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Allow me to be perfectly frank.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: August 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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.

This is the best beach volleyball game in the history!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: June 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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!!...

Another great sports game from SEGA !!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you are a fan of Virtua Tennis, chances are you'd be into this game too. Sega knows how to make highly addictive sports games and Beach Spikers is no exception. Easy enough for a beginner to jump right in, but deep enough to keep you playing.

Best beach sim, period

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I play on the MPVA, as do my roommates. This game totally rocks, hands down. It's not perfect volleyball, no, but it's as close as anyone is going to get. Building up your girl, bleh, fine, take every pass, anyone who plays knows you can put the ball away off of anything. The real fun is in arcade mode. Beat your score each time. You hve to kick it up to very hard to even get a slight challenge, and only the latter teams give it, but damn, working torwards perfection can get strenuous and fun!
Multiplayer is where it's at tho, no doubt about it. We have the girls college team over and everyone just sits and plays for hours, it's that damngood, and intuitive.
You don't have toi be a player to play the game, but as an outsider, realize that this is the best sim available

Nintendo Sets! Sega Spikes! VICTORY!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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.

Impressive so far.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: July 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Beach Spikers really does look like a lot of fun. Nintendo Power's review suggests that it plays like Mario Tennis. That's definitely a good thing. The graphics are great, the controls I've heard to be simple, and you can praise or cast out your team mate. What's more, it has three cool minigames and an awesome four player feature. Even the stadiums you play in are specially themed. What's more, the players are women in bikinis! What more can you ask for in a volleyball game?

Remember Super Spike V-Ball?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Alas, the gaming world has left this sport reasonably unexplored, but... this is the realization of the sport. From very simple controls, to a challenging game with many teams to choose from, and by the way, an extensive create a player mode, much like the Sega Sports Tennis Series. Participate in numerous tournaments around the world with real sponsors, and have a good time.

I'll be honest, I don't like to lose, and I lost the first 4 games I played. It's not as easy as anyone thinks. It's certainly worth the money though. If you buy this game for the girls, then well, that's what adult stores are for. If you want volleyball, the way the original Superspike V Ball wasy for Nintendo, then I would go out and get this one quick.

4 and a Half Stars...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: August 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I got Beach Spikers after hearing mixed reviews about it, not sure if I'd love it or hate it. But anyways, I got it, and it's a very nice game. Here's my ratings for each major thing:

Graphics- The graphics are very detailed. The player models are very well done, and the minute details, like footprints in the sand, are nice effects. 8.6/10
Play Control- There are four buttons on the GameCube for a reason, and Beach Spikers doesn't take advantage of that, but the control is still fairly easy to pick up and understand. 7.9/10
Game Design- How many volleyball games are out there? Not many, and this one's chock full of stuff, like a Career Mode and a handful of minigames. 8.2/10
Satisfaction- When you're playing the game, you're usually having fun, even when you're losing. That alone is worth a rent. 8.1/10
Sound- The sound effects are kinda nice, but an announcer could've added something. 7/10
Overall- Overall, the pros outweigh the cons, making this a noteworthy game to at least rent.

Beach Spikers is too much fun! PSYCHE!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: October 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Beach Spikers is hot, hot, hot! You play as a really sexy girl who plays volley ball on the beach, choose your country, edit your girl and your teammate, first thing is that your friend is not so good at the sport plus she's really a dumb ..., but as you play and give her complements she'll be inspired to become better! Beware the American team, they may be the sexiest team on the beach, but don't get hypnotized by their looks, they're real bomb spikers! I personally give this 8-out of-10 but 5 stars must settle!

An excellent beach volleyball game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Personally, I found this game good enough to buy -- 4 stars may not be maximum but it's no gas bomb either. However, I felt there could have been more: more stages, more options, and more teams. It's possible that SEGA is holding out for a sequil. Next time, I think the sound options should be put in three categories: music, sound FX, AND announcer (he's so annoying). A female announcer would have been better too.
That being said, SEGA did a tremendous job in applying the physics and making a simple yet effective control scheme. Additionally there a circles indicating where the ball will land, so you don't have to rely on shadows or blind luck like previous volleyball games such as the unofficial Venice Beach game for the NES back in the days of 8 bits. Actually it wasn't so bad, but that's besides the point.
Even as a hater of sports games, I highly recommend this game to anyone (female or male) who likes intense, hard-hitting action four-player action with with an all-female cast. Some women may be offended by the skimpiness of the uniforms, but that's a small price to pay. Finally there is a women's sports game that does the gender justice.

Note: This is an ARCADE-style video game, not just because it debuted in the arcades, but because it's very "basic" like most arcade games are. I don't know personally, I've been told though, that there are many more rules to real volleyball than in this particular game.

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