Previous Next

In an effort to squeeze every last ounce of mileage from the genre. Epyx have now released The Games: Summer Edition; sequel to the Winter Edition and the seventh in the Games series.

Based around the Olympic games (you know, the ones that were on too late to watch and were to anabolic steroids what Mike Pattenden is to good taste) TG-SE lets you, or a group of up to eight people, compete in eight events. Springboard diving, velodrome sprint cycling, hurdles, pole vault, asymmetric parallel bars, rings, archery and the hammer-throw are each loaded in separately from four sides of disk.

You know the score; each event can be practised on its own, or you can compete in any events you wish. Normal Games style control methods apply, with a mixture of joystick waggling and fire-button pushing in time to the animated characters. Some of the animation is a bit tatty, such as the hurdlers hobbling onto the track, but generally it's of a high standard. There are, thankfully, one or two innovations to the normal Epyx menu, in that the normally static backdrops have been spruced up by using camera angle-type viewpoints, and there's also some 3D perspective scrolling on the cycling and pole vault, adding some welcome variety in the proceedings.

The same cannot be said of the soundtrack, however, which is comprised of the usual pot pourri of bobby jingles - nothing bad, but nothing spectacular either.

The package is nicely put together, as ever, with a smart intro/outro sequences and a wordy manual which explains all the events in detail, together with hits for improved performance.

If TG-SE had been released a year ago, it would probably be heaped with acclaim and rated accordingly. Unfortunately, we've seen it all before. Apart from some slightly more interesting graphics, the game really hasn't progressed playwise since Summer Games.

In fact, the interactive element has even been reduced on events such as the asymmetric bars and the rings; the player merely selects the required moves and the gymnast carries out the routine flawlessly. Only the dismount depends upon any real skill or timing, and the remainder of the event plays like a multi-choice rolling demo.

The term 'flogging a dead (or at least severely ill) horse' springs to mind. If you've never seen one of the "Games" series, then you could give it a look - mind you, Epyx' Gold, Silver and Bronze compilations are available for £18 on disk, or £15 on cassette, containing no less than 23 events now.