic arcade game that makes high scores and global leaderboard placements for the best players.
The single-player campaign sees you zip through the stars with its quirky Space Channel 5-esque sci-fi theme that feels like it came straight out of the 1960s. Before the round begins, you’ll choose your path through a random solar system filled with power-up planets, each offering a different challenge to clear the bricks.
Even the soundtrack is brilliant, unleashing a wave of catchy tunes and funky beats from the ever-amazing DJ Ken Ishii. If you don’t immediately recognize the name, know that he was behind the soundtracks for Sega classics like Lumines and Rez. The game has a Sega feel and for a guy who grew up as a Sega Genesis fanboy, I’m all for it.
As a kid who grew up a Sega Genesis fanboy, I’m here for C-Smash’s incredible soundtrack and arcade gameplay.
Each planet has a different court theme and power-ups like Multiball are sure to excite pinball fans as they watch dozens of balls explode from these specific bricks and clear the entire court in seconds. Before C-Smash VRS went public on Quest last Friday I managed to get a top-5 worldwide high score in one of those multi-ball rounds, though I doubt I’ll even be on the leaderboard then. I am
Since each court is wider than you’ll likely be able to get to your home position, you’ll use the left controller stick to slide your character left and right to get wide shots from the backplane. Help reach.
I played the game on the PSVR 2 when it came out but decided I’m not a fan of games that force you to move around a lot, since the PSVR 2 has a cable that I trip. Since the MetaQuest 3 is completely wireless, I never once felt like I was being pulled out of the experience for remembering not to travel.
But C-Smash isn’t just a single-player experience, and for me, that’s where the real longevity comes into play. C-Smash VRS features several different multiplayer modes that pit players against each other in courts, tasking them with clearing or claiming all the bricks in front of the other player.
One of the mod’s weaknesses is that there is currently no crossplay, but the team confirmed that this is a thing Looking to implement. in the future. In fact, the same Reddit thread outlines a new C-Smash Saturday Meetup event held by the team at RapidEyeMovers every Saturday at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 8pm GMT. It’s perfect if you’re looking for a lazy mid-week break and is sure to get your heart pumping.
Wii Sports Effect
I think it’s fair to say that Wii Sports has sold more Wii consoles than any other game. The game was a free pack-in with every Wii sold in the West, proving the importance of including an accessible, killer app with every system.
Everyone loved Wii Sports. Gamers, non-gamers, young, old etc. It was a game that brought people together in the living room for some fun physical activity and was instantly playable regardless of your skill level. The game felt like pure magic and its influence can be seen in many VR games to this day.
Likewise, many VR sports games can offer highly accessible gameplay by keeping things simple. C-Smash VRS is a bit more complicated than something like Wii Sports because it’s more “video gamey”, but that’s why games like Racquet Club exist.
When you start a racquet club, you’re not greeted with a complicated menu system or a lot of nonsense. You can immediately walk out the door and find yourself in a public lobby full of players ready to show you the ropes. The game is instantly understandable and it only takes a few seconds to understand the nuances that make it different from other racket games.
The friendly community of a racquet club is as good as the game itself.
Just like C-Smash, you’ll be hitting a ball with a racket and bouncing it off a wall, but unlike C-Smash, your opponents will hit the ball back to you. Each court is as big as you’re standing in the playing space which means you’ll virtually never need to move your character around with a joystick.
The latest update lets you customize and adjust the racket yourself, allowing all types of players to feel comfortable holding the virtual racket the way they want. I always take some time to adjust the holding angle of each racquet game, so this was a particularly refreshing update for me.
Racquet Club’s cute fan ensures that you will always have a good time. The players have always been super friendly and talkative, willing to play a few practice rounds to warm you up, and gracious even when they lose.
Ironically, it comes from the same developers who put together Demeo, a game that boasts one of the friendliest online communities I’ve ever experienced. The internet is full of jerks and trolls, but I have yet to have a bad experience with one of these titles from Resolution Games.
But while Wii Sports’ gameplay tends to plateau after a while, Racket Club’s easy-to-learn mechanics become more rewarding the more time you put into the game. The game has a true experience curve that feels realistic in both single-player and multiplayer modes, thanks to the company’s unique use of deep learning AI for its computer-controlled players.
This means that whether you want to play through the game’s deep single-player campaign mode or go straight online and play against real human players, you’ll have a rewarding experience. Couple that with the safety that mixed reality gameplay provides — you can play a lot better when you’re not worried about breaking your TV — and it’s clear that Racquet Club is the successor to Wii Sports Tennis. What we are looking for.
