| Super Dodge Ball | |
| Developer: | Technōs Japan Mega Enterprise (PC) |
| Publisher: | SNK |
| Director: | Shōichi Toyoshima |
| Designer: | Masao Shiroto |
| Programmer: | Makoto Sato |
| Artist: | Haruyuki Watanabe Kouji Maruta Tadashi Maruyama |
| Composer: | Fumio Suzuki Robert C. Ashworth Tadashi Takatsuka |
| Series: | Kunio-kun |
| Platforms: | Arcade, Windows |
| Released: | Arcade [1] [2] Windows |
| Genre: | Sports |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Arcade System: | Neo Geo MVS |
Super Dodge Ball is a dodgeball-based sports game produced by Technōs Japan that was released for the Neo Geo platform in 1996. It is a sequel to the original Super Dodge Ball and features characters from Technōs Japan's Kunio-kun series. It was also the final game developed by Technōs before the company went out of business, as well as the last Kunio-kun games released in arcades. Technōs location tested a Japanese version in arcades, but since the company went bankrupt, this version was not released and the game was only given a limited US release from SNK, although putting a US cart of this game into a Japanese system will show the Japanese version. In 2001, Mega Enterprise ported this game to the PC exclusively for a Korean release.[3]
The rules of the game are similar to that of the original arcade version of Super Dodge Ball. Two teams battle each other out, with each team restricted to their side of the court, attacking each other with a ball, until all the members of one team are all eliminated. This time, teams are composed of only three members: a captain and two teammates. When a character's vitality gauge runs out completely, instead of being eliminated completely from the match, they are moved to the opposing team's outfield, where they can still assist their remaining teammates by attacking them from within the opposing side of the court. The Power Shots in the game are now performed by inputting fighting game-style commands. The captains in each team have two Power Shots, a Counter Shot, a Special Pass, and a Super Power Shot that can only be performed when the team's power gauge is completely filled. The generic teammates only have one power shot each.
The controls of the game changes depending on whether the player's team is in possession with the ball (offense) or without it (defense). During offense mode, the player can shoot the ball at the opposing team, pass it to a teammate, jump, or feint a shot. In defense mode, the player can try to catch an opponent's shot, crouch to avoid, jump, or provoke. Pressing the A and B simultaneously in defense mode will cause the player's current character to charge the power gauge (which is normally filled when the player performs Power Shots). When two members of opposing teams pick up the ball at the same, they will be prompted to press any button rapidly until one character overpowers the other and gets a free shot.
In the single-player mode, the player starts out by choosing from one of seven teams and then face against the other teams. The tournament starts out at the player's home court against a Zako (small fry) team consisting of generic characters. Afterward, the player will face against the other six main teams. When the player defeats one of the main teams, they will be asked whether or not to accept the defeated team's captain in their team. If the player accepts, the defeated opponent will replace of the teammates besides the captain. The penultimate match will be a team consist exclusively of team captains, while the final match is against the computer-only character D.B. Maou.
The captains of the seven playable teams includes the main characters from Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (the Japanese version of Renegade) and two new characters (Miyuki and Kenji).
There are five types of generic teammates in the game. Each team has two generic teammates and the Zako Team in the beginning of the single-player mode consists entirely of generic types who are not in the player's team.
Engadget gave an overall positive outlook to the game.[4]