Sportsball

Genre: Arcade / Party Game / Platformer / Sports (Misc.)

Players: 1-4 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Sportsball, released on Wii U in 2014, is an Arcade-style Party Game with Platformer and Sports elements that asks the question, “what if the bird-mounted combatants in the classic arcade game Joust were all trying to get a ball into a goal?”

The game’s presentation makes use of simple 2D visuals that are appealing but in no way impressive, and the levels unfortunately repeat the same three or so backgrounds making them somewhat samey-looking. These visuals are backed by an excellent energetic and silly soundtrack with some delightfully absurd voiced themes with vocalists dramatically promising that “Birds Will Fly”. This sorta’ stuff definitely adds to this game’s fun atmosphere.

For the game itself, players have a ton of different game modes to choose from… if they want to play in multiplayer. Sadly, the game doesn’t include AI opponents, so solo players will find the one timed game mode on offer here really disappointing – if you want to play this game, play with friends.

As for the gameplay itself, Sportsball makes for a fairly lighthearted and fun romp, though its mechanics and hit detection are odd and unpredictable. It’s difficult to interact with the balls in a game that can predictably send them to the goal, and likewise when your bird comes into contact with an opponent it’s not always clear why one bird trounced the other. At least in theory it seems like the winner is supposed to be whatever bird is on top or has the greater attack value, but this doesn’t always seem to be the case.

Yet, despite how wonky Sportsball’s mechanics are, its fast-paced and lighthearted gameplay and its fun presentation make it a decent addition to your Party Game roster, even if the game’s flaws mean it won’t be a game you’re likely to play for long sessions.

tl;dr – Sportsball is basically what would happen if you took the classic Arcade game Joust and turned it into a quirky Sports game. The result is wacky and fun, though it’s brought down by unpredictable physics and hit detection, as well as a lack of single-player content. Still, this game makes for a nice addition to your Party Game collection.

Grade: C+

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