Olympic Games er, games
- 5 Aug 08, 11:17 AM
With the 2008 Beijing Olympics about to kick off, there's an eager field of gaming athletes tensing up in the blocks and ready to make a sprint for your cash. Here's my round-up of this summer's record breakers and also-rans.
GOLD
New International Track & Field (DS)
This is the latest update to the game that started the entire videogame athletics craze: 1984's RSI-inducing Track & Field. The frantic button-bashing has evolved on DS into intense stylus scibbling on the touch screen to build up speed or power depending on the event.
It's hugely satisfying, challenging, visually charming, an absolute blast in multiplayer both on and offline, and there's loads to unlock and collect to stop solo scribblers getting bored too quickly.
SILVER
Beijing 2008 (PS3, 360, PC) - Version tested: 360
As the official game of the Olympics, Beijing's main strength is the massive variety of events: 38 in total, covering pretty much everything you'd want. It's a real mixed bag, though.
The game's at its best when it tries something a little different, like the tricky rotations required in diving and gymnastics, and the old-school button-bashing of the 800m. It's let down elsewhere by some baffling design decisions (such as the awful 'charge' mechanic for events where you start from blocks), and several weak events (like the unplayable Judo and ropey kayaking). And the sticks on 360 and PS3 joypads just aren't designed with games like this in mind, which doesn't help.
But it looks great, presentation is slick, it's fun in multiplayer, and the sheer amount of content should keep you and your chums amused until the closing ceremony.
BRONZE
International Athletics (DS, PSP) - Version tested: PSP
If you're a PSP owner and you want to celebrate the Olympics with a few blisters of your own, this is your main summer option. In its favour are slick presentation, some surprisingly intense events like rapid fire shooting, and straightforward controls: the console's shoulder buttons work well for this type of game.
On the downside, it will get repetitive very quickly, and you need multiple copies to play friends simultaneously with other PSPs. And most disappointingly, for a game that should be all about practising hard to break records, some events are ridiculously easy. On the highest difficulty setting, I broke the world records for 100m and 110m hurdles at the first attempt. Where do you go after that?
But the mechanics work well enough as a whole to make this a decent option for armchair athletes.
DID NOT QUALIFY
Summer Athletics (PS2, Wii, 360, PC) - Version tested: Wii
The Wii already has a great Olympics game in Mario & Sonic, but Summer Athletics eschews the cartoony Nintendo style in favour of a more realistic approach. Unfortunately this doesn't work out too well. For a start, a realistic style is never going to look as good on Wii as more powerful consoles, and it shows: some of the visual here are really poor and charmless.
There's a good range of events, and the makers have attempted - as with Mario & Sonic - to use the Wii controls in creative ways to mimic the actions of each event where possible. It's just never really that much fun and often feels like a chore. And without the charm of its less serious rival, I really couldn't recommend this over Sega's Christmas '07 record breaker.
OLYMPIC RECORD HOLDER
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, DS)
Now eight months old, this is still the most fun you can have on the track if you own a Wii. It's packed with entertaining events, classic Nintendo and Sega characters, with authentic Olympics trappings. But most importantly, it's just brilliant fun with friends and family.
Sam Beeton - Pet Sound
- 4 Aug 08, 10:00 AM
Sam Beeton is our Pet Sound... loads of you have been saying how hot he is, so check out his video...
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