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Winter Olympic Games Roundup
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The father of all winter Olympics video games was "Winter Games" by Epyx, which appeared on the Atari 2600, 7800, and ST computer, the Commodore 64 and Amiga, the Apple II, IIgs, and Macintosh, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and DOS-based PCs. Additional overseas releases included the Famicom Disk System, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The Commodore 64 version was also recently released on the Wii Virtual Console. Winter Games combined simple, easy-to-learn gameplay with a fairly deep and immersive Olympic experience. Since the 16-bit era, it has become standard for a licensed video game to accompany the quadrennial winter event. Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer '94 was released for the Genesis, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy, Nagano Winter Olympics '98 appeared on the Playstation and Nintendo 64, Salt Lake 2002 came out on the Playstation 2 and Game Boy Advance, Torino 2006 was released on the Playstation 2 and Xbox, and Vancouver 2010 was released this year for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. During this time, it has been very uncommon for an unlicensed game based on the winter games to be released on any platform, but the few that were include the mediocre Winter Challenge on the Sega Genesis and the stellar arcade-style Winter Heat on the Sega Saturn. |
Nagano Winter Olympics '98 Sony Playstation |
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| Rarity: Common Value: $ |
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| The first and only winter Olympics game for the Playstation features a whopping 13 events, most of which are variations of the same events seen in other titles. New to the genre and the reason that I was excited to check this game out is the inclusion of curling, which made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Nagano games. Unfortunately, much like everything else about this game, the curling event turned out to be a disappointment. Nagano '98 feels very much like it was rushed out the door as a quick attempt to cash in. Licensed Olympic video games seem like they would only be a popular purchase during the two weeks that the Olympics is actually being held, but that's not an excuse to slap together a sub-standard product. It is especially disconcerting coming from Konami, the developer of the Track & Field series, who obviously knows how to make a proper Olympic sports title. The game has sluggish controls, a choppy frame rate, and generally bland visuals. High speed sports like downhill skiing and luge feel very slow, which detracts not only from the realism but the fun as well. The aerial skiing event was moderately fun, requiring you to key in a complicated button sequence which will ultimately execute the proper tricks. Each difficulty level has a unique button sequence, and the game lets you practice before attempting the jump. The ski jump event wasn't bad either, but you have to control the attitude of your skier after he takes off, which is not realistic at all. The exclusion of the biathlon was a let down as it is not only one of my favorite events, but also one that translates well to a video game. Overall, Nagano '98 is a game that's easy to skip because it's mediocre on every level. |
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| Buy Nagano Winter Olympics '98 on GameGavel or Amazon. |
The Games: Winter Challenge Sega Genesis |
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| Rarity: Common Value: $ |
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Winter Challenge was ported to the Genesis from the DOS-PC, and therefore has a distinct computer game flavor to it. The game may lack an Olympic license but it's obvious that more care and effort went into its creation than most IOC-licensed games, which are generally thrown together quickly to cash in on Olympic hype. 8 events are featured - luge, downhill, cross country, bobsled, speed skating, giant slalom, biathlon, and ski jump. When one of the events is selected a short blurb appears with some basic history on the sport, which is a nice addition. You have the option of training in any of the events, or playing through every event tournament-style. The game uses a password save system so that you can save your progress when working through the tournament, and up to 10 human players can compete together. The problem with Winter Challenge is that it was created as a DOS game and seemingly ported over to the Genesis as an afterthought. This version has been scaled down from the original, with fewer options, less detailed graphics, and a choppy frame rate. Unlike other winter sports games of the time, Winter Challenge is a pseudo-3D game that uses a third-person perspective, and the Genesis is not capable of performing the necessary scaling fast enough to create a smooth game play experience. While not a bad game, Winter Challenge was perhaps too ambitious a release for a 16-bit home console, although the Super Nintendo's scaling effects may have been a better choice of platform. This game would easily be a 4.5 on the PC, but the game really gets lost in translation heading over to the Genesis. If you can get past the somewhat choppy graphics though, the game still provides a decent Olympic experience and is worth checking out as long as you keep your expectations low. |
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| Buy Winter Challenge on GameGavel or Amazon. |
Winter Games Atari 2600 |
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| Rarity: Common Value: $ |
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Most games for the VCS can easily be picked up and played without the need for an instruction manual, but Winter Games is not one of them. Although the 2600 controller has only one button, Winter games makes the most of it to create a deep and varied game play experience. While the game can be fun when played alone, particularly if you keep track of your best times, Winter Games really shines when played with friends. The game is easy for non-gamers to learn quickly, making it a great party game. All of the events require only simple controller manipulation to accomplish, although the controls are some times less than obvious which is why the manual is a necessity. Some events are better than others, however. The game features 7 events - slalom, bobsled, ski jump, biathlon, speed skating, luge, and "hot dog" which is basically aerial skiing. Biathlon is my personal favorite. You move the joystick left and right in sync with your player's heartbeat, which is displayed at the bottom of the screen. When it comes time to shoot, you have to cock your rifle by moving the joystick back and then forward before you can fire at each target. You only get 5 shots and unlike the real biathlon you can't reload your gun to take a second shot at any missed targets. Speed skating is the worst event in the bunch, requiring you to move the joystick back and forth at a specific rate (instead of doing so as fast as possible) to achieve maximum speed. It also looks noticeably worse than the rest of the game, which has exceptional graphics for a 2600 title. Epyx only released three titles for the 2600; Winter Games, Summer Games, and California Games, and games like this make me wish that they had released more. Although the games were released very late in the 2600's life, it was obvious that Epyx knew how to squeeze every last drop of power out of the ageing console. |
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| Buy Winter Games on GameGavel or Amazon. |
Winter Games Nintendo NES |
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| Rarity: Common Value: $ |
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| The NES version of Winter Games is easily the red-headed stepchild of the franchise. Featuring only 4 events, it was an extremely scaled down version of the classic winter Olympics-themed game. The 4 events included are hot dog aerials, speed skating, figure skating, and bobsled. I don't even know where to start with this game, which is one of the worst that I have ever played. Aerials is good for a few minutes of fun, but gets old fast as there are only 8 different tricks, and at most 2 can be pulled off in a single jump. Speed skating is the event that most closely resembles the excellent Atari 2600 port of Winter Games, as you rhythmically move the D-pad back and forth in time with the skaters legs. That being said, I didn't like the event on the Atari and I don't like it now. Figure skating, easily the worst event of the 4, involves stating in a straight line from left to right while performing axels, lutzes, and sit spins. After jumping, you have to press A at exactly the right time to land the jump. What really kills this event is the frame rate, which is around 5 per second. Coupled with unresponsive controls, figure skating is a total disaster. The last event is the bobsled. The bobsled screen looks the most impressive out of the 4 events, but the game play is no better. Most of the screen is taken up by a useless map of the course, and only about one quarter of the screen is actually going to be of interest to the player. There, the bobsled is seen from behind as it traverses the course. All that is required to do well is to push the D-pad into the turn on each curve, to keep the sled from going too high on the wall and flipping over. The NES port of Winter Games is bested by the Atari 2600 version in not only quality, but variety as well. The measly 4 events are a joke, the graphics are sub-par for the system, and the game play is bland and uninspired. While the 2600 port was one of the system's best games, this version is easily one of the worst. |
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| Buy Winter Games on GameGavel or Amazon. |
Winter Heat Sega Saturn |
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| Rarity: Uncommon Value: $$$ |
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This game is definitely one of the Saturn's hidden gems. Winter Heat is an arcade-style collection of winter sports including downhill, aerial, speed and cross country skiing, slalom, bobsled, skeleton, ski jump, regular and short-track speed skating, and snowboard racing. A simple two button system is used for all of the game's controls (along with the directional pad, obviously); one button to build up speed and the other to perform an action, making the game very reminiscent of early Olympic sports titles like Track & Field. Like Winter Games on the Atari 2600, the games simple controls make it a great party game that is better played with friends than alone. The only real stinker among the events is the slalom. Instead of pushing left or right to maneuver around the gates, you press the action button when you approach one to swing around it. This seems alright in theory but doesn't work well in practice, as the controls in this event feel unresponsive. Sadly there is no biathlon (one of my favorite Olympic events), which is unfortunate as the already stellar cross country skiing would have been that much more awesome with the inclusion of target shooting. As an early 3D game, the graphics are a little rough around the edges, particularly in the third-person overhead perspectives used for downhill and snowboard racing, but overall the game has aged well and still looks good for a Saturn game. The game also sounds great, with catchy music and realistic sound effects. Winter Heat features 8 characters of differing nationality including the aptly-named Karl Vain, a self-absorbed, blonde-maned athlete from Germany and Rick Blade, the tanned, flat-topped American. Winter Heat is an absolutely outstanding arcade-style gaming experience that does the winter Olympics justice without taking itself too seriously. |
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| Buy Winter Heat on GameGavel or Amazon. |
Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer '94 Sega Genesis |
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| Rarity: Common Value: $ |
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| Even though two winter Olympiads were held during the heyday of the 16-bit era, only the 1994 games in Lillehammer spawned a licensed video game. Lillehammer '94 was in fact the very first IOC-licensed winter Olympics title, and was released across multiple platforms. Featuring 10 events including moguls, which was previously never seen in a video game, it was an ambitious attempt to make the most realistic winter sports game seen to date. As is often the case, the events are hit-and-miss. The downhill skiing events are reminiscent of the slalom event on the Atari 2600's Winter Games. It can be a challenge to see far enough ahead on the course to know which way you should be going, but I still found the events to be fun. Lillehammer '94 also includes my favorite event, the biathlon, which might be the best event in the game. You have to press the D-pad left and right according to an indicator above the skiers head to ski, and shooting involves maneuvering the squirrely sights over each target, which is challenging without being frustrating. The ski jump event is fun, as you try to stay airborne as long as possible, hitting the button to put your skis down on the snow right before you crash-land. Although speed skating is missing the game does include short track speed skating, but it's nothing more than a button masher that quickly loses its appeal. As moguls was a then-recent addition to the Olympics it was nice to have a completely new event in the game, but unfortunately it isn't much fun as I don't think the event translates well to a video game. I could also do without the luge and bobsled events, which are hard to control and do a poor job of reproducing a feeling of speed. The majority of the events are good for a bit of fun (6 decent events and 4 stinkers), the graphics look decent for a Genesis title, and the sound effects are reasonably realistic. Lillehammer's only competition on the Genesis is Accolade's Winter Challenge, which it edges out due to the latter's graphical issues. |
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| Buy Winter Olympic Games on GameGavel or Amazon. |
Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer '94 Super Nintendo |
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| Rarity: Common Value: $ |
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| Lillehammer '94 was simultaneously released for both the Genesis and the SNES, but were each programmed from scratch rather than being ported. Unfortunately, whoever programmed this version did an inferior job. The biggest problem with this game is the downhill skiing events. I commented in my review of the Genesis version that it was not always clear which way to go because you couldn't see far enough ahead on the course. In this version the picture is zoomed in even more (presumably to make the graphics look more detailed) so it's even harder to know where to go. Additionally, the gates and flags are much less forgiving, as you are almost certain to crash if you touch one. These events were good enough for some fun on the Genesis, but are bad enough on the SNES to no longer be of any value. The bobsled and luge competitions feel unrealistic and are hard to control as the sleds slide back and forth on a seemingly frictionless surface. On a positive note, I thought the best event in the Genesis version was the biathlon, and this one is even better. The controls are tighter and the graphics are more detailed. Still, it isn't nearly enough to save this game when every other event is worse than its Sega-based cousin. The graphics in this version aren't quite as clean, the music sounds murky, and the controls are less responsive. Unfortunately, Lillehammer '94 was the only winter sports title released for the SNES in North America so it's this or nothing. |
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| Buy Winter Olympic Games on GameGavel or Amazon. |
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