Speedball is an arena game that almost reminds me of what hockey would be like if the players ran on foot and carried the puck. Except more violent. I vaguely remember that I liked the game Speedball way back when I had an Amiga computer, and thought I'd give this one a shot even though it got a few bad reviews - especially since you can get it for cheap now.
And I'm glad I did!
Admittedly the first couple of times I played I nearly agreed that the game should renamed "Slowball." If you go right into a game without checking out any of the options, it feels like the players are running through molasses.
The deal is this:
Before you enter any game, you get the option to "upgrade" your team as a whole or individual players. As you might guess, one of the most important upgrades you can buy is "speed"!
After discovering this and upgrading speed and other attributes (such as aggression, strength, throwing, intelligence, etc) the game will be pretty fast right from the start, and keeps getting faster as you progress through the game - in later rounds it gets so fast it's hard to keep up with the game!
Anyway, beyond player upgrades, more about the game:
The goal of the game is to score more points than the other team, which can be scored in a variety of ways. The main way is to score a goal on the other team. More points can be scored by injuring other players or hitting targets on the walls. As another way to rack up points, on each side of arena is a "ramp" you can attempt to get the ball into, which multiplies the points you get when you score afterwards.
Also, various "power-ups" are located in the arena, which can do things like temporarily freeze the opposing team, make you immune to attacks, or increase your team's abilities.
Each game last three minutes, with two 90-second halves. This doesn't sound like much, but with the intensity of gameplay that this game can get to, believe me it's plenty - and it's also nice in that it allows you to progress through the game at a fairly decent rate.
Game play modes include an elimination mode, and a "Cup" or tournament mode. Cup mode is definitely the best way to play the game.
Two player mode is supported, but I haven't really had a chance to try that out yet.
The game also includes a "Team Manager" function, which allows you to act as manager rather than player in the games. You select your team members, upgrade them as you see necessary, and then sit back and watch as the team plays games on their own so you can see the results of your management.
Personally, I like to play a game, not watch it, so this is boring for me, but I guess some out there might like it.
The graphics I would rate as "average" I guess - there's nothing really special about them - most of the game is an overhead view of the players - but they work.
The sounds are very good in this game - all the sounds you would expect both in the arena (the -clang- as the metal ball ricochets off the wall, grunts as players get tackled, etc) and from the crowd - cheering on as the game starts.. even an "AWWWW!" from the crowd when your shot at the goal is blocked at the last second by the goalie.
The game does have some quirks -
For one, it always fires up my controller in analog mode, but won't let me actually control the players until I switch it back to digital. Not a big deal.
The selection of the player you control at any given time is determined by which one is closest to the ball. When you don't have control of the ball, this can change at any given second, and this can throw you for a loop now and then - in fact it can be frustrating until you get the hang of it.
Also, the game doesn't offer to save the game for you as you progress through a tournament - to save, you have to manually exit the tournament, go back to the main menu, go to the memory card menu, hit save, and then go back into the tournament. It does auto-load your game next time though.
The instructions that come with the game are rather lacking and don't go into much detail about pretty much anything. Most aspects of the game I learned more from tinkering with the various menus than I did from the manual.
All in all, despite the little quirks this is a great game that I've found myself playing for a good couple hours at a shot (which is a lot of play considering that's all in intense 3-minute increments!)
"Speedball 2100" is a remake being offered by Empire as part of it's value priced catalog. While 3-D has been added, the makers wanted to keep the spirit of the original. After playing the game, I ask: "Why?". In a half-baked effort to "upgrade" to 3-D, the players look like road kill. The graphics are dark and dull, and so is the sound. Even worse, SB is UNforgivably unplayable, and for a game called "Speed" ball, the players are so slow. There is a GM function, but this game is so bad, who cares?
What a shame. With a little effort this game could be great. Instead, the makers figured at the low price, you could regurgitate it and land a few nostalgia gamers and cheapskate curiosity seekers.
With 4 next generation systems to be on the market in a few months, marketing a game like "Speedball 2100" as a stand alone product at this point in time has to be called into question. At any price. -Dan Moreland
