Kings of the Beach is one of those NES sports games that somehow nails the chaotic fun of actual beach volleyball—minus the sand in your shoes. You pick from a roster of pros (or just mash start and get whoever), then it's straight to spiking and diving across that tiny, pixelated court. The controls take a minute to click—Z for jump, X for bump, C for spike—but once they do, you’ll be pulling off ridiculous saves just before the ball hits the sand.

Matches get surprisingly intense, especially against the AI when it starts reading your moves like some volleyball psychic. And yeah, the graphics are pure 8-bit, but there’s something weirdly satisfying about watching those little dudes flop around after a missed shot. If you’re into retro sports games, this one’s a solid time-killer between rounds of Punch-Out!! or Tecmo Bowl.

Controls: Arrow keys to move, Z (jump), X (bump), C (spike). Space for menus, Enter to start. Took me a match or two to stop spiking into the net by accident.