Salt Lake 2002

"The Olympics lasts a rental!"

The Winter Olympics. They have a lot of events. Yes, many events. Too bad Salt Lake 2002 was only able to capture 6 of those events (no speed skating?) and 3 of those are SLALOMS! Oh well, that doesn't ruin everything...

---Story (0/10)
Hey, the Olympics have a long history, but this game doesn't. Moving on...

---Graphics (9/10)
The graphics look pretty fresh. The snow isn't yellow and the skiers and snowboarders and bobsledders are different for different countries. No names though. All in all, a nicely-textured game.

---Audio (3/10)
OOPS! We lose points for the lame soundtrack. Sure, one song is good, but that's only because of the line ''I made a turkey!'' It seems like only 2 bands are heard in this game. Heck, there's little to no music in most of the games anyway (except during the replay). The sounds of snow are okay, but your person doesn't make a sound when he lands! AND THAT ANNOUNCER! He sure repeats stuff a whole lot, two or three times in a row!

---Gameplay/Control/Challenge (????)
Hey, we review each event separately. I just wanted to go on about how this game is small. 6 EVENTS? As I recall, there was an N64 game with all the events! What, is there too little space? I think not! There are about 2 excellent games, 2 games that take getting used to, and 2 games that are utter crap. There's different modes, like Classic and Tournament, but they all are just variations on playing the same events. HURRY UP GINSU3000! Okay, okay! (note: all challenges are based on my feeble attempt at Beginner mode :)

MEN'S ALPINE SKIING DOWNHILL (5/10)
Gameplay: You ski through gates. Too bad they're badly placed, so you do so many sharp turns, and missing 1 gets you disqualified! AHHHHH! It's stupid! WORST SLALOM EVER! (5/10)
Control: Meh, it's okay. The crouch maneuver is pointlessly useless, and the sharp turn is used okay. That's not the problem of this game. (9/10)
Challenge: OH CRAP! Look at this, the gates jump at you! I missed one, is that it? NOOOOO! I thought I could be an Olympic athelete in my own home! I DON'T GET A SECOND CHANCE? You don't have to be so realistic. Oh yeah, there's a part that usually ends up in wipeout. (10/10)

MEN'S SKI JUMPING K120 INDIVIDUAL (7/10)
Gameplay: It's flawed, but it's still some fun. Basically, you have to choose wind speed (pointless), jump at the right time (tricky) and align your skies and land (boring). But hey, it's quite all right! (8/10)
Control: Pressing X and Up or Down has never been easier. Well, it has, but who cares. (10/10)
Challenge: Here's something weird: THEY SCORE BAD! My friend wiped out, and he gets 66 points. My jump isn't as long, but I do land, and I get 19 points? WHAT? The actual jump isn't all that hard, but the scoring, grrrrr (9/10)

MEN'S SNOWBOARDING PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM (3/10)
Gameplay: Okay, scratch the above slalom's WORST SLALOM EVER, it belongs here!!!! WTF is up with this? You snowboard through flags. Even though it's played with two people at the same time, it's BADLY EXECUTED! Forget about it, don't bother! (3/10)
Control: Yikes! Your turning isn't bad, but that's the problem: IT'S TOO GOOD! Compared with skiing, this will mess you up. Everything else is okay. (5/10)
Challenge: I think the above reflects this rating. Also, they switch flags on you. Why do they have to do that? (10/10)

LADIES ALPINE SKIING SLALOM (9/10)
Gameplay: I'm done bashing, we've reached the GREAT section of this game. This is the only worthwhile slalom, because missing a gate doesn't make you lose! HOORAY *throws confetti*! It is tricky, but I like it. Hitting all the poles is annoying, but thankfully ATD made them rubber. (8/10)
Control: It may seem bad at first, but let go of X during the run and watch as you turn wonderfully! The controls aren't all screwing, which helps here (9/10)
Challenge: I like a good challenge. I do, I do, I do. (8/10)

WOMEN'S FREESTYLE SKIING AERIALS (10/10)
Gameplay: This is the best game on here, and deserves your time! You first take off, and must align the gray stick into the middle of the bar, which isn't easy considering its slow movement (you must stop it near the center!). Then comes the button combinations you must pull off. They involve good timing, and that's a good thing (10/10)
Control: I LIKE IT! VERY TIGHT! (10/10)
Challenge: Actually, after you get over the learning curve, it's really easy. Oh well, can't win 'em all (well, you can, but who cares? Not me!) (6/10)

MEN'S TWO-MAN BOBSLEIGH (9/10)
Gameplay: You jump in with some speed, then you race through the narrow track. Fun, but one track makes things worse. Hey, it's good for me, just needy (9/10)
Control: Tapping buttons in the beginning, tight turning in the end, maybe flipping over, good controls (10/10)
Challenge: The challenge is pretty good, just slightly under average. But it's a big 7! (7/10)

---Replay Value (4/10)
Ick. 6 levels with the same course (WOMEN'S SLALOM being the only exception, to an extent) is not replayable. The other modes aren't so interesting anyway. You must play the SNOWBOARD SLALOM game to laugh at the stupidity of it.

---Overall (5/10)
This game is a rental. The fact that the game is so very shallow is irritating, ruining a game that could have been a worthy purchase. But for now, it deserves a rental. One more thing: THERE'S NO REPETITIVE BUTTON-MASHING! HOORAY HOORAH! There, let's end this long review.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/10/02, Updated 02/10/02