Zzap


Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge
By The Hit Squad
Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #66

Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge

Yes, it's more waggling whoopee with Daley competing in the ten events of the Olympic decathlon. Believe it or not, this is even *more* strenous than the original Daley Thompson's Decathlon with joystick-waggling required in every single event! And there's more waggling before you even start the game proper: in the gym Daley must waggle to do as many exercises as possible to fill up his Lucozade bottle (?!).

Before any event, he can choose to use this extra energy to help him. Footwear also makes a difference to the toughness of the events: Daley has ten pairs of trainers to choose from, each specially made for one event (anyway his feet probably get whiffy with all that running!).

Olympic Challenge is definitely the most aesthetically pleasing of the Daley Thompson series, with a large, well animated Daley in the gym section and decent graphics and FX in the actual events. It's a pity then that there's so much waggling with no 'easier' events to have a rest on. Also, you only get three attempts to qualify on an event; failure sends you right back to the first event.

I remember vividly when this was originally released to coincide with the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Then, Daley snapped his vaulting pole; now, you're just as likely to break your joystick.