Bump Set Spike!, ZX Spectrum, Entertainment USA - USAS 0110
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Score - 5/105/10
Summary
Bump Set Spike! is just as it says, a volleyball game. The controls are very difficult to get used to, making playability awkward to start with, even after getting fairly used to playing it.
I feel that if it was created as a side-on view instead, it could have been much faster and enjoyable. Should, however, you be prepared to give it some time and adapt to where to stand and pass the ball, then you may want to persevere with it and get a reasonable game out of it.
I’m going to rate just average as it’s not a game that you’d probably want to come back to play too often. A few goes is ok, but it’s not one to play for hours on end.
User Review
( votes)The Game
Bump Set Spike! is an isometric volleyball game. It is a one player only game where you can only compete against the computer (CPU). For a team to win, they require 10 points.
Presentation
There is a nicely detailed loading screen. It has a couple bits where the colours could have been slightly better placed but the detail more than makes up for it. When the main programme loads, a black block does appear to go three quarters of the way across the screen about a third of the screen down.
Once the game has loaded, you are presented with a white opening screen with black text. The words International Volleyball and the programmers are displayed with “R” used should you wish to re-define the keys.
The font looks very tidy and there is a scrolling message at the bottom of the screen. Unusually, the message doesn’t travel across a very long row of the screen but neatly displays a few words in a smaller area and disappear after a few words. I have to say, I liked that effect but is does a very slight jerkiness to it.
The scrolling message start in capital letters at the beginning with Welcome to International Volleyball. Strangely, Bump Set Spike! isn’t mentioned and therefore only appears on the cassette inlay, loading screen and cassette tape itself but never in the game itself. Incidentally when playing the game, International Volleyball is at the top of the screen too.
Graphics
The game has a static isometric background of the volleyball court. There is an audience and a few advertising banners along the side (one of them for Mastertronic). Most of the playing area is in monochrome black and white Should you or the CPU opponent hit the ball high up, the ball travels through that part of the screen and changes colour to blue briefly but it is very visible to see and doesn’t distract from the gameplay.
The animation on the players as they move around is fine and you can see when they are going to play the ball, pass and run. There is also a spinning twirl on the winning players at the end of a game which is rather amusing!
When the volleyball goes off the court, the ball bounces straight up and down in the air. The animation is smooth and a nice effect. If you do a low aimed shot, or it goes through the net (yes, you read that correctly!) then there is a nice double bounce of the ball near to the ground before the players run back into their starting positions.
Sound Effects Only
The sound nostalgically reminded me of the static noise you get when tuning an old analogue television between stations!
Apart from that, apart from when re-defining the keys (a quick beep) or passing the ball it’s pretty much just tapping noises with and no music for you to hear anywhere.
X Marks The Spot
Playing Bump Set Spike! takes a quite a while to master the controls. It’s not a game you can just pick up and have sussed out in a just few second, so perseverance is the key. The best way I found was to hold down the fire button before you get the ball but getting perfectly on the X takes practice. Rallys are by far very are tough to do so I tended to use just one player (usually) rather than switching between the two of them. Switching players is done by pressing one of two keys to alternative who you are controlling.
The volleyball will always land where the X shape moves to (where its being aimed) and always travels in the direction that the player is facing towards. Your opponents (or your teammate should you play a rally between your team) control the volleyball by holding down the fire button. The longer the fire button is held down, the higher and further the volleyball will move along the court.
The Pace of The Game
As with any isometric games, they were very processor intensive and the speed of playing Bump Set Spike! is slow paced. It’s not terrible but at the same time isn’t too thrilling either (as claimed.) It’s a more sedate pace and given the accuracy of where you need to place your player, it probably helps actually!
Description of What’s Happening
Along the top of the screen, there are a few messages about who is going to do a new service or who has the advantage.
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You know what we think but why not share your thoughts on this game! Let us know what you think of it in the comments below, or add your own score using the slider in the summary box at the top of the review!
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