There are a lot of whacky sports games out there from indie games like Rocket League to the various Mario-themed sports spinoffs. The iconic plumber just had a new Switch release in his golf series, Mario Golf: Super Rush. He’s never had a dodgeball game although that almost happened with a game called Super Mario Spikers.
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It’s been a while then since a good dodgeball game has come around since Super Dodge Ball in 1987 on the NES. 2021 not only has this new game, but Knockout City has been tearing it up as well. Compared to that and its dodgeball predecessors, how does Dodgeball Academia stack up? For the first really big game from the developer, Pocket Trap, it’s pretty good but it’s not without problems.
Dodgeball Academia is available on the PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The game is also available through Xbox Game Pass.
10 Best: Art Style
Dodgeball Academia looks like a cartoon in the best possible way. The artwork pops out nicely juxtaposed next to the polygonal backgrounds that look reminiscent of the PS1 but in a good way.
The art style looks a lot like OK K.O. which was a Cartoon Network show that ended recently. The series and the game share a similar vibe, so people who dig Dodgeball Academia should check out that cartoon as well. Dodgeball Academia is really one of the best-looking Switch games.
9 Worst: No Voices
The one downside to this cartoony art style is that it doesn’t behave like a cartoon. Dodgeball Academia doesn’t have whacky voices to complement the visuals. Small indie games like this understandably have lower budgets than most AAA games.
Cris Tales, another recent indie RPG, did have voice acting so it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable thing to wish for. It’s a shame Dodgeball Academia didn’t get the same treatment as the cast of characters is great.
8 Best: Story Mode
Zany sports games are a dime a dozen now thanks to the boom of indie creators out there. Most, like Rocket League, focus on sports above a campaign. This is not true of Dodgeball Academia as it has a very robust story mode. Dodgeball Academia is more an RPG than it is a dodgeball game.
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Instead of turn-based battles, combat is decided on the dodgeball court. The tight gameplay and the number of powers available to the player allow Dodgeball Academia to stand out as both a sports game and an RPG.
7 Worst: Multiplayer Mode
There is a multiplayer mode in Dodgeball Academia but it is very barebones compared to the main campaign. People can play a versus game with a friend but only locally. The number of courts, balls, and characters available get better as someone progresses through the story.
If one wanted to play a fully stocked new dodgeball game with friends, this isn’t it. Having a good story mode then is both a blessing and a curse in this regard.
6 Best: Characters And Writing
The art aesthetic normally covers character designs as well, but Dodgeball Academia’s cast is so good that it deserves its own separate mention. Besides the premise of a school training superhero-like students being similar to the anime, My Hero Academia, this game is also similar in character designs.
There’s an astounding number and they’re all great in their own special ways just like Deku and his crew. The dialogue and animations really make each character stand out.
5 Worst: No Maps In Buildings
Navigating inside buildings is not the best right now. For example, a side quest or main quest marker may be mapped to the main school building, however, once players enter the building, the map will not change. Consequently, finding the objective can be tricky.
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Thankfully, most buildings are not that huge, but this is still something worth mentioning. This could theoretically be fixed in a patch.
4 Best: Accessibility
Dodgeball Academia can be enjoyed by both the hardcore and the casual community. There are no difficulty settings but there is a scale to raise or lower damage levels. For example, one could turn the dial on damage received all the way down to 0% and turn up the amount of damage done to 400%.
This sliding damage scale is actually better than having the difficulty settings of easy, medium, and hard as it allows players to tweak the game at their leisure. It’s a very accessible RPG.
3 Worst: No Story Co-Op
Alongside the lackluster multiplayer selection, there is no co-op in Dodgeball Academia. This is something that can also be theoretically rectified in a patch.
After a couple of hours of game time, players can get a party of three together. It would be awesome if at least one of these AI-controlled characters could be handed over to a co-op partner. There need to be more accessible co-op RPGs out there and this one would be perfect.
2 Best: The Skip Button
The story may not be groundbreaking on its own, but the dialogue itself can be quite funny. However, there is a lot of it. Not every person will care about the story, regardless of how good or bad it is. Some just want to get straight to the RPG action.
That’s why it’s nice that games like this have a skip option, and it works rather fast in Dodgeball Academia too.
1 Worst: Can’t Write Your Own Team Name
Toward the beginning of the game, players are asked to choose a name for their team. Normally RPGs, or most games, allow players to write in a name. However, there are just three predefined options in Dodgeball Academia to choose from.
This is odd considering there is no voice work meaning that characters don’t have to sound out the team name. For that matter, there is no online multiplayer either meaning that players can’t get in trouble for a "risky" name.
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