The twitching in my side, the pain in my arm, and the rush of adrenaline in my brain told me everything 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 reformulated for home VR systems after decades of being relegated to the now-defunct arcade.
and Thursday
Android Central Senior Content Producer Nick Sutrich takes a deep dive into all things VR in his weekly column, from new hardware to new games, upcoming technology, and more.
From the moment you boot it up, it’s a Sega classic, complete with music from Rez veterans and addictive high-score gameplay. But this isn’t the first time I’ve been addicted to a VR game in which I hit a ball with some kind of racket.
Before C-Smash, there was Racket Club, a social squash/pickleball hybrid with a community as friendly as it was competitive that instantly made our list of the best Meta Quest games after launching last fall . Apart from these two games, there is a well-known community of enthusiasts who enjoy playing other racket games such as Tennis Eleven, Pickleball One, Cybrix, Racket Fury, and others.
As with Wii Sports, games centered around existing sports tend to be the most accessible experiences because you don’t have to reteach players what to do. People already know how to hit a ball with a tennis racket or golf club, and like the Wii, the best Meta Quest 3 accessories can enhance the experience and make it feel more real.
Look, smash
C-Smash VRS originally launched last spring as a PSVR 2 exclusive. It’s a complete redesign of the classic Dreamcast game Cosmic Smash, placing players on one side of a racquetball-sized court with blocks placed on the other.
If you’ve ever played the classic Atari game Breakout (or one of the many clones in the Google Play Store), you’ll understand this concept immediately. Your job is to pass the ball across the court and knock down the target as quickly as possible. C-Smash is an arcade classic through and through, awarding high scores and global leaderboard rankings to the best players.
In the single-player campaign, you’ll travel across the stars in a weird Space Channel 5-style sci-fi theme that feels a bit like the 1960s. Before your round begins, you’ll choose a path through a random solar system filled with energy planets, each of which presents a different brick-clearing challenge.
Even the soundtrack is excellent, with the amazing DJ Ken Ishii delivering a collection of catchy tunes and funky beats. If you don’t immediately recognize the name, know that he’s the creator of the soundtracks for classic Sega games like Lumines and Rez. This game has a Sega feel through and through, and as someone who’s been a Sega Genesis fan since I was a kid, I’m all for it.
As a kid who grew up as a Sega Genesis fan, I came here for C-Smash’s incredible soundtrack and arcade gameplay.
Each planet has a different ballpark theme, and power-ups like Multiball will no doubt excite pinball fans as they watch dozens of balls explode from these special tiles in seconds Clean up the entire field. Before C-Smash VRS was released on Quest last Friday, I managed a top-5 global score in one of the multiball matches, though I doubt I’m still on the leaderboard at this point.
Since each pitch is wider than you can possibly move in your home space, you’ll use the left controller stick to slide your character left and right to help you reach the widest shots from your backboard.
I played the game on the PSVR 2 when it was released, but I don’t think I like games that make you move around because the PSVR 2 has a cable that I could easily trip over. Since the Meta Quest 3 is completely wireless, I never felt like I was being pulled out of the experience, just to remember not to trip.
But C-Smash is more than just a single-player experience, and for me, that’s where real longevity comes into play. C-Smash VRS features several different multiplayer modes that pit players against each other on the course, requiring them to clear or capture all tiles before other players.
One weakness of the mode is that there is currently no cross-platform play, but the team confirmed they are considering implementing this feature in the future. In fact, the Reddit post outlines the plans for the RapidEyeMovers team’s new C-Smash Saturday meetup, which will be held every Saturday at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 8pm GMT. It’s perfect if you’re looking for a midday break on a lazy Saturday, and is sure to get your heart racing.
Wii motion effects
I think it’s fair to say that Wii Sports has sold more copies of the Wii console than any other game. The game was packaged for free with every Wii sold in the West, proving the importance of including an easy-to-use killer app in every system.
Everyone loves Wii Sports. Gamers, non-gamers, young, old, etc. It’s a game that brings people together in the living room for some fun physical activity, and can be played instantly no matter your skill level. The game feels like pure magic, and its influence can be seen in many VR games to date.
Likewise, many VR sports games can offer extremely accessible gameplay by keeping it simple. C-Smash VRS is slightly more complex than games like Wii Sports because it’s more “video gamey,” but that’s why there are games like Racket Club.
When you launch Racket Club, you won’t encounter a complicated menu system or a lot of pointless operations. You can immediately walk out the door and into a public lobby filled with players ready to show you their secrets. The game makes sense immediately and it only takes a few seconds to understand its subtle differences from other racket games.
Racket Club’s friendly community is as good as the game itself.
Just like C-Smash, you’ll hit the ball with your racket and bounce it off the wall, but unlike C-Smash, your opponent will hit the ball back at you. Each court is the same size as the playing space you’re standing on, meaning you don’t need to use a joystick to move your character.
The latest update also allows you to customize and adjust the racket itself, helping a variety of players comfortably hold their virtual racket the way they want. It always takes me some time to get used to the grip angle for each racquet game, so this is an especially refreshing update for me.
Racket Club’s lovely fan base ensures you’ll always have a great time. The players are always very friendly and chatty, willing to play a few practice rounds to warm you up, and are even polite when losing.
Ironically, it comes from the same developer who created Demeo, a game that has one of the friendliest online communities I’ve ever experienced. The internet is full of assholes and trolls, but I’ve yet to have a bad experience with either of Resolution Games’ games.
But while Wii Sports’ gameplay plateaus in a short amount of time, Racket Club’s easy-to-learn mechanics will reward you more the more time you put into the game. The game has a realistic experience curve that feels realistic in both single-player and multiplayer modes, thanks to the company’s unique use of deep learning artificial intelligence for its computer-controlled players.
This means that whether you want to play the game’s deep single-player campaign mode or play directly against real players online, you’re sure to have a rewarding experience. Add to that the safety afforded by mixed reality gaming – you can play better when you don’t have to worry about smashing your TV – and it’s clear that Racket Club is the successor to Wii Sports Tennis we’ve been looking for.