It can always be summertime on the beach in Summer Heat Beach Volleyball. This is the best volleyball game I have played since Super Spike V’Ball for the NES. There are tons of unlockables throughout the game. I am about five games away from beating the game on hard mode. It takes a long time to get through the tournaments, but it is fun.
The audio in this game is very average. The sound effects are fine, but it’s the music that is the problem. Besides the six songs made for the game, there are five pop hits, including Sum 41 and Kylie Minogue. The best song is “Good Times” by Sprung Monkey. But the songs repeat so often, you get sick of them a few games into the tournament.
The graphics are great. The characters are very smooth. There is a colorful set of characters to choose from. What makes this a great game to relax with is the settings. The beaches are beautiful for the most part. One of the courts is on a small island.
Summer Heat has some of the easiest controls for a PS2 game. X passes, Square sets, and Triangle hits back over the net. That is basically it. I picked up the controls very fast the first time I played, so I was as good as my friend in no time.
Arcade, Tournament, and minigames are some of the features. The unlocks keep you wanting to play each difficulty level. Hats, clothes, characters, and levels are some of the unlocks.
One problem I noticed during hours and hours of play is your teammate seems to get dumber and dumber throughout the game. In some games, I get killed by the opponents, and that should never happen because I used to shut out everyone.
Character customization and being able to learn quickly are the best things about this game. I think it is a very good game to relax with, and I recommend it to people that love beach volleyball.
