Another poor offering from The Power House (they released quite a few bad ones TBH). This one has 1987 written all over it. I can't put my finger on exactly why that is, but it's just got that oft-used general graphical style of the time.
In this platformer, you play what looks to be a tennis ball except that it needs to be kept inflated and has a slow leak. If inflated too much then it will burst. I'll leave the reader to contemplate if it's merely co-incidence that the more famous "Airball" also came out in 1987.
The game's got potential, and I can't claim to completely understand it, but perhaps the crucial thing to know is that by pressing FIRE when over a springboard (a blue section that looks like a "22"), the ball can jump up to a higher platform. Using these springboards and platforms, it's possible to move around the entire level. There's also a small white square object which can be pushed around, and is quite probably important to the game, although in all honesty I didn't get too far in it.
So what's the problem? To be blunt, the movement of the ball is pretty annoying. It moves left or right of its own accord until it either hits something (usually a lethal object), or the player presses a key and changes direction. As such, some rooms involve "waiting" for a platform section to appear whilst flipping awkwardly from left to right whilst trying to avoid going off the edge of the screen (which would reset the screen) or falling down a gap onto a row of spikes. The game might have been a bit better if the game-play had been a bit less fiddly, but alas it's a pretty fatal flaw.
It's perhaps telling that at the time of writing, no apparent map of the game has been made, nor has any RZX of the game been produced by either the RZX archive or users of Youtube, as far as I can ascertain. I would imagine any such efforts would be a case of really taking frustration to a new level. However, there are understandably POKEs available for infinite lives and infinite ball inflation.
Review by dandyboy on 16 Sep 2012 (Rating: 2)
The idea behind Odd Ball is a pretty good one but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired .
Maybe with a bit of patience one could really enjoy a game like this one , but only with generous doses of patience .
The tune is cute , though , and I agree with Digi Prawn : it´s got everything 80´s .
Odd Ball [The Power House]
You control a tennis ball along platforms and jumpng on springboard, there's a little cube you can push around, but the aim is not clear. Lots of deadly situations, to make up for it.
2/5
