''Speedball'' is a 1988 video game based on a violent futuristic

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian Futurism, futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of low-life, lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial in ...

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

that draws on elements of handball and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

, and rewards violent play as well as goals. ''Speedball'' was released in November 1988 for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

and Atari ST and later

ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a Computing platform, computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) ...

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 oper ...

, Commodore 64, and the

Master System The is an 8-bit History of video game consoles (third generation), third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of ...

. SOFEL released a port for the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

in 1991, as ''KlashBall''. It was re-released in 2004 as one of the 30 games on the

C64 Direct-to-TV The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single- chip implementation of the Commodore 64 computer, contained in a joystick (modeled after the mid-1980s Competition Pro joystick), with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the At ...

Gameplay

The game is played by two teams on an enclosed court with a goal at each end, similar to that of ice hockey or

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches a ...

. The court contains fixed bounce domes that modify the trajectory and speed of the ball, as well as one hole in the middle at each side where upon entering the ball will appear at the opposite side, keeping its

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass ...

. The layout of the domes on the court changes as the player faces a different team, up to a maximum of 10 variations. A player has control of only one

outfield player Association football (more commonly known as football) was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably earlier.

on a team at any one time. The game may be played by one or two players; two player games are played competitively. Two game modes are supported: knockout (face increasingly tougher teams controlled by the computer in best of three matches) and league. The game starts with the player(s) selecting a captain among three available choices, each starting with significantly more points than the other two in one of three stats: stamina, power and skill. All the members in a team start the game with the same stats. During the actual game, as team members hit opponents, the opponent loses a part of his stamina; when stamina drops low enough, that individual player will move slower than the rest. The more powerful a team member is, the more damage he will deliver with a direct hit. Extra skill on the other hand promotes aggression from any team member controlled by the computer towards the opposite team, and improves chances of a successful hit. While in possession of the ball, the player can either press and immediately release the fire button to do a direct throw, or keep the button pressed to make the ball go higher. Players can then jump to try and catch it, but this makes them more vulnerable to being hit by the opposite team. As the game progresses, coins and several

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chos ...

s appear randomly which can be collected. Power-ups include making the ball become electrified (the opposite team cannot pick it up and will be harmed if they try), and make it teleport to the player's team member. Coins can be traded at the end of each game for different bonuses, such as extra time or several enhancements for all members in the player's team, including a permanent increase to any of their stats. Computer-controlled players (either on the player or the computer's side) cannot collect coins, but the active player controlled by the computer can collect power-ups. The team that has amassed the most goals at the end of the game is the winner.

Reception

''Speedball'' received scores of 862 (DOS) and 834 (Atari ST) out of 1000 from

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ca ...

, 79% from

Mean Machines ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. Origins In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generation of 8-bit computers ...

and 57% from Power Play. The game won the 1989 Golden Joystick Game Of The Year award. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...

'' gave the game a positive review, praising its graphics and long-lasting gameplay. It was also voted Best 16-bit Game of the Year at the

Golden Joystick Awards The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vot ...

. The game's Master System port was given a 90% by French magazine . ''

The One The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung ...

'' magazine in 1991 rated the game five out of five stars for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC.

Sequels

''Speedball'' was succeeded by '' Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe''. ''Speedball 2'' had a greater and more lasting popularity than ''Speedball'', and has been remade and republished a number of times.

References

External links

*
''Speedball''
at Hall of Light

at c64sets.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Speedball (Video Game) 1988 video games Acorn Archimedes games Amiga games Atari ST games Amiga CD32 games Commodore 64 games Cyberpunk video games DOS games Fantasy sports video games Golden Joystick Award winners Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year winners Master System games Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by David Whittaker Video games set in the 2090s The Bitmap Brothers games Multiplayer and single-player video games Image Works games

Gameplay

Reception

Sequels

See also

References

External links