Super Volleyball
System: TG-16
Release Date: February 1990
Developer: Micronics
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Sports
Volleyball may not be as popular as baseball or golf when it comes to video games, but Super Volleyball is another installment in a look at the sport. Despite its title, this one is for the TurboGrafx-16. There are eight teams from around the world available for play in an exhibition match or in league play. You can also create your own! It’s the first to win three sets of 15 points in this one. You can set a starting point value for each game, and I suppose the default is 10.
Once you choose your team, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, you head to the court. The first thing you’ll notice is instead of an elevated view showing off the entire court, you are looking at a level field. This honestly takes a moment to get used to if you’ve played any other volleyball game out there. You can give an overhead serve, underhand serve, or jumping serve with different presses of the D-Pad and Button I.
When the ball comes your way, you can receive with Button 1. After you’ve bumped it the set is automatic. Normally, one of your net players will jump and you need to spike it when the ball flashes red. However, there are ways to get a center-court spike if you hold up and Button II as you’re receiving. You can also get a fake spiker if you hold down and Button II. These were incredibly finicky to get to work. Blocking was difficult to time, but it’s important to try to block a spike with Button II.
Graphics: 2.0
I like the animations and the background crowd, but I’d be lying if I said it was anything special.
Sound: 1.5
You’re mainly hearing sound effects. Crowd noise is fine.
Gameplay: 1.5
The ball changes its trajectory often, losing its projected arc. Getting the fake spiker or center-court spike to occur is incredibly hard.
Difficulty: 1.5
My first two games, I couldn’t score a point. I probably shouldn’t have played Japan then Russia… but the timing of hitting the ball didn’t seem to be consistent.
Fun Factor: 1.5
It’s cool to have a league mode and it’s nice to be able to set how many points you start with for shorter games, but it wasn’t really that fun.
Overall Grade: 1.6
Super Volleyball earns a C-. I’d pass on this one, but you may find a bit of enjoyment in it.