Speedball 2: Tournament Review

6.6

Format PC

Developer Kylotonn Entertainment

Publisher Ascaron

Genre Action, Sports

16 Comments

Speedball isn't a hard game to describe. Futuristic ultraviolent sport: job done. It is, however, difficult to overstate how universally loved it was when it first swung onto the 16-bit computers back in the early '90s.

Of course, everything was brilliant back then, computers were all clockwork and we'd run around with conkers in our socks.

People will drone on that Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe was a superb balance of gameplay, with a great management and team development system that quickly had you feeling the benefits of your upgrade decisions. These people will also hiss like wet witches should you suggest their game might not stand up to today's seven-dimensional scrutiny.

These present-weary curmudgeons needn't worry. Before you even play a game, Speedball 2: Tournament is an alienating affair. The menu system has to rank amongst the ugliest, and least friendly systems I've ever had to use - for example,
if you want to play two players on the same computer, just like in the '90s, you have to set it up as a LAN game. The manual's no help, either - it's like you're trying to hack the bastard.

Getting to play your first game is like trying to undress a shy jellyfish. It's even more noticeable when you're trying to upgrade your team. It's like Kylotonn decided to take all that hard-won knowledge of ergonomics, human intuition and not-kicking-the-user-in-the-balls, cram it into a sarcophagus and fire it into the sun. Oh, and it crashed a few times too.

The game itself is... fine. The characters have traded comic-book bulk for the leaner, smaller look - a change which strips their former iconic charm. The opposing team colours can be so indistinct that you're left wanting a bit of (wait for it) Brutal Dulux.

The AI isn't a satisfying opponent, but Speedball should only be a single-player game when you're practicing, and playing another human is still a decent time spend.

The score-boosting stars remain an entertaining, pinball-esque distraction, the warp tunnels, multiplier loops, and random power-ups are intact, and are of a broadly similar theme.

None of these things are new, but they're what makes Speedball the game it is. Lighting all five of your stars is the same score as two goals, so you're not just defending the ball-maws at either end of the pitch.

The actual new stuff can be hit-and-miss. For example, you won't be using any of the optional views, and why include three new arenas if you're going to keep everything in the same place? Other inclusions do add something, though.

Dodging adds a little spicy twist to the goal approach, and team formations can be changed on the fly, in response to your opponent's approach. What Speedball 2: Tournament adds in gameplay complexity is well-enough judged, so it doesn't interfere with the game's central appeal. It's just the appeal itself that feels a little shaky.

You may have played the rerelease of the original game on the 360. Disappointing, wasn't it? Disappointing, but a timely nudge from mother reality that nostalgia is an idiot mistress. Kylotonn's game is more fun than that frustrating, hectic, memory fart.

But at this stage, it doesn't quite manage to be anything other than an interesting, glitchy reprise. Our most solemn, sincere advice would be to wait for February's boxed version, when everything could - hopefully - be more stable and friendly.

Speedball 2: Tournament is currently available from Steam.

Jon 'Log' Blyth