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Ah, the Olympic games. No other event spawns so many companies to do the same thing every four years. Over the years we’ve seen many Track and Field, Winter/Summer Olympic games, and even one devoted to the USA Basketball team. While none will ever be considered classics, with the exception of the original T&F from Konami, they still tend to display a good time for you and your friends. Honestly, nothing is better than trying to break not only the CPU’s record, but also your friends butt at the same time. This Olympic year, we are treated to 3 titles, and so far the first two released are far from spectacular. Sydney 2000 showed dated polygons, poor presentation, and a good time for insomnia patients. It did have 12 events, but none really gave much of a good time in the entertainment value. It wasn’t that the events were a poor crop, it's just they just weren’t represented excitingly. ESPN’s Track and Field hits the DC close to the end of the month and should be a winner from what was shown at E3. Finally we have our last contestant, Virtua Athlete 2000 from Hitmaker, the designers of Virtua Tennis. Do we have another sleeper hit? Nah, the game offers fair/good graphics, okay sound, easy controls, but hurts in the real fun factor, events. Only seven events are available which nixes this from a must buy, but it does supply a nice rental.
Visually, VA2K does a better job than Sydney, but the models still remain on the blocky side. I’ve never understood why with such a limited game, a better graphical engine couldn’t have been utilized. I mean you do the same things over and over and over again. Some bright spots include a smooth frame rate, dynamic camera angles, and the overly used as of late, a blur effect. With only a few face models, blocky body models, and shoddy stadium designs, the game gets old on the peepers soon enough. Nothing really spectacular has been accomplished graphically here, which is a shame as Virtua Tennis was such a visually brilliant title. Sounds also fail to impress this reviewer. While the announcer is decent supplying the events, highlights, and other slight attention grabbers, she often repeats herself. The crowd is somewhat into the action, but is pretty much just samples with no real emotion involved. It would have been nice to see interviews, team celebrations, or some significance of life, but it’s just win, replay, load, and next event. I will go briefly into play control, as most T & F games are brief anyhow. You have two buttons you furiously pound for speed, another you timely press for jumping or throwing, and the directional pad used for weaving in and out of lanes during running events. After a while, your thumbs and hands get tired along with your patience. This game is very tough, even on it’s lowest setting. Virtua Athlete 2000 offers only 7 events: 100m Dash, 110m hurdles, Long Jump, High Jump, Javelin, Shot Put, and the dreadfully long 1500m jog,…as I call it. More events would have made this game much more enjoyable and lord knows they had the room to put them on. My computer tells me the game barely fills a 3rd of the GD Rom. A weak Create a Player is offered, but is almost pointless, as you really don’t have much creating to do. The lacking of a career mode also hurts this title as well. While it may sound like I’m bashing this game to death, I’m just pointing out the flaws really. The game does offer a few hours of honest fun but a rental is the only option here unless you find it in the cheap bin for $19.99. (Which should have been Suggested Retail Price anyway) Great presentation but it is wasted on only a few events. Is it better than Sydney? It’s more fun, but Sidney does make up for what it lacks in graphics with 12 events. Will ESPN’s game prevail? Most likely. I liked the hour I played at E3 far more than the many hours I have spent with both Sydney and VA2K. I suggest waiting to rent all 3 and making your decision then. Of course that is unless I give ESPN a B+ or better when reviewed.
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