Beach Volley
| Beach Volley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Ocean France |
| Publisher(s) | Ocean Software Ltd |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum |
| Release date(s) | 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Sports game |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
Beach Volley is a simplified computer game version of volleyball from the French developer team Ocean France for various 16-Bit and 8-Bit personal computers, released by Ocean Software Ltd in 1989.
Story
A stranger interrupts a beach volleyball game and offering the player to join the "Ocean Beach Volley" worldwide tournament, to play against the best from eight other countries. The winner of this competition will receive $250,000 dollars.
Gameplay
Follows the base ruleset of volleyball. Two teams of two players each trying to score by making the ball land inside the opponents half of the court. First team reaching seven points within six minutes wins and head to another of the eight countries. At five minutes of play, the music changes to a different tune to indicate the player to hurry up. If you reach the six minutes limit, you lose the game, even if you are ahead in points. One or two player at once can play the game, but tournament mode is only available for single player. In singe player mode you will be joined by an AI controlled player. To help the human player a flickering blue cursor on the ground will indicate where the ball will be landing.
Locations
The world tournament consists of a single match in eight different countries, which is seen on a world map. Your team starts in London and the final match will be held in Paris. Your team had to take challenges in New York City, Nassau, Luxor, Sydney, Tokyo and Moscow in between too. Every hosting country will be introduced with a little humorous skit, which is usually related to their sights or locations.
Development
Beach Volley is the first Ocean France product.[1] Was one of the first Ocean games to be aimed for the 16-Bit personal computers Amiga and Atari ST, but were later ported to other systems.[2] Jean Baudlot was hired to produce the music, he composed sixteen mostly rock'n roll songs which got favorable mentions in reviews like CU Amiga or ZZAP!.
Review & Quotes
Beach Volley got on release in mostly raving reviews from amiga magazines. Two years later when it was re-release as a budget title some magazines like CU Amiga or Amiga Power wrote new reviews with a noticeable lower rating (criticizing poor gameplay).
Reviews from 1989:
This is one of the most addictive games I've played in a long time. - 88% - CU Amiga-64 [3]
Brilliant! All the fun of the real thing but without the risk of sunburn. - 85% - ZZAP [4]
Beach Volley is certainly more interesting than your usual shoot 'em up. - 8/10 - AUI [5]
Reviews from 1991:
Trip away this flash facade and clever between level sequences, and there is a decidedly dull game cowering beneath. - %43 - CU Amiga[6]
Don't let the cartoon graphics trick you into buying this poorly disguised variation on a poor tennis game - 28% - Amiga Power[7]
Credits
Programmers: Michel Janicki
Graphics: Michèle Bacqué, Philippe Dessoly, Pierre-Eric Loriaux
Music: Jean Baudlot
Designer: Marc Djan