Surely the all-time classic futuristic sports game, written by the Bitmap brothers during their 90s dominance of the Amiga. Full of class and great gameplay, Speedball 2 offers league/season, knockout tournament and 2 player challenge match options. The object of the game is to score more points than your opponent by scoring goals, hitting special bounce domes, or shooting stars placed in certain places on the pitch walls. These aims are achieved through a combination of clever footwork, passing skill (the ball is thrown from one player to another), and right down brute force.
Surely the all-time classic futuristic sports game, written by the Bitmap brothers during their 90s dominance of the Amiga. Full of class and great gameplay, Speedball 2 offers league/season, knockout tournament and 2 player challenge match options. The object of the game is to score more points than your opponent by scoring goals, hitting special bounce domes, or shooting stars placed in certain places on the pitch walls. These aims are achieved through a combination of clever footwork, passing skill (the ball is thrown from one player to another), and right down brute force. The game (and crowd) encourages you to beat the living daylights out of your opponents, slowly making them weaker as the game progresses to the point where they are carried
off the pitch - ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM! (play it and you will know) In fact you even get points for taking an opposing player out.
Gameplay is thick and fast with additional power up collectables giving a range of bonuses to those who collect them - ball teleports to player, opponent players frozen on the spot, knock all opponents over, boots of speed, that sort of thing. In league play you also pick up cash which allows you to buy new players and boost the stats of those in your team. This you will need to do for your opponents range from manageable to nigh on impossible to beat. Different skills from stamina and strength to speed can be increased, up to the maximum allowed for a specific player, either individually, by field section (defense, midfield and attack) or for the whole team. It still costs by-the-player but does allow quick biasing of your favored area (yeah I bet it's attack). My advice, however, is to maximize your three central players as they will take the brunt of the action from the moment the hooter sounds. The only real downside to the game is the lack of real control over the goalkeeper who often leaps in a crazed sideways direction. Make sure he is max'ed up in the hope he can withstand a direct pummeling.
If you haven't played it before you have really missed out and I advise playing it immediately.
News is out that the Bitmap Brothers (who aren't actually brothers) are making a new version of speedball for 2007. Let us hope that their dedication and quality of yesteryear remains at full strength today.
