Super Dodge Ball Advance

"Welcome to the dodging of the ball."

Super Dodge Ball Advance, a game I’ve heard so many great things about, yet have never been able to find. After over two years of searching, I found a copy, and much to my delight, the game lived up to, and exceeded, every expectation I had for it. I came into it expecting something fun, and came out of it not only with something fun, but something deep as well.

First off, the core gameplay is a nice blend of action with some RPG elements thrown in for good measure. The action comes in with a bang thanks to the fast-paced dodge ball action you can participate in. The RPG stuff comes both during play, and in-between matches in the championship mode. During play, there are hit points assigned to each player in the game. When that number reaches zero, that player is out of commission. A match ends when ever primary player (there are four on each side, with four secondary players on the sidelines to assist in attacking and passing) has had their health completely depleted. You can’t take out the secondary players, but I would recommend using them to your best advantage. If your primary set of players has low health, do anything you can to pass the ball to your secondary players and let them take shots at your foes, in essence, it’s like free damage, which can help you in crucial times.

The use of hit points opens up a whole new level of strategy in the game, which is primarily due to the delicately balanced defense and offense in the game. For example, for defense, you can either catch the ball, which has a lesser probability of working as opposed to just ducking out of the path of the ball. However, when you catch the ball, it is no longer an active ball, and can no longer harm your teammates, whereas with a ducked ball, it can still harm your teammates. Ducking has a higher probability of helping you avoid contact with the ball, but it does has a catch 22 attached to it as well. Finding that delicate balance for each match is quite a bit of fun once you’ve become accustomed to how the game works.

The strategy doesn’t end on the defensive end of things, oh no, it continues right on into the offensive side of the game as well. For offense, you can do one of many things, you can go all-out, and just start attacking folks without planning ahead, or you can put some strategy into the mix by blending some defense in with your offense. For example, say your opponent has done an attack that sends him into your side of the playing field. Well, while he’s on your side of the field (or vice versa), he’s completely open to attack. So, if he does an attack that sends him over to your side, do your best to catch the ball so you can lob it at your opponent as many times as possible, and dwindle his health down bit by bit. If you do it well enough, and are able to continue the assault while he’s on his side of the field, you can dole out even more damage, and maybe even knock him out of the game. This is just one possibility of what you can do when your opponent ventures into your neck of the woods, there are plenty more available to the player once you learn the ropes and start noticing the subtlety of the gameplay.

SDBA features some of the most responsive controls I’ve ever experienced in a sports game. The controls for both offense and defense are precise and responsive, which is important since the ball can come your way in an instant. You need to be on your toes in this game, and the controls help you accomplish this quite nicely. The controls, much like the gameplay, feature a bit of complexity that one might not notice at first. You can fire the ball at your foe, dodge it, grab it, jump and grab it, jump and shoot and, and even do double-team shots with the ball by calling one player out to jump, and then throwing the ball to him so he can shoot it at a foe for increased damage. This kind of diverse control helps compliment, and broaden, the gameplay quite a bit, which is something I certainly enjoy.

The graphics in the game are just as fine-tuned as the gameplay and the controls are. Each player in the game has a distinct look, and little touches like minute hair color changes can be made out with relative ease. The playing fields and their surroundings all look spectacular. While the basic playing field is the same for each area, barring a different main color, they are all filled with tons of background objects that helped create a different mood and feel for each area. For example, when playing in Canada, you‘ll see snow-covered structures and deep, multi-colored skies greeting you when you play. These kinds of little details might not seem like much now, but if you actually see them in action, they are quite stunning.

The sound is fantastic as well. The music tends to have a bit of a happy vibe to it, which lends itself well towards having a nice, fun game of virtual dodge ball. The music is also quite catchy, which surprised me. I figured that the music would just be forgettable, generic garbage, and I’m pleasantly surprised it isn’t. The sound effects are quite a let-down from the fantastic music though. Unlike the music, these are quite generic, and don’t really add much to the game. The thump from being hit by the ball is nice, but after that, the sound effects just don’t pack any punch.

SDBA has quite a bit of replay value due the game always just being a joy to play. You can choose to just have a single match, and play for a short period of time, or have an extended play session with the game and go through a progressively-difficult ladder of foes to become the champion, the choice is yours, and no matter which path you take, fun with ensue.

All in all, I would have to call SDBA one of the GBA’s finest games. The perfect blend of diverse gameplay and sharp controls that actually build the gameplay up a bit helps make the game unique. The graphics are some of the finest I’ve seen on the GBA, thanks to the beautiful backdrops and detailed players. The sound is the game’s only real downside, and even it isn’t bad outside of the bland sound effects. If you’re looking for a fun game for your GBA, pick SDBA up as soon as you can, hopefully, you won’t regret it. Also, if you have a GameBoy Player, I recommend the game even more, since the bright colors are more apparent on a TV than they are on the GBA’s screen, and the sound is richer, with more depth in it. The controls are also a bit better using the GC’s controller due to the layout suiting this game perfectly.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/03, Updated 07/07/03