Speedball 2

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
European cover art
Developer(s)	The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher(s)	Image Works, Arena Entertainment, Empire Interactive, Akella, Tower Studios, SOFEL
Designer(s)	Eric Matthews
Programmer(s)	Robert Trevellyan
Artist(s)	Daniel Malone
Composer(s)	Nation 12
Platform(s)	Acorn Archimedes, Atari ST, Amiga, Amiga CD32, Commodore 64, PC, NES, Sega Master System, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Sega Mega Drive, Windows Mobile, PlayStation, Xbox 360, iPhone, Symbian
Release	1990
Genre(s)	Sports, Action
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is a 1990 video game based on a violent futuristic cyberpunk sport that draws on elements of handball and ice hockey, and rewards violent play as well as goals. The original game was developed by Bitmap Brothers, with various remakes for many platforms since being published. It is a sequel to the 1988 game Speedball.

The game was released for multiple platforms: the Acorn Archimedes, Atari ST, Amiga, Amiga CD32, PC, Commodore 64, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance. The first version was released in 1990 for the Atari ST.

According to the game story, the first Speedball league (founded in 2095) fails due to violence and corruption. As the organisation gives place to anarchy the game is forced underground, but five years later, in an attempt to regain public interest, Speedball 2 is born. The game starts in 2105 with the emergence of a new team, Brutal Deluxe.

Speedball 2 makes several changes over the original Speedball. Teams have nine players on court rather than five, and targets on the floor and walls can be hit to receive bonus points. The amount of points that a team receives for scoring a goal starts at 10 but can be increased to 15 or 20 via the use of score multipliers located on the walls of the pitch. The same amount of points for scoring a goal is given for injuring a player from the opposing team. When a player is injured, he is replaced by one of three substitutes. If all three substitutes are injured, the injured player will be forced to return to the game and play on in spite of his injuries. There are five game modes: knockout, cup, league, practice and multiplayer. Each game lasts for 180 seconds.

Speedball 2 is one of Bitmap Brothers' most successful titles. Zzap, CU Amiga and Computer and Video Games scored the game highly. The music, written by Simon Rogers and remixed and coded by Richard Joseph, won the 1991 Golden Joystick Award for Best Soundtrack. The voices, including the 'Ice Cream' salesman, were voiced by sometime collaborator Joseph Michael Burdett working under the pseudonym Jams O'Donnell. The game was voted the 3rd best game of all time in Amiga Power.