Volleyball games aren't exactly commonplace, probably largely because volleyball games really haven't changed that much over the years. Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball is a perfect example of this, as it doesn't offer anything substantially different from or better than what's found in preceding volleyball games--other than the inclusion of real-world volleyball professionals like Gabby Reece, and an easy-to-use targeting system for spiking the ball or making passes to teammates. While it lacks originality and has rather bland graphics, Power Spike is still an entertaining, budget-priced volleyball game with a relatively small learning curve, which means it'll be easy for players of all skill levels to jump right in.
Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball has all of the basic modes of play you'd expect from a sports game, including exhibition, championship, and practice modes. There's also a player-editor mode that lets you create your own volleyball player, but it's fairly shallow in what it lets you do. You can change very few physical characteristics and disperse points to a few different player attributes. The ability to create something more unique than a color-palette-swapped version of other characters from the game would've been much more desirable.
The lackluster customization mode is mainly a consequence of the game's poor graphics. The player models are simplistic and lacking any discernible detail, and with the exception of Gabby Reece herself and the obvious differences between male and female players, most of the player models look virtually the same. In addition, the animation for these models varies widely. Animations for bumps and sets are generally smooth, while spike animations look very choppy, so much that it seems as though the players don't even make contact with the ball. Some of these animations can have a detrimental effect on gameplay, as they can make it difficult to judge how quickly you can get to a ball in a short period of time. For example, if the opposing team spikes the ball onto your side, your players may launch into any one of a number of different bump animations--some take more time to execute than others. There's also an odd lighting problem that causes parts of the player to constantly flicker when in an idle position, and you'll also notice some polygonal clipping as parts of the player models will pierce through barriers that surround the court whenever you go for a ball hit out-of-bounds.
Though Power Spike's choppy animation is somewhat disappointing, the gameplay is still executed quite well, and it's incredibly easy to get right into. Essentially, whenever the ball comes into your side of the court, you have a number of different options to choose from to keep your opponents off guard. You can bump the ball to your teammate and setup a spike that exploits holes in your opponents' defense--if the opponents are playing shallow, then you should hit the ball into the back of the court, or if they're playing deep or to one side, you can try to hit the ball close to the net and in the opposite direction of the opponents. All of these strategies are easy to execute thanks to the game's easy targeting system, which displays a small target that you can use to aim all of your bumps, spikes, and passes before your player makes contact with the ball. This system works well, though you might initially tend to overcompensate and hit the ball out-of-bounds, but you'll get a better feel for it with some practice. If there's any real problem with this system, it's that it can make the game seem a little too easy even on the hardest difficulty--but Power Spike tries to counteract this by making the ball and the passing icon behave a little more realistically on the hard settings than they do on the easier settings.
Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball isn't a remarkable volleyball game, but it does just enough to be entertaining. The graphics are lackluster, as it's clear that the developer didn't put much effort into making the players look realistic. Animation ranges in quality depending on the type of move your players are performing--some of the moves look very lifelike, and others don't. Sound is nearly nonexistent in the game--there's only a brief introduction from an announcer and a few lines of banter between players. There are no network multiplayer modes available, though two players can play at the same computer. Even as shallow as these features are, the gameplay in Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball is executed well and has very few actual problems, such that volleyball fans should have fun playing through the game's tournament mode repeatedly.
