Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer '94

"I dont know why people hate it so much."

I got this game back in 1996 or so at a used game store. Regardless of what other people say about it, I believe that it's a great game. Most people who play it say that their fingers ache or that the events are messed up and make no sense or that the computer players are unbeatable. Those people just don't know how to play though and just need practice. That's their problem…

Gameplay
As one starts up the game, chooses their language and than chooses the country they represent, they come face to face with many winter Olympic events. This is where they first realize “where should I start” and usually choose something they have heard of before, such as ski jump or bob sledding. Upon entering the first event though, they realize how much practice they need. The game designers did a poor job at giving you the controls, but it takes little time figuring out what they are.

Most of the events require you to press many buttons at the same time as fast as you can, and this causes blisters. When I was a kid though, I came up with many strategies as to how to make my bobsledders, or ski jumper come in first, without the risk of hurting my fingers. From once being able to play the game only for a short while, I could now play the game all day and still take in more.

Quite a few of the Olympic events however are not button smashing events. They require the player to precisely press the correct keys at the correct time. This gets frustrating if one has little practice though. However, once one pulls off something like the ski jump and does a major jump, they get hooked on ski jump (which is my favorite event) and they don't want to leave this game. Trust me.

Like I said earlier, only with a lot of practice can one actually beat the computer. Once you get that practice though, it's easy! As for blistering fingers, put a cloth or use your t-shirt to cover them so they don't get hurt as much. Or, just go play a different game or a different event which requires less button smashing.

Because of all the events and how easy the game gets once you practice, I give the gameplay a 7/10, since after all that, it just becomes a normal game once you know how to play. It has fair replay value too, since its always fun going back and trying to beat your old ski jumping record, in my opinion.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10

Graphics
I wouldn't consider these graphics to be anything amazing. However, they did a fairly good job with quite a few of them. Some are just horrible though. I mean, what can you expect from a SNES game? I think they're pretty good though and give this section the highest mark…

GRAPHICS: 8/10

Sound
Probably where the game scored the lowest. The main menu music repeats over and over. It DOES get annoying after a long time, but at first you don't mind it, and I remember having some good times with it. The game also has thuds and thumps when you crash or fall. At least they tried

If you truly hate it though, turn it off and put on some heavy metal or something. It goes good with the game.

SOUND: 3/10

Difficulty
At first, this game is hard. With practice, like I said, it gets very easy however. I don't know what to put here though, since it's all over the place. It just depends on how much time you spend with this game. However, people don't tend to spend too much time on the game, due to the fact that it's so hard at first, and so,

DIFFICULTY: 7/10

Overall
I wouldn't buy this game for full price (such as when it came out), but if you can find it anywhere under $5 or so, than go for it! It's a great time waster if you take the time to enjoy it. However, you either hate it, or love it. It's also got a nice replayability factor due to the fact that you can set records and have fun breaking them with your friends. I personally think this game was pretty good overall.

OVERALL: 6.25/10
(rounded down to 6)

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/05