Super Dodge Ball
System: NES
Release Date: July 1989
Developer: Technōs Japan
Publisher: CSG Imagesoft
Genre: Sports
Kunio-kun! I mean Alex… I mean Sam… is the protagonist in Super Dodge Ball. The Kunio-kun games all hold a spot of fondness in my heart. This is the first sports spin-off of the franchise, of which there were A LOT. You take control of a plucky team of high schoolers and have to compete in a series of dodge ball matches to become world champion.
Teams consist of six players. Three are positioned in the inner court and three are positioned in the outer court around the opponents side. You can choose which of your team is positioned where before the match begins. Each player is rated on a number of statistics, their total energy, throwing power, throwing technique, ball break (amount you can curve the ball), agility, catch technique (ability to catch the ball), and damage capacity (defensive power).
The World Cup mode puts you in a series of eight matches against teams with specific strengths. You start with fellow US representatives. Each player is strong in one of the stats. England has a high technique, which doesn’t help them much. India’s players have super high defense, meaning they only take a couple damage points when hit. Iceland’s players have a lot of energy and also have an icy court which push you back when catching the ball. China are great at catching and also good at technique and agility. Kenya’s players are all super quick and play on sand, which slow their opponents down. The semi-finals are against Japan, a strong all around, but slow team. The finals pit you against the USSR, who are very powerful, strong defenders, and great catchers.
Gameplay is pretty simple. You can walk with the d-pad. Run with a double tap of the d-pad. Pass with the A Button. Throw at your opponents with the B Button. Jump with the A and B Buttons. Most players have special power shots that can be activated by running to the middle of the court and throwing at the right time. Secondary shots can be done by running and jumping and throwing at the right time. There are several different kinds of shots, some being more useful than others. On defense, you can duck throws with the A Button and attempt to catch throws with the B Button. I got a lot more use out of catching.
You can choose from easy, normal, or difficult before you play. I went through normal with no problem, and had to play difficult twice, as I lost against the USSR the first time. As I played, I learned that knocking an opponent down with a power shot and then beaning him with the sidelined players before he could recover was a good tactic for fast damage. There’s also a versus mode where you can choose any team to play with. And Bean Ball mode, which I’ll call the first battle royal game type. You choose to play as one member of Team USA and are tasked with knocking out all five other players in a king of the mountain type game.
Graphics: 2.5
Sprites are varied in looks. Backgrounds are very nice. Incessant flickering knocks the grade down significantly.
Sound: 3.0
Music is also varied by stage and goes with the country of play. They all sound good.
Gameplay: 2.5
There are a lot of controls, but the game is very simple to learn and play. I came out wishing for more depth.
Difficulty: 2.0
Even the difficult setting isn’t very hard. It’s a pattern of catch, run, throw, back up, repeat.
Fun Factor: 2.5
It’s an enjoyable time, but nothing groundbreaking. Playing against another person of the same relative skill level is probably more entertaining than the computer.
Overall Grade: 2.5
Super Dodge Ball earns a B-. It’s a perfectly fine game. You can play it for awhile, enjoy it, and put it down for something a bit meatier.