Okay, I know I was raving about the arrival of Speedball 2 on Xbox Live Arcade but after ploughing through an oddly underwhelming hour or two on the game last night I'm slightly disappointed. Was the game really this frantic? Was it always this hard? Why are the "enhanced" graphics so appalling? Nostalgia is the main reason - I haven't played the game for about 15 years and it's easy to get misty eyed over stuff you played as a teenager. And maybe I was expecting too much but I certainly didn't remember the annoying bug/feature at the start of a match that prevents you from going for the ball.
Admittedly once I'd got over the fact that this is basically a 16 year old Amiga game and not the future of online gaming then the solid action began to get more enjoyable - a win or two did wonders. But retro enthusiasm clearly paid a part in my pre-release excitement. Sensible Soccer - the one we've all been waiting for, honest - shouldn't suffer from this. I played the game last year and it still stands up. Speedball 2 is merely average in comparison. Anyone else enjoying Speedball 2 as much as they hoped?
