''Airball'' is a video game released in 1987 by

Microdeal Microdeal was a British software company which operated during the 1980s and early 1990s from its base at Truro Road in the town of St Austell, Cornwall. The company, founded by John Symes was one of the major producers of games and other softw ...

. It was programmed by Ed Scio, with graphics by Pete Lyon, music by Paul Shields, and level design by Pete Scott. Lyon was the artist for other Microdeal games in the late 1980s, such as ''

Goldrunner ''Goldrunner'' is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Steve Bak and Pete Lyon for the Atari ST and published by Microdeal in 1987. Rob Hubbard composed the music. An Amiga version followed, as well as a 1988 sequel, ''Goldrunner II''. ...

''. The game was released for the

Dragon 32/64 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are 8-bit home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales, before mo ...

and

TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different ...

, with ports following for the

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

, and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

. A port to the

Apple IIGS The Apple IIGS (styled as II) is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer beginning in September 1986. It is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound" ...

sold fewer than 150 copies. A version for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

from Novotrade and Tengen was cancelled.

Gameplay

left, Starting screen (Atari ST) The player begins every round atop inflating stations. These inflating stations, which are scattered throughout the arenas, also act as checkpoints. Remaining atop an inflating station for too long will cause the player to burst. A bar gauge at the bottom of the screen allows the player to monitor their air level. Navigating the levels is accomplished with the directional buttons and a jump button. The view is

isometric The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...

, which can often make complicated movements (such as jumping across gaps or weaving through obstacles) difficult. Points are gathered in the form of gems that appear randomly in rooms. Players pass through the gems for collection. Airball can ascend stairs by jumping. The surrounding spikes, one of many obstacles found in the game, cause the player to burst. The yellow bar is the amount of air left in the ball, and the three balls in the lower left of the screen indicate the remaining lives.

Reception

Calling ''Airball'' "one of the strangest games" he had played, David Plotkin of ''

STart Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

'' liked its graphics and soundtrack, and recommended it to "those with steady nerves and a sense of adventure".

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , last1=Boyl , first1=L. Curtis , title=Airball , url=http://www.lcurtisboyle.com/nitros9/airball.html , website=Tandy Color Computer Games 1987 video games Amiga games Apple IIGS games Atari 8-bit computer games Atari ST games DOS games Dragon 32 games Game Boy Advance games Marble video games Microdeal games TRS-80 Color Computer games Unauthorized video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games with isometric graphics