Previous Next

The original Commodore 64 version of this superb game was featured on the cover of our November issue. Now at last the Spectrum version is ready and the Amstrad one is set to follow shortly.

All seven Olympic events are there, but split into two parts, one either side of the tape.

On side one you can leap for glory on the ski jump, flip and turn to impress the judges in an event which calls for acrobatics on skis that goes under the unlikely name of Hot Dog ariel and go for a fast time in the speed-skating.

Selecting side two produces even more challenging events. There are two equally impossible skating where you must jump and spin in time to the music. Seven moves in all are possible including double axel jumps, camel spins and triple lutz jumps and extra marks are scored for combining them well. The only difference between the figure and free skating is the amount of time you have and the number of moves you have to complete in that time.

Next is the Biathlon in which you must combine joystick bashing to ski the course with accurate timing to shoot the four sets of five targets spread along the course. The main catch with this event is that the harder you bash the joystick to get around the course in the fastest time the faster your digitised heartbeat gets and the harder it is to hit the targets. Miss a target and you get a hefty time penalty.

Once you've skied and skated around the other events it's time to move on to the most frustrating of all, the Bobsled. Here you must steer your two man bob down the icy course as fast as possible. Getting the speed isn't the problem it's keeping the bob on the track. This always seems to be out of control just as the finishing line comes into sight.

Finally the package is complete by the facility to practise or compete in any are all events (on that side of the tape) an awards ceremony and a world record table.

The graphics are excellent and comparable to those on the C64 without losing any of the gameplay. The only exception to this is the skater who seems to have mutated into a peg doll.

Congratulations to US Gold on maintaining the quality of Spectrum conversions set by Impossible Mission, but what about conversions of Summer Games and Summer Games II?