kuan@iris.ucdavis.edu (Frank [Who me?] Kuan) (04/23/91)
Speedball 2 is the most excellent video game that I have ever played. Ever. And
believe me, I've played lots. Speedball 2 isn't just my favorite
game of the year. It's the best game that I've played in the last TEN
years. I have to admit, I wasn't stunned by the game at first. I
played the knockout for a couple of hours, put it down, and didn't
play it for another day. On my third hour of play, when I began
to learn some new strategies and explore the new features of the game,
I was hooked.
I have been addicted to video games in the past, but never
like this. In fact, I played it so much that I put the game back in the
box, put that box back in the shipping container, stuffed it in
the top shelf in my closet (where I can't reach it without a chair) so
that I can get some studying done for my midterms. I was literally
glued to the game for an entire 3 day stretch.
For those of you who are speedball fans, you might as well stop
reading this article and go order it. Creative Computing (they
advertise in Amigaworld all the time) was where I bought it.
$32 + 3-4$ for shipping. I don't know if anyone else carries it.
In the past, I've gotten all my new Euro stuff and Bitmap Bros.
masterrpieces from Creative Computing.
In the original speedball, I became quite good at it. However, I could
never quite beat the top two teams. At best, I would tie them 0 to 0.
Or if I was lucky, I would pick up a booster pellet (or whatever you
call those letters) that would enable me to score. Speedball 2 adds
some pretty major features that make it more flexible and fun than
the classic. The field is signifigantly bigger, and there are more
ways to score. In addition to the 10 points for a field goal, each
side of the stadium has 5 stars that light up when you hit 'em with
the ball. In addition, there's a gizmo that multiplies your score
when you hit it. Hit it once, and your score (for field goal and
lighting a star) gets mulltiplied by 1.5 X, hit the multiplier twice
and your score gets multiplied by 2X.
When I first starting playing the game, I thought the game was
only marginally great. The new features for scoring points
seemed too complicated, but later I really came to appreciate it.
Like Speedball I, the sequel lets you improve your stats by picking
up coins during the matches and then buying more attributes. The main
difference, is you have more control. Instead of improving the
attribute average for the whole team, you have the option of
upping individual player stats.
The Speedball II league has two divisions: Division I and Division
two. In league play, you control the team "Brutal Deluxe", and you
start with very average players in the basement of division two.
If you win in Division two (each division has 8 teams), you get
promoted to division one, where you litterally get pounded by teams
like "Fatal Justice", "Turbo Hammers", and "Super Nashwan".
One of the coolest features of the game is the free agent market.
After every two league games or so, star calibre players become
available. If you have the cash, you can purchase them and add them
to your lineup. By the time I was promoted to division one, I had
6 star players (out of 12) on my team. When I first saw the graphics
for the players that I started with, I thought "gee, this art
sure looks pathetic for a Bitmap Bros. game." Later, I found out
that the average players are intentionally drawn to look bland.
The all-star players look really slick. My center forward "Stavia",
looks like one of those all star hockey players. My right wing
looks like Lawrence Taylor, and my star Goalie is a killer looking
Apache chief. Having all-star players makes all the difference in
the world if you want to have any chance of surviving in Division I.
The play of your team really lives up to their name, "Brutal Deluxe."
Each player on the field has a certain number of hitpoints. If a
player gets injured down to zero hitpoints, the "robodocs" come on
to the field to cart them away. Speedball I was very physical.
Speedball II is 10 times as brutal. You can tackle and punch anyone
on the field, including the goalie. When I was playing the team
"Fatal Justice" in division I, I put 3 of their players in the
ambulance and they knocked out 5 of mine! For every player that
gets hauled off by the ambulance, the offending team gets 10 points
as a reward!
One of my favorite strategies is
to lob the ball to the opponent goalie. As he jumps up to catch the
ball, I slide, tackle him, and power the ball through the goal! This
strategy doesn't work too well when you're playing the better teams
though. But there's lots of ways to score!
Another cool feature is that your teammates can have varying degrees
of aggressiveness and intelligence. With my all-star teammates, they
would actually tackle and punch out opponents who were in my way!
There were also a few occasions when I was setting up a shot, and
my left teammate would tackle the goalie, giving me a clear shot!
I could talk all day about all the neat things you can do in the game,
but I gotta get back to work. Suffice it to say, I highly recommend
this game.
Scale: 1-10
Graphics: 9
Music: 8
Sound FX: 9
Playability: 10+uzun@pnet01.cts.com (Roger Uzun) (04/25/91)
[]
Now if they could only make a speedball2 that works on the A3000!
Ah, I forgot, Euro-import, probably designed on the C64 emulating
an A500 with 512k and 1 disk drive. Never mind.
-Roger
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