Figure 5 - These people are playing basketball.

Punk Shot (1990 Konami) takes the notion of wacky sports a little further. It is a basketball game, insofar as there are two hoops and you have to put the ball in one of them. From there, things get extreme, dude. For instance, there's no steal button. Instead, you have the option to punch, tackle, or pile drive your opponent. And what game wouldn't be better with arbitrary pile driving?

Each period takes place in a different level that has a unique set of NPCs and obstacles to keep things interesting. The obstacles are matched to the theme of the level; not only are there holes in the ground, crates overhead threatening to drop on you, and birds blocking the hoop, but you also risk catching fire and falling into the ocean!

Punk Shot is at its during best multiplayer matches. We played it co-op against the AI, and mainly got our asses handed to us. The AI is really cheap, but we were able to come up with some strategies that worked out pretty well - well enough to give us a comfortable victory in at least one period. To avoid having to spend a solid week "researching" this article, we ultimately had to cheat our way through the game, and discovered something interesting: there's nothing more to the game after the first match. The winning screen is the same as the losing screen except that the word "WINNER" is next to your dudes. No new bad guys or levels at all.

Figure 6 - Experiencing bitter defeat.

And this reveals the key to the game. Punk Shot is a game of pure competition. There's just one three-part level, but the game remains highly replayable. Why? By finding new (human) opponents and developing new strategies within the already-familiar framework of the game . This concept plays out in all multiplayer games to one degree or another. Having a regulation-size field or a standard multiplayer map like de_dust keeps the focus on the gameplay, not on the content. With a fixed, unchanging world, everyone's attention is on the strategy and the interaction between players.

Figure 7 - A semblance of football.

Pig Skin 621 AD (1990 Midway) is a great game by Konami competitor Midway, and the wackiest of the games we've discussed so far. The "Pig Skin" in the title is there to communicate that you will be carrying a football-like object towards an end zone. The game is strictly competitive, with just two levels: a grassy playing field and an in-door arena littered with medieval crap, one for each half. Within these arenas, two teams of burly men fight to score the most points.

The basic controls are very much like your run of the mill football game - you can pass, tackle, or change plays. Punching is another, non-standard option. But the contents of the game world are really what make this game stand out. Every level is full of obstacles that will get in the way of making a goal by making you trip, slip, or generally lose control of the ball. This adds a bit more complexity - which is good because, let's face it, a football field is boring! It's literally just a field with lines on it! Add some stumps and mud puddles and trap doors and statues of chicks and you really have something.

The obstacles add interest because they affect both teams equally. Planning your route to the goal is vital to success. They also make it easier to catch someone who has broken away, because there are good odds that that person will run into something before they make the goal. This maintains hope for the loser, keeping the game fun for everyone.

Figure 8 - Hiring Halberd Guy.

This is taken further with the NPCs that are brought out over the course of the game. If one side falls behind, they're given an additional teammate to keep things competitive. The first helper is a guy with a halberd who's not that much help. He's just an extra obstacle that favors one team. But the next team to fall behind gets to "SEND IN THE TROLL!" Trolls are awesome - big, fast and green. The crowd cheers for them, and so did we. As the balance of points favors one team or another, more trolls are dispensed to keep competition fierce throughout each match.

Figure 9 - Send in the troll!

These two factors - the obstacles and the NPCs - work very well. They fit the theme of the game, and provide crucial balancing forces. For a multiplayer game, the risk is that one guy is going to be massively better than the other and as a result the game won't be fun for either player. At a certain point it stops being fun to beat on newbies. Bringing out the troll is a hilarious and effective way to bring balance to the game.

This is a technique that's seen play in other games, most notably a certain racing game. Mario Kart applies a similar technique, in the form of the blue shell. To a lesser extent, the weighted items distribution - where players in the back of the pack get better stuff than the guys in first - works the same way. It can be cheap, but it keeps the pack tight and the game fun.

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