Personal Compuer Games


Micro Olympics
By Database
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Personal Computer Games #10

Micro Olympics

I'm tired, so tired, It was the 1,500 metres that did for me, coming after all those other exhausting events. Let's face it, I'm no Daley Thompson.

It all started in the 100 metres - my best event. I had high hopes of a gold medal. But it's really a rather frustrating experience racing against a computer which in all cases achieves the current world record!

Still, when the starting pistol or beep sounded, I pounded away at the keys to move my legs. But to no avail. As hard and as fast as I pressed, my little legs would not carry me quickly enough. The computer recorded a time of under 10 seconds while I breasted the tape in a pathetic 14.5. Disheartening, very disheartening.

Micro Olympics

Better luck in one of the field events perhaps? No. Even more humiliating. In the Pole Vault the computer ran along, lowered its pole and effortlessly sailed over the bar. Me, I couldn't even get off the ground. But I do have an excuse - it's not very clear just when you should lower your pole. Try doing it at the same moment as the computer chooses and you'll get told off!

In fact, all the field events suffer from a difficulty in knowing how to control the figure on screen. I must have recorded the shortest distances in Olympic history at javelin, hammer and discus!

But back to the track for the metric mile. What a disaster. The world record for this event stands at 210 seconds, I recorded 578.36.

Imagine the agony of having to press two keys for nine and a half minutes. Bad on the hands and bad on the Spectrum's far-from-robust keyboard. The animation in this micro version of the arcade-game Track and Field is excellent, with your athlete's arms and legs pumping convincingly.

The Screen backgrounds are a little dull and the sound is no great shakes but as long as you don't try to run a marathon - or even 1,500 metres - you will have a lot of fun.

PC

Other Spectrum 48K Game Reviews By PC


  • Kosmik Pirate Front Cover
    Kosmik Pirate
  • Reichswald Front Cover
    Reichswald
  • Dogfight: For Aces Only Front Cover
    Dogfight: For Aces Only
  • Revenge of The Killer Tomatoes Front Cover
    Revenge of The Killer Tomatoes
  • Pinball Wizard Front Cover
    Pinball Wizard
  • Rapscallion Front Cover
    Rapscallion
  • Laserwarp Front Cover
    Laserwarp
  • Bewarehouse Front Cover
    Bewarehouse
  • Lord Harry Front Cover
    Lord Harry
  • Driller Tanks Front Cover
    Driller Tanks