Rockstar Table Tennis

Hi, so heres my guide to getting this achievement.

First off I'm not going to say "all you have to do is" or "it's simply a case of" or "you can easily", this achievement has a high ratio for a reason, it's challenging. You will need patience, luck and skill to get it, unless of course you are some sort of gaming God, I'm not so I needed all the above.

You will probably find that there are only 2 characters that give you a problem each time you play-through, Jung Soo and Mark, so this is really a combination of methods that worked for me when beating them myself,

Set-Up
Most people know that you can adjust the game parameters for the tournaments in the game options menu, so set the games to 1 of 1, points per game = 7 and points per serve = 5. (if you haven't got The All-Star yet (my advice use Mark), you can restore default settings).


Ace Serves
I've found that you can get an ace serve past everyone except Jung Soo and Mark.

Some people have asked me to say where to stand for each one, but this isn't practical, there are several spots to stand in to get an ace, and although you can often use the same spot, you may need to alter it depending on who you are playing with or against.

For example, you could stand 6 sidesteps right and one back, then use X holding down and left and get an ace, then against the next opponent they will return that type, but by standing 7 sidesteps and using X holding left you will ace them.

Ace positions that worked for me included
1. 4 sidesteps to max sidesteps right, X and hold left
2. 4 sidesteps to max sidesteps right and back one full (or the little shuffle), X and hold left
3. as 2, but hold down and left

Try to get max power and spin if you can.

The most common position seemed to be 6 or 7 sidesteps right, 1 back, X holding down and left, althought 7 sidesteps right, X holding left also worked well.

As it differs with who you play as and against, use the above as a basis and you shouldn't go far wrong, don't expect to get ace serves everytime against every player, but I found if they returned my first shot I needed to change my ace serving position and that usually did the trick.

Jung Soo and Mark. (sometimes Juergen)
Dont try to ace serve them, they will return it everytime, try using a low powered Y, aimed to the left generally, I found that if I served with the speed bar at around 30ish % (usually at the level the outer edge white spin meter gets to) they didn't do an unreturnable return of serve.

I did find that Carmen was able to do a B based Ace serve (sidestep left) attempt that forced Jung Soo so wide when he returned I was able to immediately counter and win a point everytime.

Returning Serves.
This doesn't work everytime, but by returning with a Y&B and holding down and right, quite often they will return it into the net, or it will drop over the table and they can't return, it works better against some than others, but it is a cheap way to get points and is usually a safe way to keep the ball in play.

General Tips.
This is vital when playing against Jung Soo and Mark, but helps with some others. Each player has a side where they can return very fast low shots, hard to counter, so try to keep them on the opposite side, I prefered to keep playing to Jung Soos right and Marks left (but Mark is tricky so I varied it depending on who I was playing as).

It's boring but try to use LB&Y holding down and left, hitting across the table onto their right. This keeps the play sort of slow and you can win points by either them playing it into the net, or under the table, or with time you will get an opportunity to do a X or X&A and force them very wide, you can then counter with a A or B&A to the opposite side. This does not work every time, but more times than not, and can be flipped so you play onto their left and use B or B&A to send them wide, countering with A, X, or X&A.

Focus Bar
Some characters build up the bar quickly, which is helpful, so use it when you have it, but don't worry about trying to fill it, let it happen and just concentrate on staying in the rally. I found that using with the focus using a Y&B onto their left gave a good opportunity for a counetr X&A to their right.

Final Adivce
This game will frustrate you, so I broke it down. I would play through until I got to Jung Soo, give it a few goes and if i kept losing, turn it off and play something else, then come back to it and find I beat him fairly quickly, I did the same with Mark, the good thing is once you beat Mark the match for the final is usually easy as they will be vunerable to ace serves.

With some characters I actually found it easier to win points from their serves than my own, so if you are struggling you can try that approach.

Well, thats about as much information as I can pass on, I wish you well and good luck in your attempts to beat that git Mark.

I want to add a guide for those that can't get the ace serves to work (or don't want to play that way). To be honest, it isn't necessary, and I think seeing that 'trick' mentioned so much put me off ever trying for this achievement back in the day.

The other guide makes a lot of great points, so does the walkthrough. As with all things, the more you read, the more likely it is that you'll find something that works for you. There are, however, some areas in the other guide that I'll be contradicting.

First, though, let's begin with the obvious. Set the matches to 7 points, 1 game. There are 11 characters, and 10 matches each tournament. That's 110 matches to win. The good news is you can lose a match or restart as often as you like. You never lose progress. Since you'll be playing so many matches, I suggest you try enjoying the game. You'd better play through some easy tournaments first with various characters to get a feel for things. Once you're winning comfortably, move up a level.

Now let's keep it simple. For my play style, I never used side-spin except on service. Backspin and topspin are all you need. Whether you play offensive (topspin) or defensive (backspin) will depend on your character. Some characters, e.g Mark, Jesper, Solayman, can play ultra aggressive and dominate the opponent in most situations. Some characters, e.g. Luc and Haley are mixed. How you play will depend on your opponent. They do not have the power to play topspin against someone like Mark, for example. Finally, with certain characters like Kumi or Liu Ping, I played 80-90% defensive.

I will provide examples for each of these play styles, namely offensive, mixed, and defensive.
Since we’re not ace serving, we will attempt a variety of services. In table tennis, you want to keep your opponent guessing, and this principle worked for me in this game. The opponent is not cheap and, as far as I can tell, does not read your inputs at all. Nevertheless, you want to get good spin on the ball. Practice serving if you need to.

When the rally begins, short-wide shots are your friend. That means pulling the left analogue stick back slightly. This will force your opponent out of position. Keep them pinned down that side, and let your meter build up. Once you’re in focus mode, these wide shots will force an error. Smash it wide.

During these rallies, you want to be pressing A as early as possible. That means as soon as the ball comes off your opponent’s bat. You must focus on positioning. Having played a shot to the wide-left, position yourself on the right. This will allow you to gain extra focus for your meter. Most of the time, the computer is quite predictable. There are certain characters, e.g. Liu Ping and Mark, that can play effectively down the line, but for the most part they will play it diagonally across the table.
Let’s see how this looks in practice.

Mark vs. Luc


Solayman vs. Juergen


Jung Soo vs. Mark


As you can see, not everything goes to plan. You will lose some points. You will make mistakes, you will make poor decisions, and sometimes you will have bad luck. But we stuck to the plan. We won points by forcing the opponent wide with pure topspin. Mark is one of the tougher opponents to play aggressively against, and it may be advisable to use a mixed or defensive approach. Let’s take a look.

[videos coming soon]

The key to winning is your special meter. It is so important that you may even find yourself losing a match while remaining in an advantageous position over your opponent. Once your meter is full, you can unleash an onslaught of topspin, forcing your opponent into weaker shots and draining their special meter in the process.

With mixed characters, you can play aggressively against some opponents. In fact, against certain opponents, it’s necessary. You should always be aware of what isn’t working. If you’re struggling in backspin rallies, switch to topspin. If your opponent is dominating forehand rallies, serve to the backhand. It sounds simple, but don’t keep trying the same thing over and over. It’s for that reason, I don’t recommend the ace serves. It’s a play style that will drive you crazy. You must be adaptive.

You must also be patient with mixed characters. Build up your focus meter. Short-wide backspin shots and good positioning will allow you to fill your meter in one or two rallies. Don’t worry if you lose a few points. You’ll turn the game on its head once you have a full green focus meter. Once the meter is full, play aggressively like we practiced before, but try to serve long and with backspin.

Finally, we have the defensive characters. Now it may be that these characters are amazing with sidespin; that is their strength, but we aren’t using sidespin. We’re going to be using backspin exclusively. These characters cannot attack effectively because their shots are too weak. You must have full focus before attempting a topspin shot. Hopefully, you will pick up points via forced errors. Much of the time will be spent containing your opponent with, you guessed it, short-wide backspin shots.

[videos coming soon]

General tips
+ Get into position before your opponent hits the ball.
+ Gamble on your opponent playing across the table.
+ Make your shot as soon as your opponent strikes the ball.
+ Aim wide and short by pulling back diagonally on the analogue stick.
+ Play to the opposite side when your focus meter is active or when you see an obvious opportunity.

- Do not continue to aim your shot after hitting the ball. It will move your player out of position.
- Do not hesitate to change your shot direction mid-swing.
- Do not keep trying the same tactic over and over if it isn’t working.

+ Enjoy the game. Play in short bursts if you’re finding it a little draining.