It’s time for a new review of a sports casual title. But I’m almost inclined to consider that an understatement since there’s nothing truly casual about Air Hockey. Before the recent implementation of some truly savage AI opponents, you had to contend with human players of various skill and determination. Perhaps it was still casual back then. Air Hockey is the creation of a small team that goes by the Standby moniker. The name seems befitting since the feedback I offered so far, has been more than just taken into account. Positive changes took place and I’m pleased to notice that the developer continues to expand his project in order to cater to as many players as he can. It goes without saying that as far as Steam debuts are concerned, Air Hockey ticks all the right boxes.

The term and physical game of Air Hockey are products of the 1970s in the same manner in which home consoles and arcade cabinets also sprung up during this crucial era for the evolution of new entertainment mediums. Gaming would never be the same again. A fortunate thing and I do see the benefits of having actual games, in their many forms of boards to tables and not just digital versions. Onto the subject at hand, the Steam version of Air Hockey is more than just an adaptation of the classic game. The fast-paced action has been spiced up by the addition of a bonus/malus system that can quickly misfire and offer truly unpredictable outcomes. As for the story, surely you didn’t expect a campaign mode to this particular genre and topic? There’s no need for a storyline in order to enjoy Air Hockey. Not at all.

You don’t see many sports games powered by Unreal Engine 4. Well, Air Hockey is one such title and unsurprisingly, it uses the graphics engine to its advantage. From neon lighting and particle effects to motion blur and and other visual distortions, players are treated to a full spectrum of power-ups that leave little room for boredom to set in. Performance-wise, I encountered no frame rate drops, crashes or glitches. It was all so buttery smooth and in tune to the gameplay that requires quick relflexes and thinking ahead. You may wish to fiddle with the mouse sensitivity from the in-game options, since the default setting seems a bit off or delayed, when compared to the AI opponents even on their lowest difficulty setting. Further customization of the tables and pucks is being planned in future updates of Air Hockey.

The soundtrack could use more variety and yet the sounds effects themselves are adequately represented. We can’t stress the need of any voice acting though. A robotic voice shouting the now infamous “You’re winner!” phrase would not be out of place regardless if Big Rigs might object or not.

One thing which Air Hockey has managed to simulate so well in its digital form, is the increased chance of winning (or losing) matches very fast thanks to inadvertently marking own goals. Both the AI and the players are susceptible to this, since the puck reaches a velocity that makes it hard to anticipate where it shall hit or more precisely, the effect itself is enhanced by the player’s handle (also known as a “striker”) and its sensitivity setting. The already fast-paced matches benefit from this extra element of surprise that can see score boards tip in favor to players in less time than it takes to set up an online session for Air Hockey. Speaking of which, the MP component was the only mode available at launch yet the developer has wisely added singleplayer as well. Calling it challenging would still not convey the full picture.

And it’s perfect that way. You’ll have to spend quite a lot of time until you can find an online match to play with, so the Artificial Intelligence steps quite admirably in the shoes of an opponent worthy of your efforts. Separated by clearly defined difficulty settings, the AI can offer anything from a friendly spar to an infernal race for scoring at least once against the CPU foe. The aforementioned power-ups also trigger in SP matches, but if you’ll wish to witness the full experience of all those visual glitches and bonues, you’ll need to play with a friend. The relatively small community is basically, the biggest obstacle for Air Hockey right now. Singleplayer was only added as a step forward from a more conventional tutorial and I agree that it’s entertaining and difficult at the same time. But it can never replace the fun of outwitting another human mind, trained or not in this particular game.

Do yourself a favor and give this game a try if you’ve had fond memories of its physical version. Better yet, offer it as a gift to someone else and play with them, in order to unlock Air Hockey’s full potential. It’s more than decently priced for what it offers. I can only hope that in time, its community may grow along with the list of available modes and effects.

+ Beautiful graphics.
+ Steam Achievements.
+ Excellent singleplayer mode.
+ Plenty of power-ups and unexpected effects.

- Hard to find someone to play with in multiplayer.
- No Steam Trading Cards.
- Limited sound selection.

Rating 85/100

This review was submitted for Imperial Reviews through the generous contribution of the game’s developer.

This game is fun but buy it with a friend to play versus each other. It's worth the 5 euro!
I am hoping for more players and matchmaking.

7 / 10

Video Review: https://youtu.be/3UpvXkMMdbw

Very fun game to play with a friend!

I don't know if I will end-up in the Air-Hockey "Hall of Fame" for this: But I've discovered that you end-up winning WAY many more games when you stop scoring into your own goal! . It takes a bit of practice here for this, but trust me: It's really rewarding when you get better at it. (And also when switching to the 'easy' level too! No kidding!!)

Regardless: I've always liked Air-Hockey and this game is FINALLY giving me, at least, an AI friend to play against!

Next item on my bucket list? . . .Finding a real (human) friend! ;)

This game just came out and it has a few bugs, such as a couple of CTDs and some sync issues with multiplayer, but these are few and far between. The game is very fun to play with a friend and you'll get your moneys worth. I do wish that there was more settings for match types, like maybe a 'no power ups' match or an 'only first person one.' I look foward to following this game.

Better than online games. Sometimes mouse doesn't respond on menu, but i press alt+enter 2 times. Very good for taking your thouths away. I use it before trading markets 15 minutes, I learned this on NLP course. This fits me, because i dont nedd partner or real table.

This game made me go trough of agony, pain, excitement and much more emotiones.
U wanna now why ? I tell ya
believe if i tell u, u should never bet on a game llike this ( i hate the fortnite dance)

but if u feel confident enough bet ur soul on the line this is something i would recommend you

9/10 (i lost the bet ) ps: yes im drunk

Super laggy :( I think the connection isn't optimized, who hosts the game gets an incredible advantage.. It's a pity as i loved it.

Fun game to play if you are bored. :) Good graphics funny powerups and overall fluid gameplay. Network issues are fixed as far as I can tell. Soild gameplay. Preferably play it with a friend!

Oh air hockey. It's a fun game as soon as you get used to a certain mouse setting and not have lots of "I have no idea what i'm doing and oops i just scored my own goal" moments.