Original Release: Ape Inc, 1993, SNES
A bit of a misnomer, as it involves a disc, Smash Ball mashes elements of several different types of games into a unique new competitive sport
Sanrio World Smash Ball (SNES, Ape, 1993)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: SNES Emulation Guide
Sanrio’s mascot sports game for the Super Fami is a unique combination of air hockey and Windjammers, sometimes taking place on courts that resemble a mishmash of pinball tables and mini-golf courses.
You get to play as four of the company’s famous cutesy characters, though not Hello Kitty (who is relegated to a referee/presenter role for some reason … guess they didn’t want anyone going over the ace of the promotion brother). It’s a fairly stripped-down and basic game with two modes of play: a single-player campaign in which you simply work through 30 different courts (picking a permanent power-up after every 10), and two-player that makes 20 of those courts available (though a ROM hack opens up all 30).
Each of your limbs is represented by a button, and the disc physics are pretty advanced as your positioning is key to sending it where you want. For example, to send it straight forward, you need to be positioned properly and hit it with the right limb at the right time. The rather precise and technical character handling is interestingly contrasted by the random elements on the playfield. You start out with some straightforward air-hockey-like courts but soon move into “free roam” situations that allow you to walk right up to the opponent’s goal, courts with pinball bumpers all over or mini-golf traps, underwater, etc. Power-ups can also randomly appear when breakable blocks are smashed, and you gradually build up rage or something to do a one-time super smash.
The experience thus does tend to vary by court, with some much more like a randomized party game than others. The single-player experience doesn’t have a tremendous amount of meat on its bones; while it will take a little while to win through all 30 courts (you can continue from each with a simple password system), the computer AI remains passive and dumb to the end and things only get tricky when the court itself has an annoying design.
It thus seems to be much more fun for two players, but nevertheless is quite unique. Offhand I can’t think of a game that closely mirrors this, and it’s a fun formula that I’m surprised wasn’t expanded on at some point or copied by someone else.
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