Introduction
Neogeo got its uncommon types of games. When I was young, i used to play that game a lot with my friends. And I discovered the translated word thanks to this game : Super Dodge Ball.
So you need to dodge balls that are thrown at you and your team.
Super Dodgeball is also a compadres of the various games from the "Nekketsu Oyako" serie, on pc-engine, nes, psx, and soooo on.
With its innocent face, this marvelous game will keep you under the charm, thanks to lovely colors and a very simple gameplay.
The animated introduction, just like the game itself, is very funny, and shows the different characters. It really creates an envy to immerse (again) in this nice nekketsu oyako universe.
Story
Well, basically you will play for the honor of your clan, the strongest ones will be those who win these dodgeball events.
Special events though, each team will have three players, and one of them is the team leader. The leader has some special powers that could be useful during a match.
Graphics
Personally, I think it's one of the good aspects of Super Dodgeball.
You see these at each level transition, or when you perform special moves/attacks.
There are many of these, and this is cool !
The numerous different stages, and the particular care on the realization, the nice sprite colors, all these details contribute to the guarantee of quality of Super Dodgeball.
Gameplay
The point of that game is to fight for the ball's possession. Paradoxically, you throw this ball on your opponent's heads as soon as you got it in your hands.
Only an apparent paradox though, because
you actually need to hit them to lower their energy, and make sure you're the strongest.
You can adopt a traditional approach,
or you can perform some nice combo moves, each combo depending on the button combination that you will use.
Each player have a certain amount of energy, and must quit the game when the bar is empty.
The game is over when one of the teams have all the players down.
While they're outside the field, your nice compadres will not let you down, so they continue to encourage you.
If they manage to catch the ball anyway, they will not hesitate to throw it quickly to some opponent to kick his ass.
As the game progress you can eventually hire some of the guys who were against you in the previous games.
And the gameplay is very basic, you jump, you do passes, shots. Everything is a question of timing, cauz' if you manage to catch the ball at the right moment,
C'est tout ce qu'il y a de plus simple : on saute, on passe, on tire. Tout est dans le timing, car si vous réceptionnez la balle au bon moment, you will suffer no damages at all, and if it was right after a special attack, damages will be minimals.
By going twice in the same direction, you can also run to be more efficient on the field.
Atmosphere
The sound aspect of the game is overall very satisfying. I appreciated the variety of different sound effects, the digit voices, and the inventiveness of the small melodies that define effectively the global atmosphere of the game.
Replay Value
Even if the game can seem to be limited on the "longevity" side, you're forced to notice the originality of its main concept.
Indeed, it wasn't obvious that this kind of game (dodgeball..) was possible on the neogeo.
Not sure it's the first dodgeball game though (heard there were few snes games).
Anyway, it breaks with the usual type of games that you can play on the neo, fighters, soccer games, or puzzles, and so on.
Note that the game was only released on MVS, and sadly it became quite rare with time. As a consequence, it's a bit expensive when you see it poping on auction sites.
You will only find it in AES format, just like I did, if you accept buying (or if you do it yourself) a conversion.
geez.
Conclusion
Super Dodgeball is definitely the kind of game that i'd like to see more often on any of my game consoles. I just love it.
You will love it.
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Neocup 98 - Road to the final Victory, a classic soccer game released in 1998 by SNK, dedicated to the '98 worldcup.