Thirty-something gamers will, or rather should, have fond memories of Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, which finally arrives on Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday (17th). The future sport that mixed gridiron, rugby and a heavy ball was a huge hit on the Amiga and remains one of the best reasons to dust down your A500 and Competition Pro joystick. Multiplayer, in particular, was a treat, especially if you were as good as me.
Of course, 17 years ago the prospect of sitting at home playing Speedball II with someone 200 miles away was the stuff of fantasy. And while 2007 may lack the jetpacks and hover cars I probably predicted for it in 1990, online Speedball 2 would have been ample compensation. That's the theory of course. I've not played the game yet but let's hope The Bitmap Brothers - the developers responsible for numerous 30-something game nostalgia fests - don't tinker too much with the winning formula. Now all we need is Sensible Soccer to finally surface. Any other 16bit Amiga/ST classics you'd love to see resurrected?
