The Review: Cyberball 2072

What the ...? - Yeah, yeah I know. Stranglehold is out, so is MoH: Airborne and this month is full of big releases (two pro football and basketball games and some game no one has ever heard of called Halo 3) but I don't care. Usually I don't review XBLA games but considering my longstanding relationship with Cyberball I have to make an exception. After whining on this blog for the past two years about how the game should be on Arcade, I could barely contain my excitement this past Wednesday as I happily downloaded the game. I knew going into it that there was no versus online play, only co-op. I thought I'd be okay with that...I'm not.
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What made the game so great back in the day was playing against people, now you can't do that. The original upright console (above) allowed for up to 4 people to butt robotic heads but most versus games I played were 1-on-1. Because of the angle of the screens, all gamers could see was the occassional glance of each others eyes. It made for a suspenseful match and was a pretty novel concept for a game of its type. Versus mode was also the best part about the game and now thats been taken away.
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Don't get me wrong, the XBLA version is a very efficient replica of its arcade daddy and unlike some other Arcade titles, gamers get an honest, non-modernized-with-crap-like-Pac-Man port. The gameplay features are almost identical, the graphics look the same and the audio still has that same bassy feel. But the ommission of online versus play makes absolutely no sense, especially when there is online co-op. Why one and not both? Its just stupid. Throw in that I can't even play against someone in my own home and it just makes me bitter.
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Its possible that some kind of update could fix this oversight but that doesn't happen too often for console games. In its current iteration, Cyberball 2072 is a nostalgic trip to the old arcade. But without a versus mode its not nearly as fun as it should be.
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Cyberball 2072
Format: Xbox Live Arcade
Cost: 400 Microsoft Points
The Grade: C
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coloradojoemail@yahoo.com
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Computers suck - I am still without home internet access, which flat out blows. Computers are the new car, you just can't live without one. Right now I'm typing this up at the East Library in Colorado Springs, how sad is that? I can't update the blog regularly, can't go to http://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/ (a great site for celebrity gossip), can't go to espn.com, xbox.com, and can't check my fantasy scores on the first weekend of the season. Computers suck.