Kings of the Beach (NES) Playthrough

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Published on September 23, 2022 9:42:55 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdru7w6P2Qk

Game:

Kings of the Beach (1988)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 1:38:33

9,830 views

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A playthrough of Ultra's 1989 volleyball game for the NES, Kings of the Beach.

In this video I play through the tournament mode as Randy "Vanilla Thunder" Stoklos on the medium difficulty level.

As was the case with Ski or Die and Skate or Die, Kings of the Beach was a popular Electronic Arts computer game that made its way to the NES courtesy of the talented folks at Konami.

It's a beach volleyball game that wears its era on its sleeve. The neon colors and geometric shapes, half-naked girls framed by American flags, and men wearing salmon-colored tanktops all mark Kings of the Beach as a product of the 1980s.

Remember what Ocean Pacific t-shirts used to look like? This is the video game form of that aesthetic.

In the words of the manual, Kings of the Beach is "a chance to hit the beach wearing the same shorts as volleyball gurus Randy Stoklos or Sinjin Smith." The implications for personal hygiene notwithstanding, you can play as either of these pros, or both in the two-player modes, and the main goal of the game is to become the champion of the beach volleyball circuit by sweeping a 15-game tournament. If you're into multi-player games, it also features simultaneous 4-player play with a multitap.

The gameplay is surprisingly intuitive. You have a lot of moves at your disposal, including bumps, sets, spikes, blocks, dives, and three different ways to serve, but the context-sensitive nature of the control scheme makes it easy to remember which commands do what, and the game conveniently locks your character in place once you've lined up for an incoming shot.

The real challenge comes in learning how to time these moves. The power of each hit is determined by the moment of impact - if you spike a ball at the exact moment it meets your hand at the peak of a jump, there's a good chance your opponent is going to be eating sand. Swiping at it too early or too late will result in a slow shot that leaves you wide open for a counter, or in the worst case, an embarrassing whiff.

And if you feel like the ref has made an unfair call, you can run up to him to challenge the decision, though you risk a penalty if you attempt to pull the wool over his eyes.

The opponents are pretty weak at the beginning of the tournament, but the difficulty level ramps up at a good pace, and it all becomes quite challenging by the end - at least, it does until you master the art of blocking. Vanilla Thunder's "Kong block" is a true force to be reckoned with. The game generously provides passwords after every third win, though, so even the hardest games can be won with a bit of persistence.

The graphics are exceptionally well detailed and animated, and the backdrops feature some cool little flourishes, like how in Rio you can see Christ the Redeemer off in the distance. The quality of the music also stands out. It's all done in Konami's classic house-style, complete with some super snappy drum samples. What makes this all the more impressive is that, like Gyruss (https://youtu.be/NMd6ZMSKV5Y), they somehow crammed everything into a tiny 64K cartridge!

Kings of the Beach is a fantastic NES sports game, and it's one that's fun regardless of how you feel about the sport.

I just have to wonder - why did Konami not think to merge this style of gameplay with a Top Gun game? Seems to me like they'd be a perfect fit.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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