Stone Ball - Arcade

Homo Habilus - Homo Erectus - Homo Heidelbergensis - Homo Neanderthalensis - these early species of man were each united by their love of Stone Ball: a game invented by a wooly rhinocerous circa 2400000BC and not dissimilar to a mix of modern day football and lacross. In said game teams of portly cavemen must pummel a roughly hewn granite lump into the opposing teams cave: while avoiding certain hazards including; a rogue prehistoric ostrich, giant wooly toad, lightning strikes, pterosaur attacks and of course foul play. Armed with clubs and a smattering of magic potions players are required to liberally pummel their opponents and team mates into the fettid megalithic mud.

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To get you in the mood why not watch the caveman fantasy drama Quest for Fire. The entire film is spoken in authentic grunts and whoops (the language was devised by Anthony Burgess) and involves hitting various prehistoric species with clubs, romantic liasons between a Neanderthal and Homo Sapian and more club battles for good measure. There may even be some references to Stone Ball if you care to translate. Download the film here.

Amongst the diminutive pool of prehistoric sports games I would say this reigns supreme: four player encounters offer legendary experiences and finally the tedius tropes of modern sport can be forgotten.Only receiveing a very limited outing at the arcades, Stone Ball is fully emulated on recent versions of MAME.