Super Dodgeball Brawlers Coming Stateside on DS

Originally announced for a Japan-only release, publisher Aksys Games has signed on to bring Arc System Work's Super Dodgeball Brawlers to North America for the DS. A spiritual successor to now defunct Japanese developer Technos' 1989 arcade and NES title Super Dodge Ball, the game pays homage to the familiar squarish characters and hardcore sports theme of its predecessor and will hit stores in spring 2008. The title takes the notion of extreme dodgeball to an even further limit, similar to the blatant disregard for life shown by the streetwise characters of Technos' seminal pentathlon of deadly sports, 1992's NES title Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge. The dodgeball gameplay incorporates hand-to-hand combat including weapons and 100 types of face-crushing smashes--including an Instant Kill special attack.

Multiplayer modes will include an 8-player street brawl and a standard 1-on-1 dodgeball match. The title will unfortunately be limited to local multiplayer, so Nintendo Wi-Fi enabled long-distance fireballs to the face of friends won't be an option. Developer Arc System Works is best known for the long-running series of Guilty Gear 2D fighting games.