by
This is a game of winter Olympic sports with all the components that go with it. This includes, of course, snow, competition, speed, cheering and more often than you wish, falls.
It is a game that you can play with up to three buddies (each of the four players must have a different control device). First, you choose the game mode: Training, Competition, Championship mode 1 or mode 2. You can then choose your level of difficulty from amateur to professional. Now that you are ready, select the events in which you are going to compete. Downhill, Giant Slalom, Slalom, Snowboard, Snowboard Slalom, Ski Jump and finally (CD-ROM version only) Bobsleigh.
Train, at first, and try to discover how to handle your player correctly. Choose, therefore, the easiest skiing gear and then move up to the competition. You can also play against a computer player and make him fall whenever you bump into him. Yes, I admit I tried all the different ways to crash, hitting trees, rocks, spectators or even the red and blue flags that you are supposed to avoid, and it was fun. The sound for a 'bump' when bumping into things is quite funny. Being airborne after a ski jump and then crash landing was also enjoyable. But I had never seen a bobsleigh run off from the main track like cruise missile, dropping one of the athletes and crashing miles away. It was quite a sight in fact.
If you choose the competitions, you will have to climb from the amateur league to the top professional league before you can win the cup. At the end of each competition you have a smart looking presenter (animated) who comments on your achievements and whether or not you are moving up or down a league. I was the downhill professional champion three times in a row and received three cups (nicely animated) but it was a bit too easy for me.
The impression of speed and slope shape rendering are good, but the problem with this game is that everything looks the same. Even if in each event there are four levels of difficulty, eight tracks, and four leagues, it looks the same with the same background picture, the same yells and bell sounds. The ski jump and the bobsleigh are an exception because they are each totally different disciplines.
Mindscape,
GRAPHICS ------------------ 80% Priority House, Charles Avenue,
SOUND ------------------ 75% Maltings Park, Burgess Hill,
MUSIC ------------------ 75% West Sussex RH15 9PQ, England.
GAMEPLAY ------------------ 82% Tel: +44-(0)444-246-333
INTEREST ------------------ 75%
Mindscape,
60 Leveroni Court,
OVERALL ------------------ 78% Novato, CA 94949.
Tel: 415-883-3000
