Tecmo brings us Super Dodge Ball. What makes it super? Well this is the world series championships, for one. Two, this is a game that is made more fun by the special throws each player has. In story mode you play as the US team against all other rival teams, starting with one at home, then touring the world. Its a pretty short game, but lets go into a bit, shall we?


Graphics: 4
The good: some backgrounds are nicely detailed, such as the first stage, U.S. and the Iceland stage. Each and every player gets lovingly crafted special moves that are animated to do zany things; such as centripetal force bending the ball into a looping path, teleporting the ball, or even splitting it into several pieces. 
The bad: Some backgrounds are quite dull and sparse, such as China, and Germany. The player sprites are heavily reused, many models featured on several teams. Perhaps most disappointing, is the game can't show you more than 6 or 7 players on the screen without flickering one of them. Its pretty silly, considering you will often have many players on the screen. This I think is the reason for the rolling screen display, so that it won't have to display so many characters. 

Sound: 4
The good: The special moves have a distinct sound, and the hit on the opponent sounds full and is satisfyingly full of damage. The stage music is alright sometimes, although all are short loops. There is a good use of the footstep sound effect that is more noticeable in a stage like Kenya, that has a lot of dirt that slows you down.
The bad: The characters have no noises in and of themselves. The winner celebrates to a fanfare music but there is no yells or cheers from a crowd. The stage music can often be lackluster and its simplicity is often boring.

Addictiveness: 6
The good:  The game's concept is simple and immediately you know what to do. Throw the ball without stepping over the line and smack the other team with it! Its fun to beat them up, and some special moves are hilarious and inventive and don't get old. For instance, USA team Randy has a jumping special throw that hits the enemy so hard he travels around the world and does a big chunk of damage. Don't you want to do that? Its great.
This game was made for VS play, and that does feature here. There is also a practice type survival mode where its just you and your team mates against each other in a free for all, no out of bounds zones.
The bad: Despite having a few different modes, each offering a unique plays style, there is not a lot to the game. The matches are not long, the simple moves are also easily mastered.

Story: 3
The good: its a sports drama, so most of the story is fairly explanatory. Compete against like-minded teams, tour exotic locations! 
The bad: The game is set with unique stages and a host of players, but .. where are the fans or the trophies?  Did Sam and the boys just meet up and make a team? Why are they together? Why would anyone know about this tournament or want to enter it?

Depth: 4
The good: Each team has different special throws for each player, and knowing how to use them is important, as some work best against clusters of foes, some against those not far from the middle of the screen, etc.. You can jump and throw, duck n dodge, catch the ball, or even pass the ball and use your field mates waiting on the OOB zones around the enemy. A few of the stages, like Iceland, have special turf that effects how you catch and run. This is a nice bonus.  
The bad: While many players have unique throws, a few get recycled, two have the UFO drop shot, for instance. There is a lot to picking your lineup, but it really doesn't matter, as the defending positions just sit around most of the game, and eat up pixels. You can use them to attack, but its going to be weak 1-2 hit damage, and only really useful to hit tired enemies to finish them off. 

Difficulty: 2
The good: This is not a hard game. Once you get the special moves down with some reliability (hint: start running ), this is a game you can play and beat fairly quickly.
The bad: This game has little challenge, despite the choice in difficulty. Other than some enemies catching more often and using special moves more, you still will often keep control of the ball and therefore dictate punishment as you see fit. There is a secret final team, but its really lame. Seriously.

All in all, those expecting the marshmallow-bodied guys of River City Ransom to lead us to another golden game are to be disappointed, no Alex and Ryan here. Also no secrets, no exploration and tinkering with teams to do here, Super Dodge ball is good for a match or two against a buddy, and fun to smash the computer, but not one to expect much replay value in.

This is a really great review.  Good job! It's easy to read and covers all essential aspects of a review.  One thing that I really appreciated was how you separated each section into 'the good' and 'the bad'.  That's really creative, and I have a lot of respect for people that can offer both positive and negative feedback.  It lends a more 'fair' appraisal of the game.

Singelli : Thanks, I was trying something new.

endings : Excellent review! I really liked on how you pointed out the good and bad of  each part of the game, such as graphics, sound, etc. It reminds me of what the writers at the old Game Players magazine used to do in their game reviews. It was something that was greatly appreciated at the time by myself, and it's still appreciated when somebody does it now. Great job.

This is a great review!!  I was going to write a review for this game, but I think you've already covered all of the points that need to be made on it.  This is a game that really didn't age well.  When compared to games that came not long after this game is very short on features, however I remember I had a ton of fun playing this game with my best friend when I was like 5 or 6 years old.  So I think part of the game's replay value depends on the maturity of the gamer as well as the time period it was played.  Thanks for the review.