Faceball 2000
Faceball 2000 is a Super Famicom shooter game released in 1992 developed by Xanth Software F/X. It centers on combat encounters, puzzle, maze, or device solving, and area and route exploration, with controls, information, and pacing arranged around television output, a directional pad, shoulder buttons, and a six-button controller.
- AI score · out of 10
- 6.5 / 10
About this game
Faceball 2000 is a Super Famicom shooter release centered on combat encounters, puzzle, maze, or device solving, and area and route exploration. Missions pace progress through enemy waves, routes, and weapon opportunities, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make its immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on campaign length or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Projectiles, hits, and danger zones must remain readable within the available display, while sprite animation, scrolling, color, and chip-based audio jointly carry readability and atmosphere. The main genre-specific friction is that dense encounters, limited visibility, and continue costs amplify reaction and memorization pressure. In addition, password or battery saves, multiplayer accessories, manual dependence, regional language, and cartridge enhancement chips can affect original-hardware use. This description covers only this release and excludes emulator features, modern-port conveniences, and content from other platforms.
Collected in series
Faceball brings smiling opponents and first-person maze shooting together, with roots in MIDI Maze and its Faceball 2000 adaptations. Simple corridors become places to peek around corners, dodge projectiles and line up a shot.
Recommended games
Related game recommendations on this platform
Super Famicom / SNES
AI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Characterful early console shooting with worthwhile local modes and substantial technical compromises.
Faceball 2000 turns smiling geometric enemies and simple arenas into an unexpectedly engaging shooting game. Stationary attackers gradually give way to pursuers that ram you, while recovering health rewards retreat as well as aggression. Solo play, cooperative stages, and versus matches give the rules several useful settings, particularly when a partner helps navigate the maze. The symmetrical layouts and recycled scenery eventually limit discovery, but expressive faces and an unusual slow industrial soundtrack maintain a distinctive mood. The main obstacle is handling: the small viewport, suddenly appearing objects, and reported delays during busy action make tracking enemies harder than it should be. It remains an appealing local shooting curiosity for patient players, provided modern responsiveness and freedom of movement are not the expectation.
Strengths
- Enemy variety and recovering health encourage tactical movement.
- Cooperative and versus modes broaden its appeal.
Weaknesses
- Simple symmetrical mazes limit discovery.
- The small viewport and reported input delays impede tracking.
Who it is for: Patient retro shooter players and local co-op partners.
Play notes: Shoulder buttons rotate rather than strafe; performance observations are qualitative SNES firsthand reports, not measured benchmarks.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Co-op and versus extend the game, although simple layouts limit exploration. | Reviewed | 6.7 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Enemy behavior and recovering health give simple shooting a useful push-and-retreat rhythm. | Reviewed | 7.0 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Expressive faces and unusual music add character to visually plain arenas. | Reviewed | 6.5 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Usable controls are constrained by a small viewport and reported delays during busy action. | Reviewed | 4.8 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- Xanth Software F/X
- Publisher
- Bullet Proof SoftwareRiverhillsoft
- Release date
- 1992
- Platforms
- Super Famicom / SNES
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Shooter · Primary genre
- Tags
- Linear LevelsScience FictionExplorationShootingPuzzle Solving2D GraphicsSide-scrollingReal-time CombatPlayer versus EnvironmentReplayableSolo-friendlyFast-paced
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- MultiplayerSingle player
- Perspectives
- First person
Release editions
- Super Famicom / SNESWorldwide1992
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided