Speedball 2 evolution ps39/19/2023 ![]() ![]() Points are gained by scoring (10 points), hitting a bumper or a star (2p), lighting all 5 stars (10p) and knocking out an opposition player (10p). Simply get more points than your opponent. Grab your iPad or a large plate if you don’t have an iPad and flap it around in front of you with your arms bent. This is not something you’d want to do at work in your lunch time or if you fancied a sneaky game. Also, you look like an idiot flapping your iPad around everywhere. The tilting action is clumsy and frankly uncomfortable to play, particularly on the move. The tilt controls are awful and that’s not because I’m old and want to use a joystick. Jon Hare has told The Guardian that the tilt mechanism is very intuitive after about 30 seconds use and that the virtual joystick is a retro way of playing. I felt the gameplay was slower when compared to the Amiga original, but then it would have to be as the control method is crippling you slightly. It’s not perfect, by any means and it isn’t as good as using a real joystick. My players responded (mostly) to my commands, they could pass, tackle and score goals. By using this virtual joystick I finally felt like I was playing Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe again. You can move the joystick area around the screen by lifting your finger and placing it back on the screen. You choose which side of the screen the joystick lives and then you’re away. Thankfully, there is another and eminently more sensible control method via the virtual on-screen joystick (pictured). Tower Studios have ruined Speedball 2: Evolution. I actually wanted to kill my iPad and my team after playing a few games with the tilt controls. This is the most fist-eatingly annoying control method I’ve ever used and one that is completely out of place in a fast paced ball game. You are expected to tilt the iPad to move the selected player. This is where it all goes horribly, horribly wrong. Now we come to the default control method. Everything is in keeping with the original and entirely sensible. A more intelligent player will be better at reading the game and be in the right place more often. Intelligence is also one of the abilities you can upgrade in each player in the gym. The AI controls the other players in your team so you don’t have to worry about them following the play. Tap and hold the screen and your player will lob the ball as far as they can. Tap on one of your teammates and your player throws the ball directly to them. If you do have the ball, tapping the screen makes them throw it. If you don’t have the ball, tapping the screen makes the player perform a slide tackle. You control the player closest to, or with, the ball. Given my history, I was very curious how Tower Studios had translated the controls to a touch screen. That poor joystick would get some serious abuse during every Speedball game I played. In my case I used my trusty and indestructible Competition Pro 5000. Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe was designed to be played using a joystick and buttons. It is entirely optional, but I recommend it for the simple reason that it will remove any doubt as to the best control method to use. ![]() Thankfully, Tower Studios have included a short tutorial for people new to the game, or old grizzled players like me who want to learn how the new controls work. The interface in the gym works really nicely with the touch screen well implemented and simple to use. You can choose to upgrade single or multiple abilities on any number of players. You start off with $1500 in the bank to either transfer in new players or train up your team in the gym. As in the original game, you take control of a Speedball team called Brutal Deluxe, or in my case The Avg Gamer. Ok, the new track is not bad, but I wish they’d included a lot more of the original track. The title music contains elements of the original stonkingly brilliant Speedball 2 title track by Nation 12. ![]() The graphics, menus and even the team names were all very familiar. Initially I felt right at home with Speedball 2: Evolution. Developed under the guidance of Jon Hare from legendary 1980/90s software house Sensible Software, this game has quite a reputation to live up to. Now over 20 years later, Speedball 2 is back and running on the über-sexy iPad as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch. Its name was Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe and it was pure brilliance. Back in 1990, I bought latest Bitmap Brothers game on the Amiga. ![]()
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