Beach Spikers
Publisher: Sega
Developer: AM2
Genre: Sports
Opinion: Eric Schwarzott
Beach Spikers slipped under the radar perhaps because of its lack of sluttyness. While it is an all-female beach volleyball game, much like the better-known DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball on Xbox, little else can be related to the two of them. Don't mistake one for the other. The women are not clad in thongs or non-existent bikinis, and unlike DOA XBV this game is actually fun to play, if you can get your head out of the gutter first. The gameplay is simple and effective, requiring only the A and B buttons for serving, receiving, tossing, attacking, and blocking. The camera angles are dynamic and the camera is almost always in motion, but it works out perfectly and doesn't hinder your ability to play. This keeps the game moving at a good pace, and really makes Beach Spikers the best volleyball game released yet to this generation of consoles.
It's a simple enough concept to grasp, and has been addictive enough to keep me playing. I always find myself returning to the World Tour mode. This is where you take two custom made ladies to different tournaments around the world. Your partner starts out absolutely awful but as you progress she gains experience for good teamwork and victories. Eventually, once your partner figures out how to play volleyball, things get easier as victories come more often and your teamwork skills improve. Your chemistry with your teammate is displayed as a percentage, and is based on things you say to your partner when you're taking a break during a match. For example, if your helper is lagging a little behind some encouragement might be in order to cheer her up, overall making you play as a better team. Things can backfire if you end up saying the wrong thing (like yelling at her when you're up 9-1). Pissing off your team member will lose you teamwork percentage points, making things go a little less smoothly, and hitting that cooperative groove becomes a little difficult. These little RPG-esque aspects help keep the World Tour mode interesting, considering it is basically just playing a lot of matches.
If you're not up to one round of volleyball after the other, multiplayer is also plenty of fun with other people involved, along with several mini games to spice things up. The one I enjoy most is Beach Countdown, in which you play volleyball with a bomb instead of a ball. Every hit to the bomb makes it count down (hence the title), and if you hit it when the counter is about to reach 0, your team goes flying off the screen. I'm not sure where they end up, but obviously the other team wins. Anyone who has played the Mario Party 5 version of bomb-omb volleyball should understand this; the notion is pretty much the same. Beach Spikers, like most of the other MIA games listed thus far, is fairly old and has had its price notched down consistently since its release. All in all, this title is definitely worth the $10 or so you will likely to find it going for now. Volleyball might not be your thing, but for the sport this is as good as it gets right now. It has DOA XBV beat in pretty much every way. Well, unless you're a pervert.
