RealSports Volleyball

RealSports Volleyball rounds out Atari's line of sports titles with beach volleyball, in which the player controls a pair of characters against an opposing team on the other side of the net. The game covers the basic volleyball actions — receiving the serve, setting up the setter, an attacking spike, and blocking at the net — and the player switches between the two characters on their team depending on which one is currently in a better position to hit the ball. Timing the jump and the hit is crucial, because misjudging where the ball will land means losing the point and letting the opponent take over the play.

On the Atari 800/XL the game shows the court from a side view reminiscent of actual televised volleyball broadcasts, and the animation of jumps and spikes is, despite the limitations of 8-bit hardware, fairly legible and smooth enough for the player to accurately judge the moment to hit. The sound design is again sparse but functional, with distinguishable sounds for the hit, the ball hitting the net, and scoring a point, giving the player clear feedback. The game supported two people playing against each other or against the computer, making it a pleasant choice for quick, rules-light sporting contests without the need for complicated setup.

RealSports Volleyball fits into Atari's overall strategy of offering home computer owners a wide range of sports simulations covering both popular and less traditional disciplines, including beach sports especially popular in warmer parts of the US. Today the game comes across as a sympathetic example of an early attempt to bring the dynamics of beach volleyball to an 8-bit screen, and as a complement to the series' baseball and soccer/football variants, one that nicely illustrates the breadth of Atari's sports lineup for home computers at the time. Together with the baseball, American-football, and soccer versions, the RealSports lineup formed a complete offering that let an Atari 800/XL owner pick a sport to match their own taste and mood.

Why play it: For fans of beach sports, it's a sympathetic addition to the other RealSports titles that rounds out the breadth of Atari's sports lineup for home computers at the time.