Speedball 2 Brutal Deluxe Review

Anannya Sen’s Review

The Bitmap Brothers all time classic finally makes it onto mobile phones!

Ahhh, Speedball 2. Ask any gaming aficionado who??s over the age of 25 and they should remember Speedball 2 with a great deal of fondness and nostalgia. I never did manage to beat the top team in the first league and always came second. Anyway, for those uneducated amongst you, Speedball 2 is a game which is along the lines of the Rollerball film and subsequent games. It??s basically like a futuristic version of football and American football where the aim is to throw a ball into a goal without being beaten up by your opponents.

The graphics are exactly the same as the old computer versions (I played it before on the 1040 STE which was a gaming monster with 1 Meg of memory!!!). The intro screen is well detailed and the in game graphics bring back a lot of memories. The ??pitch?? itself looks slick and futuristic. The players have small but detailed graphics on the screen and in the team selection, it??s the same nicely drawn figures I remember. The animation is fast and furious so graphically the game is great.

The sound is still good, but not quite as good as the original home version. That classic Speedball tune is recreated faithfully and for that alone I??m going to be biased for a change and give the sound a good score. In game the effects are few and far between with some tones if you or your opponent scores just about making up the whole gamut of sound.

The controls are easy to pick up but take a little longer to master. This game requires fast diagonal movements in combination with the shooting button. With the AI being quite tough from the off, the action is more fast and frantic than other sports games. There are two methods of control which means you should find one suitable for your phone. Both sets are controlled via the D or key pad, it??s just the movement that??s different. In the first method you can move in eight directions depending on which button you press and so 1 and 3 move diagonally. Or you can use the other method which allows you to rotate the direction the player moves in either left or right. The main button or 5 will shoot, tackle or jump and the biggest challenge is getting used to making quick dribbles and having a shot on goal before you are tackled. That??s about it, the controls are incredibly simple.

The playability is solid and would be great if it the AI started off a little easier in the league mode. The game is essentially a football style of game where you have two teams who have to score by throwing a ball into a goal (hole). The ball can bounce off walls and tackling is very physical. There are other great aspects of the gameplay as well as you can pick up bonuses and items during the game and you can also score by lighting the 5 lights of your teams colour at the sides of the pitch. You can also turn the ball red hot so the other team can??t touch it for a brief period allowing you to score some really nice looking goals. Speaking of the way the goals look, there is a 3 second replay of the goal which can??t be saved unfortunately. The game has two standard modes, one where you play and one where you build up your team. You can rotate your squad and each team member has different attributes like speed, scoring etc. When you win games you get cash to spend on upgrading your team. You can spend it or save it as after a few games you will get some top quality players arriving on the transfer market. These are mean mothers and the addition of even one of these will boost your team quite a bit. You can also pick up upgrades during the game which may be lying on the pitch. So there is a lot to do once you get the hang of the game and barring the control system it is still really playable.

The lastability is great as the league goes on for a long time with two divisions. The game is hard to pick up as your team starts off pretty poorly but persevere and you will soon find yourself building up a team to challenge for the title. The game will save your progress and can be suspended / resumed. There are also several other modes from knockout, league, cup and team manager where you just pick the team and see the results. This should be plenty to keep you entertained and once you spend some time and get a bit better, this is a great game for your phones.