The player also has attacks, which come alongside the chosen character, that can knock-out a would-be scorer. To score a point, the player must carry the ball, jump across various platforms, and finally throw or dunk the ball into the water. Like Hokra, the purpose of the game is to get a ball into a goal, but this time the goals are pools of water on opposite sides of the screen. The Sudden Death match at the end of regulation brings out giant mallets instead of poles, which are even more of a treat.įinally, Barabariball is the game my cohorts and I found ourselves playing the most. Super Pole Riders isn’t the star for Sportsfriends, but that isn’t to say it’s not enjoyable. The poles are as hard to control as one would think a giant pole would be, and often times the contest reverts to a defensive battle with little scoring. The game is fun, but frustrating at times. The player with a height advantage at any given time can attack their opponent and remove them from the game temporarily. To do this, each player employs gigantic poles with which to knock the ball across or pole-vault up to give the ball a swift kick. This game requires the player to move a ball suspended on a rope across to your opponent’s goal while they try to do the same. The same controller-sharing setup is available in Super Pole Riders, although Pole Riders does allow for one-on-one gameplay as well. It is a clever idea and can take some getting used to, but ultimately it does work and provides some fun times. One person uses the right analog stick and the shape button, while the other uses the left and the directionals. Since the game requires four players, the designers employed a unique control-sharing scheme since many do not have four controllers on-hand. Players can dash and pass while avoiding opponents and obstacles deployed in the selection of eight venues. The goal is to keep the ball in your area for as long as possible while staying away from your opponent who will try and steal the ball away. Grab the ball by colliding with it and move it into the area of the screen that corresponds to your color. Meanwhile, two sets of two players (2v2) are required to play Hokra, a football-styled game where small square blocks on the screen represent each player. But frankly, this mini-game is the worst of the bunch. The game encourages the use of PlayStation Move, which DOES work better than the DualShock 3 or 4, but the gamepads work fine as well. This gets old quick–after just a few matches, my cohorts and I were ready to move on. The end result is a game of pushing and shoving while posturing your controller away from others. The threshold of movement coincides with the tempo of the music so as the music quickens, the amount of movement allowed increases. The amount of movement allowed is governed by the accompanying music (thus, the Bach reference). Once a player moves their controller, they are eliminated. The goal is to make the other players move their controller without moving your own. All focus in the game is on the people around you. And I mean “face off” in the literal sense. Between two and seven people face off with controllers in hand. (Johann Sebastian) Joust is the simplest.