Super Dodgeball Brawlers

               Million - 2008 - Sports

This ball is flat.
Reviewed by Tony --- 12/130/08

   Super Dodgeball Brawlers is a continuation in the long line of the loosely tied together Kunio-kun series of games from developer Technos (which has long been defunct, and the series taken over by Million), which consists of good games like River City Ransom, Nintendo World Cup, or Crash 'N The Boys Street Challenge.  The only problem with this game is that this game isn't much of a gem.

   One player gameplay is pretty straightforward, and it boils down to either tournament play, which is two 7-man teams (four in the court, three outside of the opponent's court) pitted against each other; or Brawl, a ont-shot match style of play which consists of no courts, an open area, and an eight player battle royale.  It plays like any previous Kunio-kun dodgeball game, there's only one ball to control, and unlike typical dodgeball game in gym class, you're not "out" if you're hit or if your opponent catches your ball.  Instead, it works on a stamina meter, the more you sock your opponent with the ball, the more damage he takes until he keels over.  The controls are about as simplistic as an NES game, and responsive, to boot.

   The two-player gameplay, however, is pathetic in the sense that the game doesn't even support WiFi connectivity.  A few will try to snuff out the opinion that WiFi is absolutely necessary, especially in a game like this, but with an option like Brawl, it truly is a necessity, and an absolute shame that it's not included.  With 2-player matches, and an 8-player Brawl mode, the only saving grace for the multiplayer is that all your friends have to do to join in is use the DS Download option, they don't need to have the game themselves.

   What you will have a little trouble with are the supershots, which are dazzling, sometimes gimmicky, shots that are obviously meant to do more damage than a normal shot.  It comes with a ground attack and air attack, both of which you have to throw the ball by the fifth step (or jump off the fifth step) in order to execute them.  There is no power bar, so the only limit is how good you are at continuously pulling off the shot.  Some more features consist of "Nekketsu Bursts", a typical limit break type bar which allows you to take advantage of certain bonuses in order to make your team a little stronger for a very short period of time.  The downside with the Nekettsu Burst is that you have to use the touch screen to activate it, which means a minor delay before pulling off what you want to do.  Other new options include objects that fall from the sky should a team member on either side get knocked out of the game.  They can consist of either healing items, or brass knuckles, vending machines, and baseballs, among other weapons, to throw at your opponents.  They heal and harm minimally, which makes them more a nuisance than anything.  There's also a new option to punch and kick by pressing X and Y buttons, which manages to make the game ridiculously easier than it already is.

   This is because, whether on the easiest mode, or the hardest, it is overall the dumbest AI you could possibly have in this game without making it a <i>complete</i> breeze, especially if you have the punch/kick option turned on.  When your opponents are gearing up for a supershot, they'll always run up to the line, right into punching distance.  With the right timing, you can beat up the opponent before they ever throw off their supershot, or catch any ball thrown at you.  You'll never lose.  Even if you have the objects and punch/kick options turned off, all the hard mode does is increase the rate at which your opponents catch your throws, and knock off a little more HP whenever you're hit.  Figure out the timing for yourself (which shouldn't be hard to do, because the gameplay is so much slower than the original games) and you'll practically never get hit.

   What's worse about the meat of the game is that it's just a 10-match tournament mode, which recycles itself when you beat it, so the object of the game isn't about beating the game, it's about levelling up and customizing your team with stat-boosting items and other goodies that you buy through a store with all the credit you get for winning matches.  Until you get the pricier items which do a bundle for a particular stat, you're not going to notice much of a difference.  The max level your team can get is 20, so once you're there, you're done.  At least outside of the teams in the game, you can still create a team of your own, and customize their team colors, team name, initial stats, and their looks, including hair and eye color.  Many options for hair and face styles are available, but most are deceptively similar.  Unfortunately, there is a catch with creating your own team, too, as you don't get to pick your own supershot, of which the game boasts .  The formula the game uses is to give you a ground and air supershot bases on the teammate's birthdate.  You don't get to choose from a list, or unlock anything, but you have to go through the dates and find out which one gives you the shots you want most.  Which is fine if you want to sacrifice reality when creating a team of yourself and friends, since your birthdate isn't really reflected anywhere else in the game.

   The look of the game is by no surprise, that of the graphical style used in other Kunio-kun games, so if you've played any of the games mentioned in this review, that's what you're looking forward to.  For those not in the know, this means the characters are short, beefy, and graphically simple.  It's been implemented in almost every game in the series, so why stop now?  For every arena you play in, as well, there's nothing really spectacular that stands out, but it definitely provides different looks for all the areas of the world you fight in.  The sound won't blow you away, either, with heavy-sounding "tak-tak" effects for running, and a handful of tracks of upbeat world music that barely adequately fits with the region your match is in.

   In short, Super Dodgeball Brawlers is sluggish, very easy, with terribly stupid AI, and easily the biggest sin of all: no WiFi.  When you consider how much more other companies have pounded into these little DS cartridges, the fact that a game as simplistic as this doesn't even have a background story, and doesn't support WiFi connectivity is nothing short of unforgiveable.  The only reason this game should be in anyone's DS is if it belongs to a 7 year old kid with a few friends who play along.  As for single player, it can be dismantled quickly, and with only one or two secrets to find along the way, there's no reason to keep playing it.  Bottom line, If Million wants to release a new Kunio-kun game, or especially in this case, a new dodgeball game, they are going to have to seriously rethink everything, or they could end up having the same fate as Technos.

Story: N/A
Gameplay: 3
Music and Sound: 5
Graphics: 6
Control: 8
Replayability: 1

Overall: 4.6