Speedball 2100

Name :	Ryan Retro Norden
E-Mail :	RNorden@Bigfoot.com
Description :	Speedball 2100
Review :	YEAR: 2095 FILE: SPEEDBALL CORRUPTION AND VIOLENCE FORCE THE GAME UNDERGROUND UNREGULATED AND UNGOVERNED, THE GAME DEGENERATES INTO A FIASCO YEAR: 2100 FILE: SPEEDBALL 2 ATTEMPTING TO REGAIN PUBLIC INTEREST THE SPORT IS REORGANISED SPEEDBALL 2 IS BORN FIVE YEARS LATER A NEW TEAM EMERGES THE NEW TEAM IS BRUTAL DELUXE If you don't know what the hell I am talking about then, I feel so sorry for you, as you must have been one of those poor people who were forced to go out and play when you were young, while the rest of us just reaching an age with double figures where discovering the world of the Amiga, the early 90's enemy of the console. The first game I ever owned for my Amiga was Speedball 2, Back before multiplayer was the norm - before Quake, before even Doom - if you wanted to pass a pleasant evening beating the crap out of your friends there was only one real choice (well, apart from actually beating the crap out of them...): Speedball 2. It was created by the Bitmap Brothers, who were as gods in those heady 8-bit days - riding as they were on the wave of success from games like Xenon and er...Xenon II. At the time, the Bitmaps (as they were known to their friends) could quite simply do no wrong. Taking its cue from the film Rollerball, Speedball 2 was basically American football with added violence. Two heavily-armoured teams slugged it out in a metallic arena, lobbing a shiny ball back and forth in the hopes of slotting it past the opposition's goal keeper. Fouling was not only permitted, it was encouraged and rewarded. The real skill lay in knowing how long your little man could hang on to the ball before he was pummeled into oblivion. Subtle as a brick but boasting thrills, spills and mindless violence by the vanload, Speedball 2's greatness is confirmed by the fact that it remains an entertaining and playable game - even ten years on. Golden Moments Giving an opponent such a kicking he had to be stretchered off . Well now 10 years after Speedball was released and 12 from the original and not as popular Speedball,Speedball 2100 has finally been released, it has been one of the most eagerly awaited sequels of any game in history. This time in a kind of command & conquer way the sequel actually is set before Speedball 2. As Dune II and Dune 2000 proved the only way you can improve on a perfect gameplay is to simply bring the graphics up-to-date. but here thankfully I may add the good people of bitmap have decided to ignore convention and stick to the good old fashioned tried and tested formula. Gameplay is as good as ever , although controlling the always fast past action can be a bit tricky using a psx controller but I am slowly picking it up. The new features in 2100 are ; The game is split into 3 leagues Gold, silver and that darker metal no-one really wants. The new division means longer game-play , which is good as I always thought the game never lasted quite long enough. And for those who find actually playing the game the dull part and just like building there team from the crap you are originally supplied with to a super world conquering team, there is now a manage only option. The only few problems I would have with the game is that the arena on which all match's are played has shrunk to the size it was on the original speedball game, and the slightly annoying interface design within the management parts of the game. If you liked the original 2 incarnations of this game , you'll enjoy this, but Speedball It's larger arenas may still sway me slightly more towards it than this. But still an excellent Retro 90's CLASSIC.
Rating :	78%