Amiga

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe

If you liked the original, you'll love this sequel. Created by the extraordinarily talented Bitmap Brothers. Speedball 2 is subtitled 'Brutal Deluxe.' It means it. The game of speedball (a combination of hockey, armor, pinball, and mayhem) has become so violent it has had to be moved underground. This version has more player attributes and other enhancements to make the play even more frantic, not to mention bloodthirsty. If you thought the original Speedball was fast-moving, wait 'til you see this one! The playfield (pitch) is bigger, but the automatic scrolling is so responsive you'll be reaching for the dramamine bottle in no time. The player animations have also been redone with more detail. Now when you give someone an elbow, you see it onscreen. Speedball 2 is deliciously vicious, sort of like the Sex Pistols on steroids. It's also one of the most highly playable games to come along in quite a while.

The ultimate future sport game to date - fast, brutal, enormously playable. The Bitmaps' finest moment. Teams can be hard to tell apart in the heat of the action. The best.

One of the advantages of computerizing a fictionalized game is that you can completely change it for the sequel, doubling the size of the pitch and throwing in loads of new features. Try doing that with footie!

Phew! The ST version was great, but the Amiga version is little short of amazing. The pitch seems to scroll more quickly and smoothly, and play seems faster (although the Bitmaps swear that both versions are identical speedwise). The Amiga's graphic superiority it utilised to produce better pitch detail and the support screens are drawn in 32 colours. But the most impressive improvement is the sound: the crowd roars, players grunt and groan as they get beaten up and the commentator shouts out "Replay" and "Get ready!" - there's even a vendor in the crowd yelling "Ice cream! Ice cream!" It's one of the best examples of how great sound can really add to a game, and easily makes this the future sports sim to buy.

Die Bitmap Brothers haben von jeher ein glückliches Händchen bei ihren Fortsetzungen, man denke nur an “Xenon II”. Und die Neuauflage des Brutalo-Sports hat ja schon am ST recht gut ausgesehen, mit der brandneuen Amigaversion haben sich die Jungs aber mal wieder selbst übertroffen! Und das war bestimmt nicht einfach, den schließlich ging es darum, einen Meilenstein der Softwaregeschichte nochmals zu verbessern: Als „Speedball“ vor ca. zwei Jahren herauskam, war so gut wie jeder von dem futuristischen Sportspektakel begeistert – das Game war nicht nur unheimlich schnell, sondern auch genial einfach zu handhaben. Regeln gab es praktisch keine, man musste einfach den „Ball“ (eine Stahlkugel) irgendwie ins gegnerische Tor bugsieren – ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste!