Salt Lake 2002

"No button mashing, and thats a good thing..."

If you are reading this review, you most likely have tried an Olympic game once or twice before. In the past, Olympic games have been button mash-fests, and if you could withstand the pain of your fingers after a play through, maybe you could last for another round. Salt Lake 2002 takes a different approach. This game is more like a sim than the arcade Olympic games of the past, and I think that is what this tired genre needs.

A major disappointment is the amount of events (or lack thereof). Only 6 events are included, and 4 of them are different takes on skiing. Of these events, only 3 of them are entertaining to a first-time player. Men's Downhill is the cream of the crop, and can be considered the best showcase of skiing in any video game ever (Winter Heat for Saturn had a good skiing competition, but SL2002 overtakes that game in realism). It's the straight-forward skiing event in this game, but if you've been waiting for an accurate and fun representation of real skiing, this game is at least worth a rental for this event alone. Other events include Women's Aerials, Women's Slalom, Men's Bobsled, Men's K120 Ski Jumping, and Men's Giant Slalom Snowboarding. Out of these 5, the Aerials and Ski Jumping are the only events that inspire replay. The Aerials uses the same complex scoring system as used in real competition, which is nice. Your ''Air'', ''Form'', and ''Landing'' are all scored by separate judges, while Form impacts the final score the most, just like in real life. You control your skier by inputting button presses like in a dance-game style format, and the difficulty of the combo depends on the trick you pre-selected. Ski Jumping has always been fun for the tremendous air and distance you can get, and is very simple to learn in this game. As for the other three, you may find some fun with bobsled, but the two slalom events are two technical and plain to be any fun. Bobsled's bland graphics hurt, but it is somewhat entertaining nevertheless, and shooting down the track going for a new record is fun at times, but this event was done better in previous olympic games (the aforementioned Winter Heat, and Lillehamer '94 for SNES). The two slalom events control too loosely and are a test in technical excellence, not pure speed and action. Not exactly the right combination for a game that tries to be a party game.

But this game still has a lot of credibility. There are four game modes (olympic, tournament, classic, and freeform) and it keeps track of your total game completion (up to 100%) which means there could possibly be stuff to unlock? With all the modes and difficulty levels, it could take awhile to get 100%, which gives the game good single player value. Of course, the game also keeps track of the best records for each event as well. The game is also very authentic. The game also represents each of the Olympic pavilions to the smallest detail, and even the names of the spots on the track are named (like a specific jump, or face of the mountain). The replays (especially in the downhill event) are fantastic, and very tv-like. The tag-team announcing is incredible, and is some of the most detailed (especially in the replays) I've ever seen in a game. I'm sure it gets repetitive, as does announcing in any sports game, but this is unprecedented for a olympic/track & field type game. Also, the full anthems for the 16 countries are included for the medal ceremonies. The graphics are a mixed bag. The courses always look pretty good (except for bobsled) and the character models are decent. Sometimes the game looks great, but sometimes it can look like it was a port of a PS1 game. It's tough to explain, but a good contrast is the graphics during an event (which are very good) and the graphics while your on the podium after winning a medal (here, the graphics clip horribly, and jaggies are everywhere). Sometimes the game seems to skip, but this usually happens at the starting gate for an event and doesn't hamper the gameplay. Even if half of the events are a bit boring, the game is quite authentic, and really brings the Olympic feel home. If you've been waiting for a Olympic game without the tired old button-mashing genre, or you've been waiting for a good skiing game, this is really the best you can do. But be warned party goers, It's actually a better single-player experience than a multi-player one.

GRAPHICS: 7/10
GAMEPLAY: 8/10
SOUND: 10/10
REPLAY VALUE: 7/10
FUN: 7/10
TOTAL: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/01/02, Updated 02/01/02