Developer: Part Time Monkey
Publisher: Part Time Monkey
Platform: PC
Tested On: PC
Ball Grabbers – Review
Have you ever come across a title where you think “whoever came up with this name must have been either drunk or high”? If you haven’t, you’re about to encounter your first one. On Friday the 13th (such daredevils) Part Time Monkey released their two-player arcade soccer fighting game called… Ball Grabbers. You heard that right.
Story
Since this is a physics-based Sports-Arcade you won’t find a story here. You’ll just take part in various small games trying to beat your opponent. However, introducing a story in Ball Grabbers would make the game more interesting and engaging. Right now you battle and try to score for two minutes and that’s it. Adding scoreboards, levels, (online) championships, etc. would definitely improve the gameplay.
Graphics
Ball Grabbers is overall good-looking. Both the arenas and the characters are enjoyable to watch. The former contain details and each one of them is shaped differently making sure you can use their quirks to your advantage. The latter are less detailed. You play with a little guy who wears small pants and urgently needs a haircut.
Sound
Now the sound is where the game excels at. The menu music is highly enjoyable and immediately brings you in the mood to try out the game. It’s a fun and cute tune. Next to this, every arena has different music that is played during the game. Since the tunes are fitting the themes of the arenas, the sound adds to the likability of the game.
Gameplay
Ball Grabbers is a physics-based Sports-Arcade soccer fighting game. You can play in one of five arenas. Every arena has its own shape and quirks. The first one is called Sheep County. Here you play in a blocked off arena in the middle of a farmer’s field. You score by making sure you throw the ball -that looks like a small sun- against the opponent’s scarecrow. Beware though, sheep will show up out of nowhere, running across the field. Maybe instead of grabbing the ball, you’ll end up grabbing a sheep to throw around.
The second arena is called Game Of Balls. This one is played on top of a castle and goals are made by hitting the castle doors. To get to them, you have to cross a small bridge with a trench underneath. Besides the risk of falling in these trenches, bombs come into play and explode on the battlefield. Make sure you stay away when they hit the ground.
The third arena is the Dummy Beach. Here you’ll find the beach, palm trees, and a blocked off arena to play Ball Grabbers. In order to score a point, you have to throw the ball against your opponent’s surfboard. The obstacles introduced in this arena remind a little of a pinball machine. Wooden decks marked with an X that make you jump up and bouncing balls on the sides of the field add more difficulty and fun to this gameplay.
The fourth arena is called Check Mate. As you can expect, you’ll be playing on a chessboard. As you probably didn’t expect, the board is broken for some reason. Try hitting the queen to score, while the other chess pieces will form obstacles on your way to her majesty. The developers added a random element by introducing moose that run across the board making sure enough obstacles come into play. The fifth and last arena is called Temple Ruins. Take a guess. Yes, you’ll be playing in the ruins of a temple. You score by hitting the ball against the opponent’s gong. Rain and thunder will try preventing both players from scoring.
Even though the game introduces five different arenas to play in, all of them are quite familiar. The obstacles are interesting and fun, but the overall gameplay isn’t different enough between the five arenas. This gives you too much of a feeling of repetition because the goal is always exactly the same.
Choose between three characters to play with. Based on the strategy that you employ, you can opt for a fighter with high strength and lower speed, one with equal strength and speed or one with lower strength and high speed. If you have chosen your arena and your player, the game starts. Grab the ball, or take it from your opponent, tackle your mate to the ground, jump around the field and try to score. Every match lasts two minutes. The player with the highest score at the end of the round wins.
To play this game you’ll need a friend to join you. No AIs are available in Ball Grabbers. Neither is online multiplayer, just local multiplayer, meaning you need a friend who is sitting next to in order to be able to play the game.
Conclusion
Ball Grabbers is nice to look at, pleasant to listen to and for a short time, fun to play. Even though every arena has its own characteristics, it all comes down to the same final goal; throw the ball against an object. The differences between the gameplays simply aren’t big enough. The fact that there are no AIs available to play against and that online multiplayer isn’t an option, makes the game a lot less enjoyable. Ball Grabbers can only be played when you are with friends, you can’t possible enjoy this game when you’re home alone and bored out of your mind. When you do have friends over, you’ll probably all get bored quite quickly with the gameplay and switch to something more challenging like Mario Kart. This game does have potential but needs to add various elements in order to become more enjoyable. Achievements, AIs, championships, online multiplayer mode and different levels are just a few ideas to improve Ball Grabbers.
Ball Grabbers - Review,
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