''Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe'' is a 1990 video game based on a violent futuristic

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

that draws on elements of

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, and rewards violent play as well as goals. The concept of the game is very reminiscent of the 1975 film '' Rollerball''. The original game was developed by

Bitmap Brothers The Bitmap Brothers are a British video game developer founded in 1987. The company entered the video game industry in 1988 with the scrolling shooter ''Xenon''. They quickly followed with '' Speedball''. Prior to becoming the publisher of th ...

, with various remakes for many platforms since being published. It is a sequel to the 1988 game '' Speedball''. The game was released for multiple platforms: the

Acorn Archimedes Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, Cambridge, England. The systems are based on Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and the proprietary operating systems Arthur and RISC OS. The fi ...

Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it competed with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, the Super NES and the ...

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32, code-named "Spellbound") is a 32-bit home video game console developed by Commodore and released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London on July 16, ...

, PC,

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

Sega Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

. The first version was simultaneously developed and released for the

and the

in 1990.

Plot

According to the game's story, the first Speedball league (founded in 2095) fails due to violence and corruption. As the organisation gives rise to anarchy, the game is forced underground. But five years later, in an attempt to regain public interest, ''Speedball 2'' is born. The game starts in 2105 with the emergence of a new team, Brutal Deluxe.

Gameplay

''Speedball 2'' makes several changes over the original ''Speedball''. Teams have nine players on court rather than five, and targets on the floor and walls can be hit to receive bonus points. The number of points that a team receives for scoring a goal starts at 10 but can be increased to 15 or 20 via the use of score multipliers located on the walls of the pitch. The same number of points for scoring a goal is given for injuring a player from the opposing team. When a player is injured, he is replaced by one of three substitutes. If all three substitutes are injured, the injured player will be forced to return to the game and play on in spite of his injuries. There are five game modes: knockout, cup, league, practice and multiplayer. Each game lasts for 180 seconds.

Reception

''Speedball 2'' is one of Bitmap Brothers' most successful titles. Zzap,

CU Amiga ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vic ...

and

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

scored the game highly. The music, written by Simon Rogers and remixed and coded by

Richard Joseph Richard Joseph (23 April 1953 – 4 March 2007) was an English computer game composer, musician and sound specialist. He had a career spanning 20 years starting in the early days of gaming on the C64 and the Amiga and onto succeeding form ...

, won the 1991

Golden Joystick Award The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...

for Best Soundtrack. The voices, including the 'Ice Cream' salesman, were voiced by sometime Richard Joseph collaborator Michael Burdett working under the pseudonym Jams O'Donnell. The game was voted the 3rd best game of all time in

Amiga Power ''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996. Philosophy ''Amiga Power'' had several principles which com ...

. In 1994, ''

PC Gamer US ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...

'' named ''Speedball 2'' the 24th best computer game ever. The editors wrote, "You just can't beat this game for pure action." That same year, ''

PC Gamer UK ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...

'' named it the 30th best computer game of all time, calling it "totally convincing and very stylish". In 1998, ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...

'' declared it the 40th-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it "still one of the funnest sports games out there". ''Speedball 2'' has sold over two million copies.

Remakes

Various

remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

of ''Speedball 2'' have been released.

Speedball 2100

''Speedball 2100'', released only for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

, is a 3D version of ''Speedball 2'' with more options such as choosing and renaming any team, instead of having to play with Brutal Deluxe. This version, released in September 2000, failed to win over gamers and press because it lacked the speed and gameplay of the originals. Speedball 2100 will be released on Evercade as part of the Bitmap Brothers Collection 1.

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (2007)

Empire Interactive released '' Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe'' onto

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

on October 17, 2007. The game features a 3D graphics mode in addition to the "classic" visuals, as well as additional teams and online play. According to statements by the Bitmap Brothers, this version of the game takes place in the 24th century. It was eventually delisted from Xbox Live Arcade, but people who have already downloaded it are still able to play it.

Speedball 2 Tournament

Frogster Interactive Pictures released a remake developed by

Kylotonn Kylotonn Société à responsabilité limitée, SARL is a French video game development studio founded in 2006 in Paris. They are best known for their racing games, and are the official developer of the ''World Rally Championship (video game se ...

, ''

Speedball 2 Tournament ''Speedball 2 Tournament'' is a sequel to the Amiga futuristic sports video game '' Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe'' originally created by The Bitmap Brothers. It was developed by Kylotonn for Microsoft Windows and published by Frogster Interactiv ...

'' onto

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

in November 2007.

Speedball 2: Evolution

In February 2011, Tower Studios released another updated version called ''Speedball 2: Evolution'', developed by Vivid Games for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and

MacOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

. The game features multiplayer support and achievements via

Game Center Game Center is a service by Apple that allows users to play and challenge friends when playing online multiplayer social gaming network games. Games can now share multiplayer functionality between the Mac and iOS versions of the app. Game C ...

. It was also released for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

Speedball 2 HD

A remake for the PC titled ''Speedball 2 HD'' was released December 5, 2013 on

. It was developed by Vivid Games and directed by

Jon Hare Jon "Jops" Hare (born 20 January 1966, Ilford, Essex, England) is an English computer game designer, video game artist, musician and one of many founder members of the early UK games industry as co-founder and director, along with Chris Yates ...

References

External links

Bitmap Brothers
pages o

an
Speedball II review, 1992
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe 1990 video games Acorn Archimedes games Amiga games Atari ST games Amiga CD32 games Commodore 64 games Cyberpunk video games Fantasy sports video games Game Boy games Master System games Sega Genesis games Video games scored by Barry Leitch Video games scored by David Whittaker Video games scored by Richard Joseph Video games set in the 22nd century Video games developed in the United Kingdom Akella games Multiplayer and single-player video games Empire Interactive games The Bitmap Brothers games Image Works games