KlashBall
System: NES
Release Date: July 1991
Developer: The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher: SOFEL
Genre: Sports
Sport in the future promises to be extreme, just like KlashBall! It’s the 23rd century and KlashBall is a mixture of basketball, football, soccer, and hockey all rolled into one. Take your team to the top either in league play or a knockout tournament. The games are fast and furious, so get ready for some white knuckle action.
In a display of kindness, you can get instructions of how to play and the rules of KlashBall on the title screen. Then pick the one player mode or an exhibition against a friend… or foe. I started a league and was given three teams to choose from. One with extra stamina, one with more power, and the last with more skill. Skill is important to succeed when tackling. Stamina is drained when tackled. Power denotes how much stamina is drained. If your stamina is drained, you move slowly around the court and are worthless.
The court is a rectangle with goals on either end. The middle is the ball launcher, which shoots the ball in a random direction upon starting a new play. On the sides are a warp tunnel that if the ball is hit into, it will warp to the other side. Positioned randomly on the court are four bounce domes that the ball can not roll over without being redirected. These can be placed in some irritating spots. Games last two minutes and you win by scoring the most goals. There are four players and a goalie on each team. The A Button shoots the ball or lobs it in the air. If the ball is above you, pressing the A Button will jump to catch it. This can be problematic because the computer loves to come in and tackle you as you catch the ball. The B Button is a boost while holding the ball and tackles when you’re on defense.
To score, I tried to come in from a diagonal angle and take advantage of the goalie’s lack of lateral movement ability. This worked great on the crappier teams, but didn’t do so hot against the better teams. Occasionally appearing on court will be a power tile that gives you powerups, like the backup goal blocker. There are also coins that pop up that can be used after the game to give yourself an overtime period, useful if you’re losing. Increases to your stamina, power, and skill in the next game. Or even the ability to add a goal to your total if you want to break a tie.
I had some problems with the controls. First off, the player you control automatically changes with proximity to the ball. This messed me up a bunch of times. The time between a goal and the ball launching again is 15 seconds, which I started fast forwarding through because it slowed the game down way too much. I also had struggles with the goalie, as you control the goalie and the defense man simultaneously. This means you can’t play defense and stop goals, so you have to choose one or the other. I gave up a lot of goals in this manner and ended up going 5 and 5 in my league play.
Graphics: 1.5
Graphics are very plain. There’s a lot of ghosting and flickering. But if you like gray, you’ll be happy.
Sound: 1.0
There’s a lot of sound effects and none of them are pleasant.
Gameplay: 1.5
I stand by the control and design choice issues I mentioned, but it’s playable enough.
Difficulty: 3.0
Some teams will murder you, while others are a push over. If you’re good, you should be able to win.
Fun Factor: 2.5
For all its flaws, I had a decent time. I think it would be better on more powerful hardware with more buttons.
Overall Rating: 1.9
KlashBall earns a C. This is an okay game that you might get some enjoyment out of. Probably better with another person to play with.