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DBZ Dead Ball Zone for PlayStation 1
DBZ Dead Ball Zone for PlayStation 1 is a violent sports game in which two teams try to put a burning ball into the opposing goal. The abbreviation stands for Dead Ball Zone, not Dragon Ball Z. You pass, shoot and sprint, but also try to regain the ball through tackles, punches and other harsh interventions. Eight players per team fill the arena, so you must constantly watch for space opening up.
Weapons such as guns, grenades and chainsaws make an attack even more dangerous. Scoring remains the objective, however: taking an opponent out mainly helps when it opens a passing lane or shooting opportunity. The shoulder buttons let you bend a shot. In an individual Tussle match you choose teams and an arena, while League lets you lead a team through different competition levels. You develop speed, strength, throwing and catching among other attributes to advance the squad.
League is for one player; an individual Tussle can also be played against a second player with two standard controllers, without a Multitap. Eight athletes per team therefore does not mean eight people can join in simultaneously. Save in the management menu stores your league and customised team on a PlayStation memory card. That squad can then also be used in individual matches. The game thus combines immediate action with longer-term decisions about your team.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 1 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
DBZ Dead Ball Zone for PlayStation 1 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of DBZ Dead Ball Zone
Rage Software developed Dead Ball Zone for PlayStation, and GT Interactive released it in 1998. Rather than using an existing sports licence, the creators devised their own futuristic competition with handball-like goals and harsh physical confrontations. This allowed weapons and excessive tackles to become part of the rules. The letters DBZ on the packaging refer to that invented sporting world. The game has no connection with the Dragon Ball Z animated series, which shares the abbreviation.
The original manual places the sport in a world where people have moved into enclosed GeoSpheres following social and economic crises. A violent ball game develops as entertainment outside these centres before finding an audience inside the GeoSpheres too. That background explains the combination of urban arenas, worldwide teams and a commercial competition. It is a deliberately invented television spectacle, not an attempt to follow the history or rules of real handball.
The credits name Christian Southgate and Rob Mann for programming, with Julian Widdows, Trevor Williams and Andy Williams handling project management. GT Interactive divided publishing work between European and American teams. The original presentation emphasised training, statistics and individual attributes alongside the immediate matches. That combination positioned Dead Ball Zone between sports game and action game: you did not simply play the next duel, but also built a team of your own that remained usable in the league and individual matches.
Similar games for PlayStation 1
Speedball 2100 shares the idea of a brutal futuristic sport with goals, physical contact and building a team. You can also earn points through features along its arena, such as wall stars and bounce objects. Dead Ball Zone emphasises the burning ball, elaborate tackles and weapons. Both ask you to choose between passing and violence, but Speedball's additional scoring opportunities change which route through the pitch is attractive.
Pitball also combines scoring with fighting and team management, but puts two athletes per side in a bowl-shaped arena. The different alien teams have their own attacks, and you can spend money on reinforcements. Dead Ball Zone uses larger squads of eight and a harsher human future setting. Pitball also supports four human players with four controllers and a Multitap; Dead Ball Zone limits direct matches to two players with two controllers, without an additional adapter.
Like Dead Ball Zone, BattleSport is about gaining possession of a ball, hitting a goal and stopping the opponent through violence. Instead of a team of running athletes, you control a hovering tank from a cockpit view. This changes visibility, steering and intercepting the ball. Dead Ball Zone makes you think in terms of teammates and passing lanes, while BattleSport mainly connects its sporting idea to manoeuvring and shooting with one heavily armed vehicle.
NBA Jam Tournament Edition shares fast passing, turbo use and exaggerated physical contact with Dead Ball Zone. It remains a basketball game with two athletes per side, NBA players and spectacular dunks. Dead Ball Zone builds its own sport around goals, larger teams and weapons. Both shorten the gap between an interception and a new attack, but in NBA Jam you mainly read jumps and scoring chances at the basket rather than an arena full of armed opponents.
Tekken 3 resembles Dead Ball Zone mainly when it comes to learning punches, throws and combinations using different buttons. Namco makes these techniques the entire purpose of a duel between two fighters. In Dead Ball Zone, harsh attacks are a means of gaining possession and space for a team sport. Someone who keeps hitting the opponent and does nothing else can therefore still lose the match as the other team reaches the goal in the meantime.
