Customer Reviews

Beach Spikers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

That said, anyone who thinks this game is about the babes is an idiot. Beach Spikers is an excellent, addictive, and startlingly simple volleyball game developed by Sega's talented AM2 design team -- make no mistake, it's all about the gameplay. Beach Spikers is to volleyball what Virtua Tennis and Mario Golf were to their respective sports. It's easy to pick up and play, but very tough to master, with deceptively deep gameplay mechanics. Above all, however, Beach Spikers is exceedingly fun.

Beach Spikers features numerous modes of play, including standard arcade play, up to four player simultaneous multiplayer (including several minigames in addition to the core volleyball action), and an impressive World Tour mode in which you create your own character, and her intelligent CPU-controller partner, from over one hundred hairstyles, suits, faces, and an enormous range of hair and skin tones. The most impressive part of World Tour is that your computer-controlled partner actually learns -- you assign her different attribute points at the outset, and her skills grow as your team plays through the different tournaments. With the right coaching, her skills may even surpass your own!

The game features a stunning array of unlockable goodies in true AM2 fashion, including bonus swimsuits, faces, and hairstyles from numerous Sega titles. Remember pink-haired Ulala from Space Channel 5? She's in there. The variety is amazing. Beach Spikers is an amazing game, with incredible graphics, extremely enjoyable gameplay, and enough depth and variety to keep any player interested for a very long time.

Like some of the other reviewers, I had to try every Beach Volleyball game on every format before declaring Spikers as my favorite. What surprises me about some of the other reviewers is that many of them are not into sports games, yet Spikers is the most professional sports title of this genre with simpler play features.
Anyone can play using the A/B buttons and basic punt/set/spike rules, just like many old arcade games. Sounds like that can get boring, but the game gets harder and faster as it progresses and it does have some alluring features that go beyong rubbing suntan oil on your digital partner.

Character design is basic, unlike the other VB games. You have only one athletic body design but can create players with over 70 faces and 100 outfits and skin tone. The mini games may not be as fun as the minis in the other VB games, but at least Capture The Flag and Beach Bomb are authentic beach games. Maybe the developers could include Dodgeball and Combat Kiting in the next version(...). Sure the music and the announcer are lame, but who says you have to listen to anything more than replay spike knocking down your opponent (...) with full bass THX.

Franchising is where Spikers really shines as a professional sports game. The world tour is based on the actual Swatch-FIVB tour and has real organizations like Holiday Inn and Coke. Even the green/blue volleyball that you see in the other video games has the Mikasa logo in this version. And about that Nissan ZX prize, well what does a girl have to do but win if she can't race the Gran Tourismo, right?
The only thing lacking is beer commercials, because this is as close as you can get to professional volleyball without watching it at 3am on ESPN. So stop watching and start playing.

If your looking for some eclectic multiplayer action than beach spikers is the game for you. It is an overall pretty good game but the single player mode is too easy and it's hard to play it for a long time in a row. The gameplay is exactly like that of Mario Tennis for the N64. There are limited controlls and short games which can either be a downfall or a thrill. In this case they're a thrill. Because it is easy to get the feel of the game it is okay to play with a rookie. There are also mini games available in multiplayer. Beach spikers is wicked fun but please don't buy it expecting to play for 12 hours straight. I say it is worth a try.

Rattings out of 10
Fun 9
Graphics 10 (Beautiful characters)
Sound 5

I'm not too fond of extreme sports games, but Beach Spikers offers a refreshing taste of fast-paced, arcade-style volleyball. ... That I liked. Of course, the single player mode is short-lived and, as you progress, somewhat frustrating because your partner is AI-controlled. But multiplayer is good, quality fun (2 vs 2). The games setup may seem a bit intimidating at first, and it requires good response / reflex, but the fluidity and quickness of the match makes this a good game to play with friends when shooters and racers have worn their welcome.

I'll take this one over DOA:X any day. It's a REAL VOLLEYBALL game. A damn good one too.

My first impression is that Sega has again put out a very solid sports title. The art on the characters and environments are excellent. Terrain Deformation on the sand is nice, but can look weird from certain camera angles... Menus are boring, but fairly simple. Gameplay is a lot of fun - esp. in multiplayer, and 2 of the 3 minigames are kinda cool. The game is similar to virtua tennis, where it's critical to get into position quickly and try to anticipate the computer's move. Downsides are the tutorial (ridiculously hard on the first try), the camera (can be tough to line up blocks until it's almost too late), and the audio (music is bad but can be turned off - announcer is worse and can't be turned off). I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a different and fun sports or multiplayer title. If you have any reservations, then rent it first!

I've only had the game a day, but, I think I've played it enough to share my opinion.

Positives:
Overall, this is a fun game to play. It's very challenging yet the controls are simple. The graphics are good, in my opinion. The beach is well done as well as the surroundings. The player motions look real as if the live game was studied pretty closely. Because it's challenging and fun to look at, it's something I won't be bored with in a week.

Negatives:
Lack of options are disappointing. Especially in World Tour mode. There's no way to change the difficuly level so right off the bat your getting spanked 15-2. I think the moving camera makes it really difficult, too. I think they should have different options for the camera angle. I also don't like the way that the CPU controls your teammate on custom teams. In the beginning, she really stinks. The single worst problem with the game is the audio. The music is pretty canned and the announcer is pathetic and almost annoying.

Bottom Line:
It's fun and challenging and a refreshing diversion from other games out there.

I'd played this game at E3 show L.A. This game is amazing!! easy to control, and get fun!! Even thought these are not many volleyball games in video game history, but this one is the best!!...

Ever since Sega abandoned console manufacturing, they became one of the most hotly pursued game developers. When Nintendo unveiled its Gamecube console, everyone could tell these two would be a match made in heaven. Sega often adopts the same brightly colored, highly playable titles as Nintendo, so it was only a matter of time before Sega masterpieces showed up on the Gamecube. First came Super Monkey Ball, then Soccer Slam. And the latest is Beach Spikers, which is hands-down the best vollyball game ever released on consoles.

The first thing that grabs you are the graphics. The female players are rendered beautifully, with amazingly lifelike animation, smooth joints, and facial expressions. No emphasis on sexiness here - just toned atheletes hungry for victory. The game runs at a perfectly smooth framerate, never slowing down even in multiplayer. The stadiums are awesome to behold: crowds are fully animated, and each stadium features a certain sponsor, ranging from Pringles to Holiday Inn. There's even a court with a gigantic inflatable Sonic the Hedgehog in the background. The sand is wonderfully crafted, being displaced and formed by the players as the match progresses. It's one of the most realistic, stunning sports titles ever made.

Anyone familiar with Sega's Dreamcast Virtua Tennis titles will quickly adopt to Beach Spikers' gameplay. Use the analog stick to move your player and aim your shots, A sets/spikes, B low sets/feints (a "baby" shot designed to go over blockers at the net), and A+B (or X or Y) unleashes a power smash. The same buttons are used for varying serves. It's simple to pick up, but takes a while to master completely - just like Virtua Tennis. Beach Spikers has the same kind of pick-up-&-play charm as Virtua Tennis, Soccer Slam, and Hot Shots Golf: even non-fans will become scoring threats the moment they pick up the controller. To be frank, if you're a fan of these games, Beach Spikers is a MUST.

There are several different modes as well. Arcade is, obviously, a perfect conversion of the arcade game. Choose a team of two girls from various countries and compete in a four-stage tournament. You're allowed to continue should you lose. Each game runs till 15 points (you must win by two), but starts with each team at 10 to allow for quicker games. However, this feature is adjustable in the Options menu, so you can start at zero and play till 30 if you choose. Vs. Mode allows up to four players at once to play a single match, or one of three interesting mini-games: an odd race to catch flags on the far side of the court, a tense game where the ball is a bomb and a timer counts down (you don't wanna be caught with the bomb when the time hits zero!!), or a scoring competition, much like Free Kick in soccer. The mini-games are nice, but the normal head-to-head four-player match is where it's at. Beach Spiker with four players is one of the best multiplayer parties you can have.

There is also a World Tour mode, which fans of Virtua Tennis will be familiar with, but there are some fantastic differences. You choose a player and a partner, using literally hundreds of hair/facial/costume/sunglasses styles. You are in control of your player constantly, but the computer controls your partner. Your partner starts off...well, let's just say she doesn't really know what's going on. During World Tour matches (there are seven multi-stage tournaments in all), you are given the opportunity to grade your partner's performance. You can choose to Praise, Encourage, Chastise, or Do Nothing. If you make the correct choice based on how your partner plays (you'll be using Chastise A LOT in the early going). These exchanges, which happen at courtside, are great fun to watch. Your player will jump up and yell at the partner, or give her a hand, and the partner will respond accordingly. Make the right choice, and your Teamwork meter will rise. Make the wrong choice (i.e. Chastise when your partner is doing well) and your partner will actually yell BACK. It's similar to the AI mode of Virtua Fighter 4 (developed by the same division of Sega, AM2), and creates a wonderful connection between you and your players. After World Tour matches, win or lose, you are awarded points which you can then use to upgrade your partner, RPG style. It's a fantastic mode that is even better than Tennis 2K2's because there's no repetitious Training to be had. Just hit the courts and train that partner!

Beach Spikers is a gorgeous, easy to play, hard to master creation that excels in almost all capacities. The only blemishes on this otherwise perfect game are the slightly annoying and repetitious announcer (you'll get sick of hearing FANTAAASTIC very quickly...and there's no way to turn him off), the sometimes hyperactive camera, and the unmemorable soundtrack. Still, these are small, easily ignorable details that do not at all detract from one of the top single- and multi-player gaming experiences the Gamecube has to offer. Nintendo and Sega are a match made in heaven. You want to ogle artificial females, wait for DOA Xtreme. You want a brilliantly executed game that will stay high on your replay list for months to come, Beach Spikers is where it's at.

BEACH SPIKERS is fun. It looks really good, the girls are cute and varied in a non-chauvanist fashion, and the gameplay is easy to pick up. But for a single player, the gameplay is also limited.

In my opinion, the World Tour Mode, where you pick a non-skilled partner and compete around the world against other nations, is the only real playable element to this game for a single player. Your partner is terrible at first, but after a series of matches and proper encouragement, you get points to improve her skills. By the time I completed the first go-round, my partner was better than I was.

Unforunately, when you're playing a one player game and the other three players are handled by the CPU, you're only playing about 25% of the game. The rest is spent watching the court spin around and the CPU girls do their thing. It gets boring.

The mini-games are pure filler and not worth visiting more than once. They're a real disappointment. The tutorial, too, has some elements of filler in them.

I can see BEACH SPIKERS being a really fun 4 player game, however, just as long as everyone is relatively close together in skill level. It would be really easy for one skilled player to dominate the court. I would recommend it as a potential party game, but if you're a solo-player, I couldn't see you getting more than a week's worth of playtime out of BEACH SPIKERS. Definitely worth renting or picking up used.