Who’s up for a quick game of Air Hockey Touch? The premise is simple: drag your paddle on your side of the air hockey rink, and hit the puck into your opponent’s goal to score points. Each game is played as a best of nine, so you only need five points to win and move on to the next level. Of course, your computerized opponent is trying to do the same thing to you, so you can’t just focus on shooting – there’s some defense involved here, too.

This air hockey game for Nokia Symbian OS, S60 5.0 (touch-enabled) devices is quite slick. It plays very smoothly – as one would expect for a game about a puck that is supposed to gliding on a cushion of air, and can pick up speed in a hurry.

This short video from the developers at Hyperkani show the game in action:

Now, I’ve been playing the game using my finger to control the paddle/hit the puck, but I like how in the video example, they are using a stylus to control the paddle – that might be more precise.

As you can see, your perspective on the game is that of the bird’s eye view, which is fine, but does feel a bit flat. (By comparison, take a look at the game called “Poolside AirHockey” by Design Assembly and Coffee Break Games, where you are set to look across the air hockey table at your virtual, manga-style opponents.)

One feature of the game that I like a lot – OK, the most – is this very satisfying “Yeah!” sound that is made by the virtual crowd every time you score a goal. Equally (although less satisfying personally, but still amusing) the game makes rather disappointed “Ooooooh!” sounds when your opponent scores a goal against you.

When you win a game, you get a little trophy, and the option to move on to challenge a new opponent. As you progress through the game, your virtual opponents get a little tougher to beat each time.

The only thing you don’t get is the gentle hum of the motor powering the air through the little holes in the surface of the table … that would be a nice touch, if the game simulated that sound, but perhaps it would be too distracting. You can see the results of my misspent youth, as I pine for the good-old days of air hockey glory.

Well, those days may be in the past, but Air Hockey Touch is just a few clicks away. And while you won’t need quarters to start this game like you do in its arcade-sized inspiration, it does cost a one-time charge of $2.99 (USD) in Ovi Store.