Back in 1991, football was pretty much all I bothered about.
Sure, I played other games, but I’d always end up bouncing back to one of the old favourites – Emlyn Hughes was probably my game of choice in 1991.
I was still rocking a C64 then, despite having friends with Atari STs and Amigas. I’d go overt to Jason’s house, the same guy who kicked my ass on Kick Off 2, to see the game I could be playing, before heading home to shove a cassette in a machine and hope for the best.
One afternoon I went to his expecting to design a kit on a football game, only for him to start going on about a game called Speedball 2. I bought the magazines (Zzap64!) so I’d seen it, but I hadn’t given the trials and tribulations of Speedball 2 much of a second thought. After an hour, all I wanted was shoulder pads and a little steel ball.
For those who haven’t played, Speedball 2 was a combination between rugby and hockey I suppose, played in a futuristic course with a steel ball. according to the story, the first Speedball league failed due to violence and corruption. As the organisation gives place 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.
That’s you, that is.
Anyway, you got to play through a season as Brutal Deluxe, signing such bruisers as ‘Nigel’ and ‘Julian’ to your team. The gameplay looks dated now, but back in 1991 it made my C64 glow with delight. The big releases tended to cost £10.99 and I didn’t have £10.99, but I had friends who did. I borrowed a copy from one of them as they moved on to something new, and settled down to the game. Most nights, as my parents went to bed, you could here the gentle sounds of me leathering Turbo Hammers or Fatal Justice as I climbed the divisions. I was hooked, and I suspect this was the first time I realised I would have to get an Amiga instead of the old 8-bit machines.
Speedball 2 had everything a 13-year-old could want. It was violent and offensive without being sweary and gory. You could master it too, there was no element of randomness which often plagued 8-bit games. If you were good, you would be someone who was not. On the rare occasion I tempted my brother into a 2 player game, I would win handsomely and crow about it. I wasn’t exactly a nice 13-year-old.
I even know when I was playing Speedball 2, April 1992. After borrowing it, I was hooked so badly nothing else mattered, other than grabbing those power ups and building my team. Brutal Deluxe were the best thing in my life and nothing else mattered. Nothing.
We always went swimming on a Friday evening at and on this one Friday, 10th April 1992, I wanted to stay at home. I hadn’t been well, genuinely, and thought I’d be best at home, ‘resting’. My Mum and Dad thought we should visit my grandparents before we went swimming, at which point the decision was made that I could miss our trip to the pool. My grandad was keen for me to stay with them for the evening and get picked up later, but I resisted. Those power ups wouldn’t wait for any man and I had made my mind up exactly where I wanted to be that night. I got home, smashed the tape into the machine and primed my joystick hand, ready to go.
The following day, my Grandad died. That was the last time I saw him, as I left the house with nothing but Speedball 2 on my mind.
Somehow, after that, the game didn’t get much of my attention. Even now, almost thirty years later, I get upset when I think about it. I tried playing it on the Raspberry Pi the other week, but couldn’t get into it. I appreciate this is a bit of a brutal end to a retro gaming piece, but despite loving the game, there is no other end I can give you I’m afraid.
There is a message here – video games are great, really great, but so is real life. Enjoy both.