Volleyball
System: NES
Release Date: March 1987
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Sports
We’re to Volleyball, another sports game on NES. You can choose from women’s volleyball and men’s volleyball. It’s volleyball. I like volleyball in reality, but this wasn’t very much fun. You are the USA and you can play against one of seven other teams. Tunisia is the easiest, then Korea, Brazil, Japan, Cuba, China, and the USSR. Apparently they are ranked based on their performance in the 1981 and 1985 World Cups.
The game is pretty complex if I’m to be honest. You serve with the A button. When the ball comes your way, you bump and set with the A button and B button. You spike by holding the B button. You can modify the spike with the direction buttons. Up and down aim to where you want to go. Forward gives you a strong spike. Backward gives you a feint spike. The very best thing is when you hit someone with a strong spike and they turtle on their back (8:40). Hilarious. You can jump at the net to block a spike, but not with any great frequency.
Controls are alright, but man, if you’re not precise, you’re going to get steamrolled. The rules are volleyball rules, you can only score if you’re serving. You play a best of five series and switch sides after each game. I feel like there were times when I should have won a point or the serve, but the other team got the call.
One thing I find pretty funny is that each player is animated to constantly hump forward. That’s about the only worthwhile thing to come from this game. Why isn’t this a meme?
Graphics: 1.0
We’re almost two years into the system and graphics should be of slightly better quality.
Sound: 1.0
The constant droning song is of too fast tempo compared to gameplay and the whistle sound is obnoxious.
Gameplay: 2.0
I’ll give it some acknowledgment here, the controls work and there are modifications, so it’s not just click the A or B button and pray.
Difficulty: 1.5
I played against the USSR and got destroyed. Then I played against Korea and lost one more competitive game before quitting.
Fun Factor: 1.0
I got little amounts of fun from this one. I’m looking forward to Super Spike V’Ball, but that’s over a year away.
Overall Grade: 1.3
Volleyball earns a D+. It’s not a good addition to the library. Skip it.