Spike Into Volleyball Action in The Spike: Volleyball Story

“The Spike: Volleyball Story” is a volleyball Arcade/Simulation sports game developed by DAERISOFT, creators of great games such as “A Girl Adrift” and “Grand Master: Idle RPG” which offers a unique and immersive experience for volleyball enthusiasts and casual gamers alike. The game is clearly inspired by the spirit of shounen anime and manga such as “Haikyu!!” and “Captain Tsubasa”. The anime-inspired art style and the high stakes are fascinating. In this game, players take on the role of a team of avid volleyball players navigating through a captivating and amusing storyline filled with challenges, rivalries, and personal growth. The gameplay is fluid and intuitive and easy to pick up for beginners and casual players, allowing them to perform precise movements, strategic plays, and thrilling spikes with easy inputs. It actually captures the excitement and intensity of competitive volleyball. The game also features various modes, including a dedicated visual novel-style story mode, a tournament mode that is unlocked midgame, and training modes to empower your characters, ensuring hours of engaging gameplay. Additionally, players can customize their teams, upgrade their characters, and enhance their skills, adding depth and replay value to the overall experience.

The Spike Gameplay

The gameplay of “The Spike: Volleyball Story” focuses on a 3v3 version of Volleyball. This sports game is about a 3v3 version of volleyball that is played with three players on each side of the court. It offers a more compact and fast-paced version of the game compared to the standard six-player format. The game's objective is to score points by successfully hitting the ball over the net and into the opponent's side of the court while preventing the opposing team from doing the same. The basic rules and techniques of volleyball, such as serving, setting, and spiking, apply to 3v3 volleyball as well. Two teams of three players face each other and the player can do a lot of real-world volleyball moves such as spiking the ball, going for a runner-up, and receiving the ball.

You lead a volleyball team in this sports game into the National Championship. Through the process, you will recruit new players, train them for better stats and play through several matches to reach the dream of the championship. The process is fun and engaging. You earn money by playing games and use it to upgrade and recruit new players. The process is engaging and fun.

The process of gameplay starts with serving the ball by one team and the opposing team rallying to hit the ball back. Each team has a maximum of three contacts with the ball before leading it back to the opposing team’s field and if they manage to spike the ball inside the opponent’s boundaries, it would count as a score. In the game, the process of serving the ball happens by pressing the same button repeatedly and the process of leading the ball back to the opponent’s arena happens by receiving the ball using the specified button, waiting for your teammate to throw the ball upwards and you spiking the ball into the enemy arena with power. The higher your player stats, the higher your shots will be. Some games end at 5 scores and some do end up at higher scores which are identified on the scoreboard.

In “The Spike: Volleyball Story” play through a couple of practice matches and upgrade your characters until you are qualified for the local and national games. This anime game follows the story of “Dahee Jung” and “Siwoo Baek” and their pursuit of the championship. The game features visual novel-style cutscenes before matches in order to set the stage and hype up the stakes for the upcoming match. The characters have a defined anime style and remind us of the shows such as Haikyuu! The story is wholesome with its moments and follows a shonen-style story about the dream of victory!

The Spike Review

STORY:7/10

One of the standout features of The Spike is its intriguing storyline. You play as a young volleyball player and his team striving to become the next champions, along the way, you encounter various challenges, rivalries, and personal growth. The game is heavily inspired by the stories like “Haikyu!!” And “Captain Tsubasa” engages you from start to finish. The plot twists and character development add depth to the game, making it more than just a sports simulation and more of a journey into the lives of “Dahee Jung” and “Siwoo Baek”. As a side-effect, it also includes your typical anime tropes.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10

The volleyball gameplay itself is fluid and intuitive. The controls in this sports game are easy to grasp and learn by casual players, allowing you to focus on strategic plays and precise movements. Whether you're serving, spiking, or diving for a save, the prompts can be done with just three buttons. The game also offers a tournament mode alongside the story mode. The problem with the gameplay lies within the progression spikes (pun intended) that occur throughout the midgame.

VISUALS: 4/10

The visuals in The Spike are serviceable. This anime game features 2D character sprites which lack a lot of the detail we expect from modern games. But you would surely get used to these simplistic sprites sooner or later as the gameplay compensates for it. The Font and UI are ok enough but lack the flare of other games. We are looking forward to the developer team's next updates to see if they will fix these issues. Although the visual novel elements in this game are pleasant to the eyes.

AUDIO AND MUSIC: 6/10

The background music sets the mood perfectly, ranging from energetic tracks during matches to more reflective melodies during cutscenes. The sound effects, including the satisfying thud of the ball hitting the ground and the cheers from the crowd, add an extra layer of realism. For a sports game, the audio design is great.

PERFORMANCE: 9/10

The game is 2D and simplistic, making it run great on a large range of devices and PCs. In our review window, we didn’t experience any issues regarding performance and connectivity. On the downside, some users have reported occasional glitches and crashes. Hopefully, the developers continue to provide updates and address these concerns to deliver a more polished gaming experience.

OVERALL:6.5 - GOOD

Final Thoughts

"The Spike" is a remarkable sports game that deserves commendation for its exceptional features and performance. It offers an extensive range of gameplay features, catering to all aspects of the real-world counterpart, and excels in this regard. The instructions provided are precise and user-friendly, making it an invaluable tool for individuals at all skill levels, whether they are beginners or seasoned players aiming to enhance their abilities. The game lacks in the visual presentation department including UI, fonts, and Visual Flare but we are hoping for the next updates from the developer team to fix the mentioned issues and improve upon them. This might be a great volleyball game to spend your time with!

How to play The Spike on PC

You can play this game on the Gameloop emulator and play it as an emulator game if you follow the steps below:

1. Download and install Gameloop: Go to the official Gameloop website (https://www.gameloop.com/) and download the emulator. Follow the on-screen instructions to install it on your PC.

2. Launch Gameloop: Once the installation is complete, launch the Gameloop emulator on your PC.

3. Search for The Spike: In the Gameloop interface, you will find a search bar or a game center. Type "The Spike" in the search bar and click on the search button.

4. Download and install The Spike: From the search results, find The Spike game and click on the "Download" or "Install" button. The emulator will begin downloading and installing the game automatically.

5. Launch The Spike: Once the installation is complete, click on the "Play" or "Start" button to launch The Spike. The game will start running on your PC through the Gameloop emulator.

Configure controls: You can customize the controls and set up keyboard input for different actions from the Gameloop Key Mapping settings on top of the application.

Useful Links

The Spike on Gameloop: https://www.gameloop.com/game/sports/the-spike-volleyball-story-on-pc

The Spike Discord Community: https://discord.com/invite/RBJzXBwJHm