Future sports are generally lethal but C-Smash VRS takes a different tack. A space squash simulator, by way of Breakout, Virtua Tennis and Space Channel 5, this is a far friendlier future sport, with every stroke of your bat accompanied by pounding beats and astronaut DJs who cheer you on from the sidelines [1].
C-Smash VRS is a VR revival of an obscure Japan-only Sega Dreamcast title, brought into being by a collaboration between developers Wolf & Wood and iconic creator Jörg Tittel. This triumphant pairing has brought the original game’s futuristic bat and ball-based block-breaking [2] full circle, and much like Rez before it, it belongs in VR.
Solo players are well served by the single-player Journey mode, plotting a voyage through five solar systems by busting some blocks. You can choose between a no-fail Zen mode and Challenger mode’s brutal one-failure-and-your-journey-is-over set up, with high scores and level grading ensuring that you’ll keep coming back time and again. However, it’s in C-Smash VRS’ incredibly friendly multiplayer where the game truly shines. Each round starts by everyone waggling their paddle – not a euphemism – at each other before you jump into a different spin on head-to-head space squash [3].
It’s almost impossible to be unhappy when you’re playing C-Smash VRS, even when you’ve failed. The sensation of contact between bat and ball is sublime, the soundtrack is incredible, and it proves that simple ideas are utterly timeless.
