The Activision Decathlon

"Pitfall Harry goes to the olympics!"

Although the Atari 2600 did get Track & Field during it's later years (with a special controller at that,) Activision's own David Crane (creator of Pitfall!) still managed to give all the Atari gamers a chance of their own to take part in the olympics (and without requiring a special controller!) For an Atari title, it was actually a pretty good game!

Graphics: 6/10
The crowd isn't much to write home about, just some squares in a red background, and the track looks like a blue mat. The track star whom you control runs rather casually and when he jumps, he lands with no effort whatsoever. Also, some of the distances for things like the high jump and pole vault are extremely unrealistic. Jumping over a 3 meter bar? OK, maybe by the Atari 2600's standards that's how high it looked. Not to mention he also very closely resembles Pitfall Harry, but that's not a bad thing personally! On the plus side, the introduction sequence with Harry (as I'll call him) carrying the torch is great!

Sounds: 3/10
Unfortunately, the only sounds in this game are the songs that play when you boot up the game or set a new record. It would have been nice to hear something like the sound of the crowd cheering or maybe Harry running down the track.
As it is, you're pretty much better off leaving the television on mute, as you won't be missing a whole lot.

Controls: 10/10
You move the joystick left and right repeatedly to give Harry the power to run down the track at full speed, throw the discus, or whatever event you're doing. It's simple enough for an Atari 2600 game, yet it's complex enough to compete with Track & Field! Amazing, isn't it?

Replay: 7/10
Up to four people can play taking turns, or you can practice any of the events, including the 100, 400, and 1500 meter dashes, long jump, discus throw, shot put, pole vault, javelin, or 110 meter hurdles! Each event is judged with a score similar to that of video games, where anything over 1000 points is considered a new record! And just because it's an Atari 2600 game doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be a piece of cake! You'll need a lot of practice to set world records on your own!

Overall: 8/10
Unless you don't like olympic games, I suggest trying this at least once. Despite the simplistic graphics and lack of sound effects, the addicting gameplay and easy controls are something that will make everyone want to go for the gold at least once, especially seeing how Pitfall Harry's competing!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/01, Updated 07/30/01