Depending on who you ask, VR gaming is either bleeding-edge entertainment that blends the physical and metaphysical to create a unique experience, or too expensive, niche, and headache-inducing to take seriously. So it might come as a surprise that C-Smash VRS ($29.99), a VR reimagining of a 20-year-old arcade game only released in Europe and Japan, happens to be one of the best arguments for the medium. Its gorgeous minimalist visuals, hypnotic soundtrack, intuitive controls, and high-score-driven, squash-like gameplay combine to create a truly one-of-a-kind experience. It’s just a little light on content. C-Smash VRS might not be the reason to buy a PlayStation VR2, but it’s the perfect reason to blow the dust off your headset if you already own one. And for that, C-Smash VRS is an Editors’ Choice winner for VR games.
The Squash Player's Guide to the Galaxy
C-Smash VRS couldn’t be more tailored to my specific interests. It's an obscure game last seen on the Japanese Sega Dreamcast that’s essentially squash meets Breakout, reimagined in VR and set to a soundtrack pulled straight from an underground rave. However, you don’t need to be familiar with the 20-year-old arcade game to appreciate C-Smash's ethereal merits.
C-Smash invokes a feeling of synesthesia, a blending of senses in which the stimulation of one process simultaneously produces sensation in another—in other words, hearing colors, seeing sounds, and tasting shapes. Similar to Rez Infinite, C-Smash VRS transports you to another realm via audio and visual stimuli (and good ol’ cosmic vibrations).
Upon starting C-Smash VRS, you’re immediately shot through the cosmos with nothing but distant planets and a lone racket in your view. Upon grabbing your equipment, the game begins a tutorial. The basics are the same as they were in the Dreamcast and arcade versions; you hit the ball and try to hit all the targets within a designated time limit. Clear the targets, and you’re rewarded with a letter grade. There’s no story or big bad boss to defeat. You’re simply a squash enthusiast barreling through space.
Although the original Cosmic Smash tasked you with controlling your avatar in a third-person view, C-Smash VRS-2 switches the perspective to first person. Your dominant hand controls the racket, while the other hand controls movement. Your movement is limited to just left and right. That said, you can spin your body—and your racket—in the 3D space.
Growing accustomed to this takes time. I had a palpable temptation to dive and lunge at the ball, and it was sometimes frustrating to find the right angle to hit the target. But as in the real sport, practice makes perfect. I especially liked the satisfying haptic feedback from the Sense controllers, and how the screen's edges darkened during movement. It's a way to track the ball, as well as avoid motion sickness (the latter is not uncommon in VR games).
The Journey and Destination
C-Smash VRS offers two primary play types: A journey mode that acts as your single-player campaign, and competitive multiplayer. In the original Cosmic Smash, you rode a subway train, with each stage representing a stop. As you played, you gained the ability to select the train's path. C-Smash VRS has a similar mechanic that sees you choose stages as you orbit a planet.
You can complete each stage in seconds. The stage brevity—paired with the fast, uptempo electronic music—speaks to C-Smash’s old-school charms. Like Tetris Effect: Connected, Humanity, or Rez Infinite, C-Smash is a game powered by vibes. The gameplay simplicity only makes room for your other senses.
C-Smash VRS taps those senses with its minimalist, sci-fi art style. Bright, bold colors flash on screen to not only give the title a striking visual presentation, but the color palette helps with tracking the fast-moving ball. Despite the lack of storytelling, C-Smash VRS has a lot of charm. The unnamed crew exploring the cosmos with you enjoy zero-gravity gym sessions and moments of tranquility in their space garden while taking time to cheer you.
The game has top-notch sound design, too. The pop of your racket smacking the ball, the bloops and blips of intergalactic travel, and the electrifying soundtrack keep you locked into the experience. DJs Ken Ishii (Rez Infinite) and Danalogue (frontman of the bands The Comet is Coming and Soccer 96) contribute to the dynamic score, injecting all the sonic personality you need while tripping the void.
Bumps Along the Road
C-Smash VRS' single-player offerings are zen-like affairs, but its competitive multiplayer is where the sweat and tears lie. You face off with others in four modes: Head-to-Head, where players compete to hit the most panels; Firewall, a Domination-like mode where you tag and hold zones to accumulate points; Bodyshot, which locks the participants in a narrow stage and have you pelt the ball at one another; and Quickshot, which has players aiming for panels that are slowly growing in size (you hit them when they're small to earn more points). You can pass the time in the game’s training room while awaiting an opponent.
The multiplayer action is frantic and fun. Unfortunately, no one is really playing right now. I had the most luck with Head-to-Head matches, but other modes kept me waiting for minutes at a time before finding an opponent. It could simply be a lack of people due to the game just launching, but it's always concerning when a large portion of your game is potentially inaccessible due to a small player base. Fingers crossed that number increases as more people discover C-Smash VRS (and buy the Playstation VR2, of course).
With multiplayer games few and far between, you start to realize there’s not much else to do in C-Smash VRS. The branching paths of C-Smash’s journey mode add replayability, and there is a challenge mode that removes continues, but that's it. However, developers Wolf & Wood (whose work also includes the narrative adventure game, The Last Worker) have teased additional free content coming down the pipeline, including co-op, a music player, and an infinity mode.
Immaculate Vibes
C-Smash VRS is simply a game about playing squash in space, but it transcends sports due to its eye-catching visuals, a thumping soundtrack, and a carnal feeling that can only be enjoyed in virtual reality. Priced at $29.99, it’s a trip well worth taking. Alongside Rez Infinite, C-Smash VRS is one of the best cases for the PlayStation VR2, for VR in general, and is a must-play if you’ve got the gear, earning it our Editors' Choice award.
For more recommended virtual reality titles for the PlayStation VR2 and other VR devices, check out The Best VR Games. For in-depth video game talk, visit PCMag's Pop-Off YouTube channel. Eager to see the new titles on the horizon? Visit The Best Video Games Coming Out in 2023.
