Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball

Set in a dystopian future of 2190, mass unemployment among millions has led to a spike in violent crime mainly due to the masses being bored so a new form of entertainment was needed to satisfy people's new found hunger for violence. The solution was a new form of basketball that went to the extremes of the sport.

One of the first Speedball clones takes the basic court layout of basketball as its inspiration. There are 5 players on each team, on a small court with 2 and 3 point shooting areas. The difference is that physical contact of a fairly violent nature is allowed, and the court is littered with mines and bombs to wound the players. Shooting involves holding down fire to get the height right, so avoid being tackled as you prepare your shot. Other basketball rules such as double-dribbling and the 25-second hand-over are unsurprisingly waived. A 3-division league is included to progress through.

The computer game would later be ported to the SNES as Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball. The dystopian future was toned down a bit to a more grounded future (relatively speaking) where in the year 2030 Bill Laimbeer becomes the new commisioner of the NBA and turns it into a more contact focused sport.