Speedball 2 review - Sega Megadrive

Speedball 2 box art Speedball's back! After a hundred years of absence, the most violent sport ever devised by man has bounced back - and this time it's twice as deadly!

Like the original speedball, the game's authorities have left all of the rules and referees out, which generally ensures that plenty of entertaining, physical violence is the order of the day. No matter how violent a game may be, there's got to be an objective. In Speedball 2 it's scoring points, and the most usual form of this pursuit comes from scoring goals in the opposition's 'net'. But ass you'll read later on, there are quite a few more tally-toting techniques to discover.

In addition to the smash, grab 'n' score antics of the actual game, Speedball 2 also puts you in the role of team manager. This means that you supervise each players training programme, as well as keeping an eye on the transfer market for any Lineker-esque goal scoring star players. Training and new players are paid for with the prize money you receive from each game played.

You start with your team, Brutal Deluxe, languishing at the bottom of Speedball Division Two. Using you skills and judgement, it's your job as player manager to get to the top of Division One - and stay there!

What the Mean Machines staff thought

Speedball 2 is one of the finest Amiga games I've ever played, and apart from minor sonic differences, this Megadrive version is exactly the same. All the fun of beating up a legion of enemy players and scoring a goal after gratuitously assaulting the goalie has you playing on your 16-bir machine for ages! I also like the way that scoring points isn't solely reliant on getting the ball past the opposing goalie. All of the score multiplying and star-spangling makes for some exciting action in the mid-field area as well as at each end. The graphics and sound are good, serving their purpose well, and with all of the different game options, there's tons here to be getting on with. As fast-action violent games go, Speedball 2 is excellent, with only EA Ice Hockey beating it in the entertainment stakes.

Speedball 2 is a superb future sports simulation that combines extremely fast and addictive gameplay with plenty of violence. It's one of those games that's very easy to pick up and play, but has the potential to let experts learn some amazing tricks and tactics. Like all sports games, the two-player mode provides the most fun (you just can's help screaming and shouting at your opponent - especially when play starts to get dirty), but that's not to say that single-play action is dull, Not at all - the computer opponents pack a hefty punch and the management section adds a whole new angle to the game. With its excellent graphics and superb gameplay, Speedball 2 is a long lasting and thoroughly enjoyable sports simulation that should definitely be checked out.

Have your say about Speedball 2

Richy Girth - 03 Dec 2008, 15:09 GMT

"Ice cream! Icccccccce creaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam..!!"

The speed of play! The violence! The tactics and cash system..!
So many great memories of this little number, especially in two player mode.
Had it on the Amiga as I did the first Speedball, and on it countless hours would be spent battling for title of "master of entire universe" up and down that pitch.. When you lost at this game, it hurt like no other against-human friend loss would until maybe SF2. You couldn't easily forget the sense of dread when you see the opposition have hit those stars up so that they add more points to each goal they score...
But likewise the feeling of euphoria having slid past the last of your opponents defence having fought and dodged yourself all the way in and taking that shot past their goalie is immense.
Addictive stuff that even played today has much of its viceral potency.
Perhaps the finest of the Bitmap Brothers' roll at that time.
Its certainly my favorite.

Dan - 17 Mar 2009, 16:25 GMT

If you analyse this game and break it down it's not that outstanding, but when all said n done it ate hours up of my life and was one of those games that you could just switch off your brain and kick the shinola out of everything and anything. Great fun and up the bum to boot.

Richy Girth - 21 May 2009, 00:12 GMT

Absolutely. But then then we could say that of Tetris also, couldnt we.

Simple is often genius best.

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