Gertlushgaming banner logo

PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 Review (PlayStation 5)

by ·

PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 Review, Whether you’re strategizing how to beat your opponent with an Erne or testing your reflexes in a Firefight against Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, this game has everything you love about the fastest-growing sport in the USA!

PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 Review Pros:

  • Decent realistic graphics.
  • 8.70GB download size.
  • Platinum trophy.
  • Three game difficulties – Easy, normal, and hard.
  • Game settings – camera (normal/high/low), ball trace, doubles stacking, and controller deadzone slider.
  • The tutorial menu gives you an in-depth breakdown of every aspect of the game.
  • Rulebook menu.
  • Pickleball gameplay.
  • Two game modes – career mode, and quick play.
  • Opening optional tutorial.
  • The tutorial is split into 12 lessons and each lesson has a brief description and helps you take it all in.
  • Pickleball uses a two-bounce rule after a serve.
  • Serving is a case of just pressing the button and determining the direction in which you want to aim.
  • It is officially licensed with official sponsors and banners.
  • The gameplay is surprisingly smooth and has a bit of leighway in terms of returning the ball and hit detection.
  • Feels and plays a lot more like an arcade game than a simulation.
  • Firefights happen when close to the net, it triggers this slowdown sequence and you have just to press the correct button within the time limit, and movement is automatic.
  • Dink battles are like Firefights except you go to the net with a dink shot and this time you time shots by pressing the correct button as the circle around it closes in.
  • When in a dink battle you can counter a volley with the square button to turn the battle into a firefight.
  • Don’t let all these names and acronyms worry you, it just comes down to a button press, dink is just the X button for example.
  • An Erne’s hit is a rare unreturnable volley shot you can do in a dink battle after your opponent hits a bad dink return.
  • Match setup options – match type (singles or doubles), two locations (San Clemente and Atlanta), and best of (1/3/5).
  • 15 Official players to choose from with each having unique stats.
  • Local multiplayer support.
  • All matches can be mixed so man vs woman etc.
  • The career mode is where you customize your player, improve stats, and take part in Official tournaments.
  • Character creator for career mode – sex (male/female), first name, last name, apparel, hair, skin color, eye color, and blend mode.
  • Apparel options for – shirts, pants, shoes, socks, compression sleeves, and paddles. Does include some officially branded apparel.
  • Blend mode lets you edit – body, eyes, brows, nose, cheeks, chin, mouth, ears, and jaw.
  • Career mode gives you 20 points initially to upgrade stats then you earn exp and level up in matches going forward.
  • Tournaments let you select which event types you want to do (singles/doubles/mixed doubles) unless you want to do them all.
  • Full commentary team.

PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 Review Cons:

  • Cannot remap the controls.
  • No online play.
  • The game only offers two locations with two tournaments.
  • Basic character creator.
  • The created character looks Lifeless and robotic up against the official players.
  • The prompt to tell you you are going into a firefight or sink battle is so slight that you easily mess them up.
  • When playing doubles or mixed doubles solo the game doesn’t make it aware that you are actually doing inputs for both players on your team when in a fight or battle scenario.
  • Doesn’t have a lot of atmosphere.
  • Commentators repeat themselves a lot.

Related Post: VIVIDLOPE Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

PPA Pickleball Tour 2025:

Official website.

Developer: FarSight Studios

Publisher: FarSight Studios

Store Links – 

PlayStation

  • 7/10
    Graphics - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Sound - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Accessibility - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Length - 7/10
  • 8/10
    Fun Factor - 8/10
7.2/10

Summary

The PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 offers a mixed bag of features and experiences. On the positive side, the game boasts decent, realistic graphics and a manageable download size of 8.70GB. Players can aim for a Platinum trophy while navigating through three difficulty levels: easy, normal, and hard. The game settings are quite comprehensive, allowing adjustments to camera angles, ball trace, double stacking, and controller deadzone. The tutorial menu is particularly noteworthy, providing an in-depth breakdown of every aspect of the game, split into 12 lessons with brief descriptions to help players grasp the mechanics. The rulebook menu and the inclusion of the two-bounce rule after a serve adds to the authenticity of the pickleball gameplay.

The game features two modes: career mode and quick play, with an optional opening tutorial to get players started. Serving is straightforward, involving just a button press and direction aiming. The game is officially licensed, featuring real sponsors and banners, and the gameplay is smooth with some leeway in returning the ball and hit detection. However, it feels more like an arcade game than a simulation. Unique elements like Firefights and Dink battles add excitement, though they require precise button presses within time limits, and movement is automatic during these sequences.

On the downside, the game has several limitations. Controls cannot be remapped, and there is no online play. It only offers two locations and two tournaments, which can feel restrictive. The character creator is basic, and created characters appear lifeless and robotic compared to official players. The prompts for Firefights and Dink battles are subtle, leading to frequent mistakes. When playing doubles or mixed doubles solo, the game doesn’t clearly indicate that inputs are required for both players on your team during battles. The atmosphere is lacking, and commentators tend to repeat themselves. Despite the complexity of terms like “dink” and “Erne’s hit,” the gameplay boils down to simple button presses.

In summary, the PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 provides a decent pickleball experience with realistic graphics, smooth gameplay, and a detailed tutorial system. However, it falls short in terms of control customization, online play, and overall atmosphere. The limited locations and tournaments, along with the basic character creator, may leave players wanting more. Despite these drawbacks, the game offers a fun, arcade-like experience for pickleball enthusiasts.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!