Beach Spikers is a fun party game. That's pretty much it. If you're expecting a deep and engrossing single player campaign mode, look somewhere else (not that any volleball game offers that). There is a single-player component but it's remarkably shallow. You start by picking or creating a team and proceed through a series of matches with a partner who is essentially as dumb and as responsive as a rock. In your first few matches it's likely that every shot that goes near her will hit the sand as she stares blankly at it or simply bounce off her with no attempts to hit it. The key there is that you can praise or scold her at several points during the match in an attempt to build morale, and after a dozen games you'll have earned enough points to slowly build your partner up into an unstoppable volleyball machine that will likely be better than you (as any spike or serve will be hit at 100%). But, after you've accomplished that...there's really nothing else to do, unless you absolutely have to play in the arcade mode to unlock a handful of bathing suits and hats. Speaking of bathing suits, and of the female form in general, the graphics look good and the players animate well, although their skin tone is often a bit funny looking. And in a touch sure to be appreciated by us male players, the post-shot and post-game victory/comforting animations are more than a little homoerotic, as the women will quite gladly hold one another close while sliding their hands down the other's butt. Seriously. Where DOA:XVB has blatant breast physics (there's none of that in Beach Spikers and none of the players are augmented to ridiculous proportions), Beach Spikers has lesbian victory animations. Sound is probably the game's biggest failing, as each and every piece of music is forgettable and the in-game sound effects are generic. But what drags it down even further is the ghastly announcer that comments on every single shot (yes, every one) and insists on exclaiming loudly "THANK YOU! ENJOY THE GAME!" after almost every menu selection. You can't turn him off, either. Looks like someone at Sega goofed big time. The gameplay, however, is simple, addictive, and fun. Playing as four players - a must - is a blast and there aren't many multiplayer games that are as easy for beginners to pick up, yet offer enough options (jump serves and power spikes) for more advanced players to use so they don't feel as if they're just hitting A whenever a coloured circle appears by them. For that reason, it's hard to recommend Beach Spikers for anything but multiplayer use. As a $10 addition to your repertoire of multiplayer games, you could do much worse, and heck - for the brief time it lasts, it's somewhat amusing watching your partner get better in single player mode.
Other Helpful Reviews for Beach Spikers: Virtua Beach Volleyball
The Gameplay system is good but it could have been planned out and executed a little differently which could have perfected it. The only real problem here is the game's camera setup that can hide some of the action, maki... Read Full Review
I've played a lot of volleyball, both beach and indoor, and coming from the point of view of a "sports" game, Beach Spikers is painfully inadequate. I wasn't expecting perfect fidelity, but I would expect some semblance ... Read Full Review
