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Speedball 2 HD (Steam & Get Games)

dehimos

Augur
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
275


Key Features
  • HD Graphics in classic Speedball style
  • 6 brand new Speedball Arenas
  • Choose from 336 unique players and 28 Teams across 4 Planets
  • Full Player Transfer Market and Player Upgrade System
  • Ability to create and customise your own ultimate Speedball team
  • 5 different Formations allowing strategy changes during play
  • Score with Goals, Bonus shots and Brutal Knockouts
  • A host of Steam Badges, Cards and Wallpapers to collect
  • Over 20 power-ups and special effects
  • Multiple game modes including 10 Season Career Mode and 10 Single-Player Game Modes
  • Supports game pad and keyboard controls for 2 players at once
  • Local multiplayer mode includes customisable tournaments for up to 8 player teams
  • Plenty of Trophies and Achievements to collect
  • The World famous “Ice Cream... Ice Cream!!” sample

http://store.steampowered.com/app/251690/
http://www.getgamesgo.com/product/speedball-2-hd

£7/€9/$8

Sounds like a good remake.
 
Unwanted

Sycophantic Noob

Andhaira
Andhaira
Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
236
Woohoo! The original was amazing. I think there was also some failed 3D version that came out a couple of years ago?
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
I do not hate the remake, even kind of like it, it's great as long as you're replaying it sparsely for the nostalgia.

A few key features are missing and i played the Emulated Genesis version to make sure i remembered right.
- I really miss the SE when starting a game, it conveyed a sense of urgency and tension.
- You get to see the results after a game but you can't check them at will
- Same for the last game stats
- I really miss the Recruit button buzzing when new recruits are available

Decline Features of the HD version
- It's easier, each season is shorter too but the career last longer
- Coin drop rate nerfed
- No Manager mode (where you don't play yourself, just manage the team) but as they dumbed down the management part, i can see why, well, it's not like i played that mode so i don't care about this one
- Worse part being the recruits, best players want to join your wicked team day 1, what the fuck ? Of course you can't afford them but that's real decline man, best management part was that buzzing sound and checking the new potential recruits.

Incline features (updated)
- The music is less aggressive, original was good but you had to turn it off after a while (first part being great while the second more aggressive part was annoying fast), i wished they saved the first part of the original music.
- Graphics are fine, really, just check what they did with Realms of Arkania HD or Wasteland 1 remake ...
- UI is simplified, original was good for it's time, really good but it was improved, a shame they seized the opportunity to dumb it down too
- In spite of the flaws, the experience is good, not great but good enough, specially if you're replaying it for nostalgia purposes and don't want to play and re-play the championship
- Inter Galactic Cup
- Champion's League
- You can stop any cut-scenes, like wounded players evacuated (you can't in the original)
- It's slightly slower, just enough to prevent some own goals and shooting in the wrong direction.
- Maybe an emulation problem, with Kgen (Megadrive/Genesis rom), the screen isn't perfectly centered on the ball at all times, when you're going toward the opponent's goal, you have less visibility forward

Conclusion : (updated)
It's worth playing a season, with the Inter-Galactic Cup and the champions League, there's enough going on.
The big difference with the original is not being able to check games stats and Rankings at all times and the loss of the dynamic transfer system (you can hire max stats players as soon as you have enough money instead of being available progressively)

Also, i miss the coins spawn rate, it was fun to run in circle around the field to collect 1K.
I guess they could have shortened the career and increased the coin spawn rate but it's nitpicking.
Great remake, not perfect but close enough.

Difficulty : (updated)
People talk about the AI in their review.
One true thing about the AI : it's less focuses on the ramps, i guess they wanted to make it more about scoring.
Other than that, it doesn't feel like the AI is dumber at all.
This version is slightly slower and opponents have clone players with almost the same scores, they only use the gym and don't recruit, it changes from the original where early, some teams would have trash players just like you and a couple of stars.

Jaesun in case you're interested in a more in-depth review.

Edit : by the way, dehimos it's on GoG too.
 
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Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
Played it further, there's something new and i think i know why it's easier.

After the first half-season, you get into Division 2 and if you're somewhere on top (probably 1st and 2nd), you get to play the Galactic Cup.

Now, either you get lucky or you're up against a 5 stars team (yeah, players have characteristics but are also rated by stars depending on their average characteristics) while at this point, you probably have a 1 or 2 stars team.
You being lucky means you're up against one team from D1 or D2, all other teams have devil looking players or cyborgs with max stats.

Almost won against the cyborgs the second time around after winning D1 but they scored last minute ...
Now, second time winning D1, got lucky first turn having to go against Turbo Hammers, i think (D1 team) and then beat a cyborg team by not much ...
Two games to go, it's tough.

About the difficulty

I think it comes from the fact other team don't recruit and they have clones players having roughly the same stats 1 or 2 stars in D2 and 2 or 3 stars in D1.
That's a damn shame, i don't know why they did that, maybe the Managing AI was too difficult/ expensive to implement against the foreseen return but when i watched their retarded 3D intro, i think they should have been using that money for that management AI instead.
Having new recruits wanting to join you depending on your rankings and results and competing against other team to recruit them was the second best thing in Speedball 2.

I think that's the only thing really missing to make it a hit.
They were so close ...
 
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
8,819
Location
Italy
I think it comes from the fact other team don't recruit and they have clones players having roughly the same stats 1 or 2 stars in D2 and 2 or 3 stars in D1.
That's a damn shame, i don't know why they did that, maybe the Managing AI was too difficult/ expensive to implement against the foreseen return but when i watched their retarded 3D intro, i think they should have been using that money for that management AI instead.
are you telling me we now have a thousandfold and more clockpower for *less* complex games?
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
Well, i didn't say exactly that, you did but yeah, you summed it all up.

Falksi Go for it, i find it entertaining enough for 9€ on GoG
The worst about the aesthetic is the intro, just don't watch that crap, you'll be doing yourself a favor and i think the screens above are way uglier than the game actually is.

It looks weird before 0:43 in the first post video but at 0:43, that's how it looks like, besides the low quality video.
 
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Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
So, i won the semi-final by an inch x2 score multiplier and 13 seconds before the end, the score was 64 - 64 (another terminator team), won by a bumper.
They tried to even the score but missed a bumper by a hair ...
68 - 64, take that, fucking robots!

Then, i wanted to take a break ...

:rage:

So i quit the game except i did it when the game was about to start, the quit button had the replaced the exit one and i forfeited the final.
The fuckers won without playing 600-0 ...
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
So, i braced myself and went for another D1 season, third one isn't much of a challenge, first one was barely one but i can see teams aren't recruiting but they're using the gym to train their troops.

New Galactic Cup, went to the finals against Arsenic, they're the best Galactic Team (There's a few terminators team, they're one of them), Was 30 point ahead, x2 score multiplier and ...

I fucked up again, their Middle Center caught me pants down three times in a row and of course, i tried three times to go straight through the center.
And they love their bumpers.

Here we go again ...

After i win this and a little break from Speedball 2, i'm going for another tournament on the Megadrive/Genesis version, i miss the old competitive transfer system.
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
Learned my lesson, this time i used the strategy "when you're ahead, just stall" twice in quater-finals and finals, there's also a yeti-like team, frozen synapse i think, beat them in quarter, tough motherfuckers.

And now, i'm the proud owner of the galactic cup i could should have won two seasons ago.

Then, the games tells me i reached the halfway point of my career ... Seriously ?
I guess people who like achievements could enjoy grinding 9 D1 seasons (yes, there's in game achievements) but i'll just stop there for now.

Edit : checked the achievements, it involves a champions league and also beating all the other teams (20/27 actually) so i might go on and try the Champions League.
 
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Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
So, i spent another hour on this, nailed another D1 season and then the champion's league replaced the Intergalactic cup, first, mini league with 3 other teams then semi-finals and finals.

I had to show them who's the boss so i wiped the floor with Cyan ID (another Robot army) 201 - 44 in finals.

Still, the game doesn't stop ... I've read a review saying there's 10 seasons to go through, not sure i have it in me.

It was fun though.
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
Launched the Megadrive/Genesis emulation version again, a shame i sold mine long ago, because i think the emulation doesn't do it justice and in this state, both version (emulated one and the PC HD version) have pros and cons.

Updated my review, the HD version is really good, not spectacular, it's just a remake but it does the job.
 

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