DESCRIPTION

The first beach volleyball game for GameCube, Beach Spikers offers two-on-two competition with a choice of 16 men's and women's teams from eight countries: U.S., Brazil, Australia, Spain, Japan, Italy, France, and Cuba. The control scheme is designed to be accessible, requiring only two buttons. An icon appears along the sand to signal where the ball is heading, and players can align their athlete underneath the symbol to set the ball to their teammate, dig, or attack in multiple directions. A vertical power meter determines the strength of each shot, and close-up views of the net during spike attempts allow for a more dynamic presentation.

Modes of play include Arcade, World Tour, VS Mode, and Tutorial. Arcade is structured like the 2001 coin-op game, where players take their chosen country through an eight-team tournament against men or women. World Tour lets players create their own team and develop the AI of their computer partner through practicing different scenarios (as seen in AM2's Virtua Fighter 4 on PlayStation 2). VS Mode lets up to four players compete against each other, while Tutorial has players familiarizing themselves with the control scheme. As the game progresses, instant replays will highlight the key shots or blocks that lead to a point or side-out. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide