Olympic Gold: Barcelona '92

"The best Olympic game out there, but it still falls short of the mark"

'Yuck' was the first thought which entered my mind as I walked into the video store. I had to walk past so many bad games which plagued the Master System's library. There were a few good titles in there I admit, but at least half it's library is utter rubbish. When I saw this game, I had no knowledge of the punishment my controller was to take whilst playing it. Usually, these Olympic games are utter cack. Mindless button bashers, with horrid graphics, released at exactly the right time, to milk the Olympic games for all they are worth. While I didn't really like this game on the Megadrive (Genesis for you American cronies), due to its apparent milky nature, I kind of liked the Master System game. While they are exactly the same in gameplay, graphics, sound...well, uh, basically in everything, this game just feels far more suited to the Master System than it did the Megadrive. One notable difference however was the inclusion of a 2 player mode in the Genesis version. Still a button basher, this game is quite fun. It can be a real whirl if you have a few mates around.

You all know of the Olympic Games. Once every four years, the greatest athletes from around the world come together to represent their country and compete against each other in various sports. The winner will receive a Gold medal, the second place a Silver and the third place a Bronze. At the end of the 16 days which the games take place, the country with the most Gold medals will be the winner. This game doesn't include every sport, as that would be impossible (wouldn't be too bad a game, with basketball, tennis and soccer :P), it includes the major ones, and a few others. The game comes together as a nice package for two players basically.

Graphics: 7.0

While it's not the greatest looker of them all, it doesn't exactly look ugly either. Not as polished as the Megadrive, due to the Megadrive's far superior graphical capability, it gets the job done. There is enough animation to make the events look believable, and everything looks as it should. Nothing really notably right about it, but nothing notably wrong either.

Sound: 5.8

The sound is pretty sparse. There is a little bit of sound in there, but frankly, it's crap. The crowd cheer when you start a race, the starting gun, and the crowd cheer at the end of a race pretty much sum up the racing events. Archery's sound involves that of an arrow hitting a target, but it sounds like a very dull thud. Diving's sound involves a splash. Woohoo. Music is lackluster too, just repititive tunes, and a lack of anything memorable. Disappointing.

Story: 0.0

Uh, its like the Olympics, and you gotta go get lots of medals.

Gameplay: 7.4

The saving grace of this game lies in it's gameplay. While the diving and hammer throw events smell somewhat similar to the mess my sister's dog left in the garage the other night, the other events aren't too bad. There are 7 events in all. Hammer throw, 100m dash, 110m hurdles, 200m freestyle, Diving, Pole Vault and Archery. All events are pretty much button bashing affairs. Your opinions will most likely differ to mine on whats best, but when played with a friend, I reckon that the 100m dash, 110m hurdles and the 200m freestyle are the best events. Problem here is that the Master System version has restraints, so only one person can have a go at a time. This isn't a game that will interest you for very long if you are playing alone.

Controls: 6.0

It's a button basher. Enough said.

Lastability: 6.8

If you have a few friends, it's good for a few games every now and then, but you can only bash buttons so hard, and only win so many times. You will get bored of it eventually, and there will be an Olympics game every 4 years for the rest of time, so I guess it will meet Mr Dust one day or another.

Does it belong in my collection?

If you have friends who like to have a few drinks, then get stuck into the games, go for it. If you are strictly a loner, it's your call this time.

Pro's

- The best Olympic game out there
- Highly competitive against friends

Con's

- Lackluster sound
- It's purely a button bashing experience
- Some of the events suck, hard
- Not very fun on your own
- Can't play head to head properly

Overall: 6.3 (adjusted to 6 for the purposes of GameFAQs)

Bit of a low rating in the end, because it is a pretty short term experience. The Olympics come but once every 4 years, and if next Olympiad's game stinks, I'm sure you'd be inclined to take an old one out for a whirl, if you get that itch to be a champion.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/31/01, Updated 05/31/01