Spiker Worth it as a Game?

[+Gemintronic]

I posed this question in the recent Spiker related poll but it may be a big enough question for its own topic.

 

Is it worthy as a game? If collect-ability was taken out of the equation does it stand on its own?

[+cmart604]

Yah it's actually a pretty good game which is unusual for a very rare and expensive game.

[+Gemintronic]

I just found out Volleyball was part of Intellivion Lives! for the Playstation 2. Why the heck didn't I noticed that?

[JasonlikesINTV]

I've never played it.

[+bennybingo]

Well....if you are going to take the collect-ability out of it, I would rather play this one any day...

 

 

[mr_intv]

Well....if you are going to take the collect-ability out of it, I would rather play this one any day...

 

 

 

Them are some NICE pixels!

[JasonlikesINTV]

Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy....

 

Seriously, all of the asymmetrical boob action creeps me out. When one goes up, the other always goes down. It's like they don't like each other and are trying to escape in different directions.

[+cmart604]

Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy....

 

Seriously, all of the asymmetrical boob action creeps me out. When one goes up, the other always goes down. It's like they don't like each other and are trying to escape in different directions.

Lol, that truly made me laugh.

[SoulBlazer]

Hey, DOA Xtreme 2 is my guilty pleasure. And a great volleyball game in it's own right.

 

But Spiker is a great game, and was probably the best volleyball game to come out until Kings of the Beach for the NES and the later DOA games.

[HunterZero]

IMHO, no game, no matter how good, is worth over $100 just for the gameplay alone.

 

If you were the developer for the 'physics engine' in the DOA games, imagine explaining that to friends/family/significant other...

 

- J

[JasonlikesINTV]

IMHO, no game, no matter how good, is worth over $100 just for the gameplay alone.If you were the developer for the 'physics engine' in the DOA games, imagine explaining that to friends/family/significant other...- J

I agree...ok, maybe $120 but no mas!

[SoulBlazer]

IMHO, no game, no matter how good, is worth over $100 just for the gameplay alone. If you were the developer for the 'physics engine' in the DOA games, imagine explaining that to friends/family/significant other... - J

That's the thing about the DOA series, though -- Tecmo has ALWAYS been over the top with the series since day one. They don't hide it, and the fans expect it and love it. Each game tends to crank up the 'bouncy' factor, but DOA 5 came out with a new physics engine that made the girls look more realistic so you don't get the 'strange action' that you saw in the DOA volleyball games. And it's a very good fighting game in it's own right, one of the best in the series.

 

But anyway, not to get totally off topic -- for when it came out, and for the system it was for, Spiker pushed the Intelivision to it's limits, and it plays just like a real volleyball game. The 'pass-set-spike' routine is perfectly done, and the small touches done in the game are amazing.

 

I agree that no game is worth spending $100 just to play. The most I ever paid for a game was $70, but that was Final Fantasy 2 (4) for the SNES and I knew I could get my money back on it someday, and I did. At least one can easily play Spiker in emulation on the Intelivision Lives collection.

[HunterZero]

A$80 to A$100 for new release console games has been pretty standard in Australia for years - some new games in the last few years for the Xbox 360 and PS3 had initial asking prices of $110 to $120! That's not even for a special edition...

 

For a while, the Australian dollar was languishing around the US0.60 mark, but even after the Australian dollar soared to US$1.10, video games prices (and music and movie prices too) were pretty much unchanged.

 

- J

[Oscar G.]

I guess if the recent poll results are an indicator Spiker is a very decent game.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/224400-intv-best-game-of-all-times-round-1-625-more-sport/

 

So far it has 40% of the best game votes when compared with other pretty decent Intellivision sport games.

 

Cheers.

[IntellivisionDude]

I'm skeptical of those poll results. I wonder how many of those votes actually played the game or owned it or just voted for it just because of it's reputation. I mean i guess they could of emulated it, but i just wonder. Especially since Body Slam which is more common than Spiker and pushes the Intellivision to it's limits with graphics and features is barely getting any votes. hmm.

[+intvsteve]

Well, consider the two groupings:

• Soccer
• Tennis
• Boxing
• Mountain Madness
• Spiker

vs.

• Major League Baseball
• Bowling
• World Championship Baseball
• Body Slam

The Spiker grouping is a much weaker field, IMO. Aside from Mountain Madness, the rest of the games are two-player-only sports games that were 'second tier' sports. (Sorry soccer fans, even Pele couldn't make soccer popular in the U.S. in his peak years.) Boxing is OK, but IMO lacks fast-paced action a really fun boxing game needs. Mountain Madness, while a nice game, was an incremental improvement over the original, since you could still play U.S. Ski Team skiing as a one-player game. Spiker is a standout from these because it's got great graphics, and though also a second-tier sport, was a more 'exotic' one. I think that, combined with the sexiness of its rarity, gobbles up votes. I agree it may pull some votes because of its rarity, but the game *does* stand apart from the rest of its field on its own merits.

 

In the Body Slam grouping, you have The Game - the one Plimpton pimped the system with, the "Killer App" when the console was first mass marketed, the first game written for the console, and the focus of the most recent Intellivisionaries podcast. It's fresh on everyone's mind. Plus, you have the sequel to it, that adds one-player mode, sliding, fly balls, repositioned fielders, etc. So two incredibly strong competitors, one of them being one of the most popular games ever for the console. Bowling also was solid, and more innovative than the other sports titles in the Spiker grouping, IMO, and it also supported one player.

 

So Body Slam, I agree, is an awesome game. But it got a really, really tough draw.

Edited April 19, 2014 by intvsteve

[JasonlikesINTV]

Body Slam vs Spiker...go!

[IntellivisionDude]

Body Slam vs Spiker...go!

 

Body Slam....See i told you that question was easy.

[Rev]

Body slam is bettee

[JasonlikesINTV]

Body slam is bettee

Hmmm, I know that pricing and rarity figure into this, but would a CIB Body Slam be anywhere near an equivalent trade for a CIB Stadium Mud Buggies?

[+cmart604]

I think it's a bit light personally. Kinda $200 vs $300 sort of deal.

[JasonlikesINTV]

I think it's a bit light personally. Kinda $200 vs $300 sort of deal.

I agree, but an optimist can hope Now that the Repro Box Set 2 is coming out and will include a SMB, it will be very difficult for me to justify the $300+ price tag. I already have the cart, so a Repro Box, and say a photocopied manual, will do just fine for the time being. Same for LF2. I'm keeping an eye out for the cart to go with my Repro box. Fun fact: once I track down a LF2 cart, I'm in the 124 club. Patience, young likesINTV. I'm rambling, aren't I.... So when are those new Reproduction boxes coming out anyway?

[+bennybingo]

Body Slam vs Spiker...go!

Spiker Slammin Body!