Beach Spikers: Virtua Beach Volleyball

"Forget the beach! Just play Beach Spikers!"

I've had this game since it first came out...It was competing with Xbox's Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and hell I knew it wouldn't stand a chance...but what the hey? I decided to pick this game up simply because I knew it was going to be a great game...and I was right. It's an extremely underrated game that deserves so much more recognition.

Controls: 10/10
The controls are simple. A and B are the buttons you use to hit the ball. The A button is a normal action button (serve, attack, etc.) and B is the weaker action button. For serving A gives you an overhand serve, B gives you an underhand serve and pressing both A and B gives you a jumping overhand serve. When you press A and B it's a more powerful action command but it is also a more tactical one. if you're spiking and you press A and B you hit the ball into your opponent's hand so that it rolls off them and goes out of bounds. When you receive the ball pressing A and B you command your computer teammate to attack immediately. Simple but deep with tactics.

Sounds: 10/10
I don't really pay attention to the music in most sports games if there are any at all, but the music in this game is just awesome. It uses rock tracks and blends it with a summer theme fitting it just nicely. When you reach the final rounds of a tournament the music starts to pick up in tempo and pretty much lets you know that this is it, this is the final round for the championship. The earlier rounds have more calm music and are catchy. The voice of the announcer can be irritating, but I wish there was commentary because the action in the game gets so intense that it just suits it. The voices of the women might sound the same at first but they have different voices. If a team is from America they'll have an American accent. If a team was from China you would recognize that it's a Chinese accent. The crowds also follow along with the gameplay and cheer when you score or your opponents score and they get sad when you fumble up and have the other team score on you. The sound overall is just great in this game and was very well done.

Graphics: 10/10
The shadows in this game are done flawlessly and are just wonderful to look at in the sand. It might be a brief moment but when they show water in this game it is just incredibly wonderful. There also isn't any slowdown at all even when the action goes incredibly fast and the crowds aren't just paperboard cut outs. You can actually see human figures cheering you on from the stands. The bodies of the players are also great since they're proportioned correctly and they have amazing detail, especially on their faces.

Gameplay: 10/10
Now this is definitely the core of any game. This is what makes Beach Spikers so great. At first when I started playing I thought it was merely Virtual Tennis on a beach with women nearly naked but as I dived deeper into the game I found something quite unique and deep. The depth in World Tour Mode is incredible. You create your own team. Make them anyway you want from over 100 parts and best of all you get to level up your cpu teammate. At first you'll be frustrated and lose several games, but as you progress you'll notice how much of a valuable asset she is to you since she'll be doing the majority of all the hard stuff you can't do such as being able to block shots or save spikes that have been deflected by the opponents. The stats used to level up your cpu character are various things such as their response time when the ball arrives to them, how hard they hit the ball, how efficient they are with their blocks and etc. You earn points by playing in the matches and you earn more points as you win more games and you even have a teamwork meter. Depending on how your cpu teammate performs after a break you can either praise, encourage, reprimand, or do nothing. Whichever you choose to do will either raise, lower, or just keep your teamwork meter the same. The higher your teamwork meter is the more your partner will perform to her full potential and the lower it is the less likely she will cooperate with you. The action in the game seems basic...hit the ball, spike it back, score a point, rinse and repeat. No way. The AI in this game is incredible. They adapt right away to any tricks you do to them and will then begin to start playing insanely well. You can go from a 10-5 lead to a 10-14 deficit. This game also has a myriad of multiplayer games such as a hot potato beach version, a flag race game, and a couple others. This game is just full of things to do.

Replay Value: 10/10
The amount of costumes, levels, and facial features you have to unlock is incredibly high and there's even special treats when you unlock specific costumes. I won't say any spoilers since it's too enjoyable. You'll find yourself just playing arcade mode trying to unlock certain costumes and then you have to use World Tour Mode to unlock the several others and you definitely would love to use those unlocked special features to start your own all-star volleyball duo.

Overall: 10/10
This game is definitely worth checking out at least if you're not big on sports since it was just wonderfully put together compared to the other volleyball games out right now. It's definitely underrated since nearly no one has heard about till this day. I suggest you buy this rare gem because the price has been totally reduced to just $20.00 because of lack of sales. This will definitely be worth your time and money. It sure was worth mine.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/18/03