PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 from Farsight Studios is the first full-fledged retail game based on the sport. Learn more in our PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 review!
PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 from Farsight Studios is the first full-fledged retail game based on the sport. As the name suggests, this one is fully licensed by the Professional Pickleball Association, which got its start in 2020. If you’re new to the sport, think of it as tennis with a smaller court and a special set of rules. Pickleball is a paddle and ball sport in which two players or four players aim to outscore each other in singles or doubles matches.
This is done by holding a smooth-faced paddle – that is larger than the one used in, say, table tennis – to hit back a perforated, hollow plastic pickleball over a net to try and keep their opponent from hitting it back. It’s a sport that is fairly recent having been invented in the US in 1965. The court is 44 feet long and 20 feet wide. Games are usually a race to 11 points per game, with a best two-of-three games scenario for most matches.
You’ll control your character with the left analog stick, which will also be used for aiming your shot so that you can try to outsmart your opponent. You’ll serve the ball with the X button with an underhanded stroke. After that, the X button will be for a drive shot. Pressing the Square button will have your character do an aggressive drive. The Circle button will be for a drop shot. The Triangle button is for a lob shot.
Pickleball has a two-bounce rule in place. What this means is that after the ball has been served, players on both sides must allow the ball to bounce once on their respective sides before returning the ball to their opponents. After the serving side does this, the ball can be volleyed back, as long as a player is not standing at a “non-volley” area of the court. This area is colloquially referred to by players as the kitchen.
On top of that, the PPA uses a “Side Out Scoring” rule for matches. What the Side Out Scoring rule does is that only the side that is serving the ball can score a point during that particular rally. In order for the other side to get a chance to make a difference on the scoreboard, it will need to win the rally to force a change in who is serving. Just be careful, and don’t get cocky when it’s your time to serve!
During a match, you can also activate a Firefight. This happens when all players are near the net, and a volley is hit. During a Firefight, your player will move automatically, and you’ll need to pay attention to the button icons that will show up over its head as the ball moves its way. The goal will be to press the indicated button as fast as possible to hit the volley the ball back and keep the Firefight going. Another one is a Dink Battle, during which you’ll work on dinking the ball back to your opponent with great timing.
Trophy-wise, you can expect this one to have a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to work on. This one is a Cross-Buy title, so your purchase will allow you to download the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game, and each one will have its own trophy list. Said lists will have 3 Bronze trophies, 7 Silver trophies, and 8 Gold trophies. The objectives to complete include scoring a point, winning a game, leveling up, winning a match, winning a singles tournament, winning a game 11-0, and leveling up to level 20.
PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 is the first full-fledged retail game based on the sport. If you’re new to it, pickleball is a paddle and ball sport in which two players or four players aim to outscore each other in singles or doubles matches. It uses a Side Out Scoring rule, so only the side that is serving is able to score a point. PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 is available as a Cross-Buy title, so your $49.99 purchase will allow you to download both the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game at no extra cost.
Disclaimer
This PPA Pickleball Tour 2025 review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Farsight Studios.
