Developer: MASUDATARO, Tiny Cactus Studio, veryOK
Publisher: Kodansha
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc – Review
If you were looking for a volleyball game where all mayhem breaks loose, don’t look further because Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc might be just the game you have been looking for. This game brings all your favorite Fairy Tail characters together, and you can use them in a 2v2 volleyball match using their signature abilities and other crazy power-ups to win the game.
Story
Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc doesn’t feature any story mode since it is more of a party game than a regular story-driven one. However, the characters featured in Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc use their signature abilities, which fans might recognize from the series.
Graphics
The animations of Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc are pretty decent. The character designs you see when playing a match are relatively simple but these sprites capture the characters well. This also counts for their portraits during the character selection screen which have been animated quite nicely. These are also the only animations that are not animated in a 32-bit style, but more in a chibi animation style.
The background features a simple beach design. The colors are very saturated, giving it a pleasant view to the eyes. However, prolonged exposure to this color scheme can be quite taxing on the eyes. The background is mostly static but when certain events occur, such as a power-up or playing match point, the background starts moving or shaking. This becomes quite annoying after a couple of minutes. It is also not possible to remove this feature from the settings. Combined with the vibrant colors, playing multiple matches in a row without a break becomes difficult.
Sound
The music has a nice upbeat vibe which corresponds well with the summery beach setting of the game. It doesn’t feature many different instruments but it is good as it is. Many special attacks also have their distinctive audio, which gives each character more personality. This also counts for the generic power-ups you can receive throughout a match. Finally, the voice of the announcer also changes from time to time which is also a nice addition.
Gameplay
Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc is an arcade sports game that seems quite simple at first glance. You can either pass the ball or jump and smash it. Every time the ball is smashed to the other side it will slowly start speeding up. That is the only ‘volleyball’ related part of the gameplay. All the rest is either character or power-up related. The latter can be used when your power gauge is full, which must be filled by walking around on your side of the field to collect gems that charge said gauge. This is a nice feature since it also forces the player to not just focus on the ball but also on walking around and collecting. It gives more dynamic to the game since using a smash while your gauge is full has a higher chance of scoring because your special ability will be used.
Most of the aforementioned abilities disable the opponent in some way or another, interfering with the opponent’s character, the opponent’s side of the field, or the screen. However, the latter can be more detrimental than beneficial. This is because when you play against an AI, it generally doesn’t affect them at all. For example, one of the power-ups you can collect makes an old grandma appear when you use this power-up during a smash. She will then block parts of the screen so you can’t see where the ball falls. This is of course hilarious when you play against a human opponent but quite futile against an AI. At the end stages of the game, so many power-ups have been introduced that the concept of a volleyball game gradually disappears and becomes more of a reaction game where you try to dodge the enemy power-ups and hope you manage to catch the ball.
As for now, Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc doesn’t feature an online mode, so the only option you have is to either play against the AI or with friends locally. This is quite unfortunate, as playing Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc online would immensely improve the significance of some of the power-ups. Otherwise, they will bring you little aid.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, the combination of the absence of an online mode and the annoyance of some of the power-ups when playing alone doesn’t do Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc any favor. Playing a couple of matches on your own is nice but after a short while, it becomes too chaotic to keep on playing without getting a headache or needing a break. Playing locally with friends is probably the best experience of Fairy Tail Beach Volleyball Havoc but otherwise, it doesn’t bring much extra to the table.
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