Game:

Klonoa Beach Volleyball (2002)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 19:47

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Ahh... this is one of the most obscure games in Technos' catalog. For starters, the game was originally released in Europe in 1998 under the title of "V-Ball: Beach Volley Heroes", where it had no real story and was published by Funsoft and American Technos and developed by Avit (which was comprised of former Technos Japan employees and stood for "Audio Video Interactive Technology"... quite ironic too as the game was not released anywhere in the U.S.) as more of a budget title. Being loosely considered a spiritual sequel to the Arcade game "V'Ball" and NES game "Super Spike V'Ball" (even though it plays more like "Nekketsu! Beach Volley Dayo Kunio-Kun"), it was simple fun where a variety of outlandish teams competed against each other in extreme volleyball matches where characters could perform powerful special moves. While the game was rated favorably by the few who came in contact with the it, "V-Ball: BVH" quickly fell into obscurity and has become quite rare.

Several months later in 1999, the game was modified and released in Japan as "Chou Sentou Kyuugi Vanborg" (also known as "Chou Sentou Kyuugi Van Borg", "Ultra Battle Ball Game Van Borg" or "The Ultimate Ballgame Van Borg"). With a slightly modified interface, modified characters, new music, and a story that takes place in the future where cyborgs dominate the world of extreme sports, the game was sold at standard retail price among Japanese Playstation titles of the time (5,800 Yen) and was the last title Avit produced in Japan (with the last listed title overall being "X-Men: Mutant Wars" for the Game Boy Color in 2000). Featuring two primary modes (Tournament and Free Style), the game presents twenty characters broken into ten teams (with one team, "The Crusaders", being hidden) who can execute simple vollyball manuevers alternatively in an attempt to win points and sets in a Normal or Rally fashion. Each team has unique attacks and characteristics which range from speed and power to versatility in their skillsets, stamina, and defensive/blocking capabilities.

What seperates it from traditional Volleyball titles is the game's focus on combat, stats, and items, incorporating an almost versus-fighter feel with minor RPG elements, which isn't too surprising given Technos' penchant for games where confrontation takes center stage. While Free Style Mode is basically quick games with adjustable game rules, Tournament Mode is a single player campaign where you can earn money by beating opponents and executing good moves that can be used to purchase a variety of items which characters can equip or use to improve their parameters (which expands when the game is cleared). Attacks can be upgraded as characters block attacks and play well as they build up "tension" (illustrated by brackets), which decreases as characters repeteadly execute specials. Characters can also execute super specials when their tension is maxed (illustrated by rainbow flashing brackets) and some moves are difficult to anticipate or stop such as the Izanagi Ninja team's trick-style attacks. If there was one real problem with the gameplay, it would be that you don't have more control over character positioning during the opposition's turn; you manage the character with the triangle over their head while the other automatically chooses what they feel is the best spot to defend at, but sometimes that is just unacceptable.

The game doesn't look or sound particularly great, but is serviceable overall. The character illustrations were provided by Kenichi Ohnuki, who is known for his work with titles such as "Dirty Pair", "Psychic Force", and "Imadoki no Vampire: Bloody Bride" and are slightly interesting simply because they are not typical to this genre of game, but would seem a bit bland if they were found in nearly any other genre. The actual courts, along with the characters on them, are presented with low-level 3D polygons, but the characters themselves animate smoothly and things run at a consistent, smooth framerate. The music is simple but catchy, though the game is lacking in tracks; it would've been nice if each team could get their own track, but the game falls a little short of achieving that goal. Overall, Vanborg/V-Ball is a fun game with little competition on the system ("Klonoa Beach Volleyball" and "The Beach Volley" are decent, but this game predates them by several years) and features a few unlockables and hours of versus-player fun, though the computer A.I. is fairly lacking except when using the utmost talented teams. Stored character data from the main (Tournament) mode can be loaded from the main menu and used in Versus Mode, and the game is an enjoyable two player experience that would've benifitted more if it was multitap compatible for four players. This is a video showing the game in action, demonstrating different items, camera angles, and breaks to show general gameplay. Enjoy.