RealSports Volleyball

Judge the height of the ball from its shadow in this fast-paced game of volleyball. As the sun sets, the shadow disappears and you’re on your own!

About the Game

By 1982, programmers were pushing the limits of the Atari 2600 but the system could not handle the twelve players involved in a typical volleyball game. The good news for Atari was the growth of volleyball played on the beach during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Beach volleyball games consist of only two players per side, a number the Atari could easily handle. So easily, in fact, that the game’s programmer added a timed element (a setting sun) and some whimsy (a shark’s fin in the surf) to the background. The end result was a game that so accurately captured the spirit of an emerging sport (one that remains popular to this day) that it has been included in most Atari compilations through the years.

Object of the Game

RealSports Volleyball is patterned after traditional volleyball in which the objective is to win by scoring 15 points first with at least a two-point lead.

How to Play

You control one of the teams (either blue or red) on one side of the court. Both players under your control move in the direction you push on the joystick.

Your players are restricted to half the court, meaning the top player’s range is from the black boundary line near the ocean to midcourt, while the other player covers midcourt down to the black boundary line near the bottom of the screen.

To begin play, the team with the ball must serve it over the net. If the ball is on the ground on your side of the net, move the top player over to the ball. The serving player can move up or down (but not closer to the net) before serving. Press the red controller button to serve the ball over the net. Since you have no control over placement, move close to the middle of the court before serving the ball. It is possible to serve the ball outside the boundary line nearest the ocean.

To return the serve and subsequent hits over the net, move your players toward the ball. Use the shadow of the ball (it appears on the ground) to guide one of your players toward it.

If a player is closer to the net than to the back line, then you can execute a spike. Spiking is a method of returning the ball over the net with a lower trajectory and greater velocity than normal. To spike the ball, press the red controller button just before your player hits the ball.

You receive one point each time your opponent either misses a ball or hits a ball out of bounds that you initially served. If the team that served the ball misses it or hits it out of bounds, the ball goes to the opposite team to serve.

A bell sounds every time a point is scored, while a buzz sounds when the ball goes out of bounds. If a player runs off the court and hits the ball back over the net, the volley is played as if the ball did not go out of bounds.

Difficulty Options

The difficulty button determines the players’ speed. Set in the A position, both players on a team will move slowly. Set in the B position, they move faster.

Game Options

Features

The only feature in Realsports Volleyball is setup (SU). Your team will set up the ball by passing it between players before hitting it back over the net. Unless you spike the ball, the third hit always goes back over the net. In games 3 and 4, the ball is returned over the net after the first hit.