Ballistix

~ BALLISTIX ~

NEC / Psygnosis

HuCard

1991

Upon acquiring Ballistix, I immediately challenged my then-girlfriend to a series of matches. She defeated me handily--an unexpected and unacceptable result. I tossed the chip aside, as it was clearly junk.

Still, when I'm not actually playing the game, its underlying concept seems kinda neat. Ballistix is essentially a crazy, chaotic, futuristic take on air hockey. Air hockey rules.

So I occasionally give the chip a chance to prove my initial impressions wrong. While the action can be somewhat enjoyable for a minute or two, the novelty wears off quickly, as the silliness of the whole affair becomes apparent. The game is just too random and wild to provide a worthwhile experience, as a typical round consists of both parties flooding the playfield with marble-shots until the "puck" just happens to get batted into one goal or the other.

If Ballistix were a mini-game on a chip featuring a number of similar simplistic, futuristic events, I'd probably be more tolerant of it; but it really isn't of much value on its own.

Very few aspects of this "sport" are commendable, but the "ref" is pretty cool.

Someone explain to me the relevance of the art on the left to the game on the right.

One setup seems much more complex and cluttered than the other, but the game plays like a wild mess either way.

What a dumb-looking playfield.