FaceBall 2000, a 3D
first person shooter, made its debut as a
Nintendo Game Boy title back in 1991. It did have an earlier incarnation for the
Atari ST computer called "Midi-Maze." It's an abstract game of polygonal
emoticons known as "smiloids" navigating mazes and shooting balls at each other, uttering "Have a Nice Day" when they score a hit. With a link cable, 4 Game Boys, and 4 copies of the game, up to 4 players may play simultaneously. A 2 player version appeared on
SuperNintendo in 1992 with enhanced graphics, sound, and gameplay which exploited the 16 bit capabilities of that system. More obsure versions were later released in Japan; the
Sega Game Gear edition which was a colorised hack of the earlier Game Boy edition and the
PC Engine version, simply known as "Faceball" was a demo which featured more childlike depictions of the smiloids and "Battle" or "Race" style arena matches. This title is no longer available in stores but
ROMs for all of the above versions have appeared on the internet. A brand new version known as "
Faceball 3000" has also appeared on
Shockwave.com. Blue Planet Software, formerly known as Bullet-Proof Software, developed this game.