Previous Next

Welcome to the Hypa Bowl arena for the Hypa Ball Cup Final of the future sponsored by Odin and British Telecom. Their latest game is also the greatest to come from the company for a long time and yet it's such a simple concept that it deserves to be a success.

Down beneath the arena the tension in the dressing room is at fever pitch as the managers choose their teams for the match. The gladiators wait to don their Hypasuits for the battle royal which is to follow but who will take the field for the great day? Will it be the sly old fox Norman Bates or the very youthful John Machine? Maybe the evenly talented Norce Codine or the weak but fast and agile Won Tin Ling.

The selection pool contains ten potential champions but only six will play in the match, three per side. The menu screen shows all of the candidates and awaits you, the manager of the Hawks, to make the first choice. As the cursor is moved over each player in turn, his vital statistics are shown on the data area. Name, age, height and weight are given above bar charts displaying strength, agility and speed.

For those unfamiliar with the requirements of a Hypa Ball champion, a little explanation is necessary. The trio which make up a side are the two strikes and a grounder. Strikes wear anti-grav suits which allow them to float through the air above the pitch while the grounder remains on the turf beneath. The pitch is set up on either side of the central pole upon which the goal continually moves up and down. At the edges of the screen are force fields which limit the players to their side of the pole and hyperspaces the ball from one side to the other.

There are three players on each side of the pole, two from one team and one from the other. The ball floats through space and each side must race to gain possession and pass the ball until they reach a position from which they can score.

As a player catches the ball, he freezes in position and must make a pass or attempt a goal within a few seconds. Failure to get rid of the ball results in a penalty for the opposing team and this usually results in a goal. Grounders can only reach the ball when it bounces off the turf but the opposing strikes battle it out in the air, blocking and passing to try to gain a clear shot at goal.

The ball is passed between the strikes by throwing it away from the goal post, towards the force field. From here the ball hypas to the other side of the pitch and continues in the same trajectory until it is either caught or it bounces off the top or bottom of the pitch or ricochets off the goal post.

The final is always between the Vipers and the Hawks and we rejoin the selection process under the Hypa Bowl. The players are all young men with the exception of Alex Grunt, 37, Fergie Fuzle, 43, and Norman Bates, the granddaddy of them all at 54.

Despite the balding head and brutish features of John Machine, his age is given as only five years old in my programme. I think the clue to this enigma is in his surname!

All players vary in their key attributes of strength, agility and speed, so it is up to the manager to decide which positions need the most favourable spread. Selection is taken in the order Strike 1, Strike 2 and Grounder.

The Hawks always have first choice even if the Vipers are not under computer control in the two player game.

After selection, we rejoin the tense atmosphere of the arena where the crowd are whipped into a frenzy of anticipation by the appearance of the pom-pom waving cheerleaders. Rising up from the bowels of the earth, the girls go through their routine and then sink bank beneath the sward. The crowd know that the start of the game is imminent and the next time the lifts rise they carry the besuited gladiators ready for battle.

The players then take up their positions, one above the other, three each side of the post. A strike and the grounder of one team sandwiching the remaining strike of the opposition. The ball is served and the battle for possession begins.

The computer plays a really mean game and appears to get better as your game improves. I've never managed to win through against it, the newspaper headline displayed at the end of the match always displaying the Vipers massive win. The encouraging thing is that each time I seem to reduce the margin by which I'm beaten so there's hope for me yet.

The only tickets which I can suggest are to keep your eye on the ball, always go for possession and get rid of the ball as soon as possible (never give away a penalty it always means a goal to the opposition).

The game is hard, fast and great fun yet such a simple concept. This could be Odin's biggest seller to date.