Do you remember... Dead Ball Zone

Potential-Monke

An attempt at a new type of thread, similar in vein to the "Reasons you should have owned..." threads by Enderman.

Dead Ball Zone



Published by: GT Interactive
Developed by: Rage Software
Genre: Sports
Number of Players: 1-2
Release Date:
US: September 24, 1998
Japan: April 23, 1998

In the future, sports become deadly events that endanger the lives of everyone involved. DEAD BALL ZONE is one of those sports. Control an eight-man team whose only purpose is to put the ball into the other team's goal. Players are allowed to use pile drivers, head butts, and body checks to try to slow down the opposition. If these moves are too tame, use grenades, guns, and chainsaws to take out the competition. Play a Tussle to quickly get into the action, or try to move your team through the local, national, and world rankings of the League while playing in exotic locales like London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Thailand. Luckily, winning league competitions earns your team money to treat injuries and provide training so the team will play according to your style. Do you have the guts to enter the DEAD BALL ZONE?

I remember getting this game well after release, probably in a bargain bin for pittance. But i must have put 100+ hours into it. Creating a team from scratch, picking the colours, patterns, stats, moves, skills, and going out and killing as many other players as i could. That was the great thing about this game, it played like many other soccer or rugby tournaments, 10+ teams playing each other twice in a season. But, if you killed the best player on their team, he was gone, kaput, finito. It brought an extra aspect to the game, take out the best players while still trying to win the game.

And what a brutal game it could get. Forever avoiding the hatchet man from the other teams, trying to conserve your best players for the bigger matches, and possibly losing a season in 1 match due to too many fatalities. Be it broken bones and limbs through piledrivers and flying headbutts, or death through chainsaws, bombs and guns.

Thats why i place this game high above the usual tripe of sports games, for being different, and being good at being different.

See also: RedCard

ShadowHearth

OMFG YES!

i think it is the only sports ( if you can call it like this ) game i loved!

just looked in youtube and got a wave of memories!

deathrider

I honestly don't know. I used to have a PS1 game like this. Played the hell outta it around 1999, but can't for the life of me remember the name of it. It could have been this. Could have easily been something else though
Whichever it was reminds me of the good old days. Sneaking into pubs, chasing skirt, listening to Black Sabbath, and playing waaaaaay too much pool.

Great idea for a thread by the way

Potential-Monke

Here's a good demo of it, stats at 0.37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RNyGClQw8w

Oh i'd love a remake!

Edit: I've also found out that the game was released under the name Savage Arena.

BlitzKrieg

*cough*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4s2IimFn-c

deathrider

I'm pretty sure that's the one
I must get a copy of that for the collection.

BlitzKrieg

thats speedball 2 which is the original series that dead ball zone is inspired by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedball_(video_game)#Similar_games

deathrider

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

thats speedball 2 which is the original series that dead ball zone is inspired by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedball_(video_game)#Similar_games

I actually meant the fist vid there. Your post must have came in while I was watching it, lol. I certainly remember Speedball though. Played a fair amount of that as a kid. What ever happened to that cyber-sports genre? Haven't heard of a game in that style in years.

EGriff

I used to love this game. You'd be waiting for the second half to start and half your team would be puking all over the floor because of the beating they took in the first half. :pac:

Fnz

I got DBZ after reading positive reviews and enjoying "Soccer Brawl" the couple times I played it in the arcade. I don't enjoy football games, this one was alright but didn't hold my attention for two long, either. I liked the idea of it more than I enjoyed actually playing it.

Potential-Monke

I recently got my copy working on my laptop using my ps3 controller. I'm suddenly 12 years younger again!

LH Pathe

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

thats speedball 2 which is the original series that dead ball zone is inspired by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedball_(video_game)#Similar_games

ah. Certainly remember Speedball around the late '80s indeed the name of this game only brought that to mind. The irony

Headshot

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

*cough*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4s2IimFn-c

Man that takes me back

I adored that game on the amiga

Nody

Try the latest Bloodbowl; similar style (no guns but you got more wonky items such steampowered death rollers, goblin chainsaws etc.) and a huge variety in team style (Undead are slow but hard to kill, poor passers and more brawlers to wood elfs being able to bring the ball from their end zone to score in one round).

Also have the possibility to hire temporary support, knock out, hurt (permanent damage for said player) and kill the enemy team (and they will accordingly be down said player).