Speedball 2100 Preview

Having originally appeared on the Commodore 64 and then on the Sega Genesis, Speedball is a futuristic arena sport where brutality and violence are just as much a part of the game as the actual scoring. After a long wait, fans of the Speedball sport will finally get a sequel.

Developed by the Bitmap Brothers, Speedball 2100 is another heaping serving of the futuristic sport. The basic premise of Speedball is still alive and well - two teams of nine players glide around a cage-like arena, passing a steel ball back and forth. Scoring occurs when a team member tosses the ball past the goalie and into a small scoring area. Various obstacles, such as point multipliers, ball bumpers and warp gates, keep the gameplay from being entirely boring, but the single-button punching, tossing, and scoring formula will definitely need to be revised before the game ships.

Players familiar with the game should be right at home, as several elements of Speedball 2100 have been retained from the last game. The menus look almost identical to the last game, the differences being that now you have a few more options. You'll be able to buy and sell players, change appearances, and even train your players at the gym.

While the graphics and the sound in Speedball are a bit under par by today's standards, we're hoping that they'll be improved by the time the game ships. Currently, player animations are a bit jerky, the colors are a bit odd, and the sound is rather tinny.

Players looking for a good fix of futuristic arena-sports action should be able to check out Speedball 2100 sometime in the second quarter of 2000. In the meantime, check out these screenshots.